ATI Buyer's Guide, Part III: All Graphics Cards!

Power Consumption

The power consumption of our test system ranged from 124 to 398 watts. The GeForce 7600 GT marked the low end in 2D mode at 124 W; the 7800 GT SLI combo marked the high end at 398 watts in 3D mode, with the 6800 GS SLI duo and the Radeon X1900 XTX close on its heels with 385 watts and 360 watts respectively. Combining two Radeon X1900 XTX cards in Crossfire mode drew about 520 watts; overclockers can expect power consumption to rise by an additional one to three percent as well. The peak values represent the maximum power draw that can be expected and were measured under full load.

Heat

Heat output has dropped noticeably on both the GeForce 7600 and 7900 cards, which Nvidia produces on an improved 90nm process. Even with its very high frequencies, the GeForce 7900 GTX only reaches a moderate 66°C, thanks to its very good cooling solution. However, it is the GeForce 7600 GT that produced the lowest heat in 2D mode - its large and silent cooler has no trouble coping with the card's moderate temperature of 44°C.

Graphics cards using Radeon 1300 and 1600 GPUs do not have a temperature sensor. The Radeon X1800 XT and X1900 XTX cards produce the most heat, operating at more than 90°C. The peak values represent the highest temperatures that are to be expected, and were measured under full load.