Nvidia GeForce GTS 450: Hello GF106, Farewell G92

Power Consumption And Temperatures

At idle, only AMD’s Radeon HD 4850 stands out for its higher power use. That’s not particularly surprising, since the 4000-series cards didn’t scale down to low-power states as well as the newer 5000-series boards do.

Under load, it’s the GeForce GTS 250 and much more capable GeForce GTX 460 using the most power. Nvidia’s new GeForce GTS 450 actually shows quite well here, ducking in just under the Radeon HD 5770.

It’s worth noting that we’re still using FurMark to tax each of these cards. Both Nvidia and AMD actually frown on FurMark as a representation of real power use. To that end, we’ve toned down the load FurMark applies here, leaving the Xtreme Burning Mode disabled.

At first glance, the GPU temperatures might not make very much sense. After all, the GeForce GTX 460 is running cooler than the GTS 450. Remember, though, that AMD and Nvidia achieve these numbers using fan profiles unique to each model. The GTX 460 employs a 44% fan duty cycle to hit its 67 degree Celsius load temp. The GTS 450 spins at 30% to hit 73 degrees.

All of the mainstream cards are remarkably quiet—enough so that the Intel DHX-B reference heat sink makes more noise than any of them. The exception is AMD’s Radeon HD 4850, which employs a small blower-style cooler to make a single-slot form factor possible. Under load, it’s quite loud.

Chris Angelini
Chris Angelini is an Editor Emeritus at Tom's Hardware US. He edits hardware reviews and covers high-profile CPU and GPU launches.
  • Poisoner
    Man, G92 still holds it own. What an amazing piece of technology.
    Reply
  • welshmousepk
    Slightly underwhelming to be honest. the GTX 460 seems like a way better choice. or a 5770.
    Reply
  • IzzyCraft
    Well now that it is competing with the 5750 maybe they will push both down to $100 and we wouldn't need to buy old G92 or R700's :D
    Reply
  • teeoneimme
    anyone else NOT so excited about this card?
    Reply
  • skora
    As Chris pointed out with Tessellation, DX11 isn't going anywhere fast with the programmers. I'd say still go for a 1gb 4850 or CF two and really have a powerful GPU subsystem for the $200-$220 price point. By the time they are aged, you'll have 2nd gen DX11 GPUs out and the software will finally be available to use them.
    Reply
  • eklipz330
    im still chuggin along on my hd 4850... and if i ever needed to, i can crossfire another one for a mere $90, these cards have been overpriced for a year

    its a shame that ati's cards didn't drop in MSRP. hell, the hd 5850 is finally approaching it;s MSRP of $250 from a year ago. I was hopign last year by around this time, hd 5870 would be ~$200... it's not even close =
    Reply
  • Jzcaesar
    Man, I was hoping to see some overclocking; hopefully, they'll be included in another article. But I agree with Chris: the 450 is a bit disappointing at $130.
    Reply
  • one-shot
    YAWWWWNN....This card is putting me to sleep. I'm going to bed.
    Reply
  • duk3
    I'd like a gtx 460 maxcore.
    Perhaps a gtx 485 aka gtx 460 X2 would be nice as well.
    Reply
  • sandypants
    Just bought a second 4870 1 GB to complete my CF setup which was planned 1.5 years ago. Only $130 from Newegg. 4870 vs 450 is not a tough choice if you are buying for a dedicated gaming rig. The 4000 series are still very adequate.
    Reply