Gainward GTX 670 Phantom
We anxiously looked to see how Gainward’s new Phantom cooler would perform when we received the company's GeForce GTX 680. Unfortunately, on that board, it didn't impress us in two of the most important disciplines: acoustics and thermals. Now, we want to see if it behaves any better on a GeForce GTX 670.
Gainward is sticking to a fairly conservative 1006 MHz base clock and a rated 1085 MHz GPU Boost frequency. Interestingly, though, it's one of the few companies that bothers to overclock memory, reaching 1527 MHz. Based on the reference design's shorter PCB, this board naturally includes the same display output connectors and twin six-pin power plugs we know from the version Nvidia first sent us.
Though it doesn't necessarily look it, this is a three-slot card. Typically, we'd associate that with excellent cooling performance and well-handled acoustics. The heat sink's frame stabilizes the card well. But its materials are cheap-looking and the plastic cover is disappointing.
Does it do any better on a GeForce GTX 670 than it did on the 680?
