Average Performance, Power, And Heat
We’ll need to consider our average performance difference to calculate any efficiency differences, so we begin with a cumulative chart:
A 19% GPU overclock and 11% DRAM overclock allows Palit’s Sonic Platinum Overclocking Edition to show a 15% overall lead compared to the reference-clocked Zotac card.
MSI has the coolest-running card, likely due to its huge GPU cooler. Yet its full-fan tests weren’t as spectacular. Asus’ fan supports higher-speed operation, resulting in a relatively chilly GPU temperature that’s available to anyone who can tolerate its higher full-speed noise. ECS’ even larger cooling solution sits in the middle.
Gigabyte constantly claims that its Ultra Durable components save power, but today’s power test is one of those rare occasions where we actually see the difference.
A huge power consumption increase points towards likely voltage mods in Jetway’s non-retail card, possibly putting a wrench in the plans of overclockers who would like to repeat Jetway’s efforts.
Putting power consumption on a percent scale will allow us to gauge efficiency on the next page. The word “relative” refers to a comparison to the baseline, which in this case is Zotac’s reference-speed model.
