Temperature And Noise
Both Nvidia's Kepler and AMD's Graphics Core Next architectures are now known for excellent performance-per-watt. So, let's see how the new GeForce cards stack up:
The GeForce GTX 650 achieves a spectacular result, consuming less power than Afox's GeForce GT 640! We won't be surprised if a manufacturer creates a GeForce GTX 650 without any auxiliary connector at all.
As for the GeForce GTX 660, it requires almost the same power as the GeForce GTX 660 Ti, and about 25 W more than AMD's Radeon HD 7850 under load.
When it comes thermal performance, Gigabyte's GeForce GTX 650 delivers an impressive load temperature of only 47 degrees Celsius. The GeForce GTX 660 cards generate significantly higher temperatures, with the reference card spiking as high as 76 degrees under load and Zotac's card hitting 71 degrees. Gigabyte's Windforce cooling solution helps a lot, keeping its GeForce GTX 660's peak temperature down to 56 degrees.
From two feet away, noise is minimal across the board. None of the cards we tested are loud, even after a 10-minute Battlefield 3 session.