Legit Video Card Reviews

ASUS EAH5870 Voltage Tweak Video Card

Manufacturer: ASUS
Product: EAH5870/G/2DIS/1GD5
Date: Tue, Oct 13, 2009 - 12:00 AM
Written By: Nathan Kirsch -
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Temperature Testing

Since video card temperatures and the heat generated by next-generation cards have become an area of concern among enthusiasts and gamers, we want to take a closer look at how the Radeon HD 5800 series does at idle and under a full load.

ASUS EAH5870 Idle Temperature:

ATI Radeon HD 5870 Idle Temperature Testing Results

At idle the ASUS EAH5870 had amazingly low temperatures that shocked even us.  When we first looked at the Radeon HD 4870 in June 2008 we found that it had an idle temperature of 74C.  The new Radeon HD 5870 idles at just 38C, which is impressive considering how fast this card is and that this is a reference heat sink. As you can see from the screen shot above, the idle state of the Radeon HD 5870 drops the GPU frequency down to just 157 MHz and the memory down to 300 MHz to help conserve power and lower temperatures. AMD has nailed idle temperatures on this series from the looks of it.

ASUS EAH5870 Load Temperature:

ATI Radeon HD 5870 Load Temperature Testing Results

We fired up FurMark and ran the stability at 1280x1024, which was enough to put the GPU at 100% load in order to get the highest load temperature possible. This application also charted the temperature results so you can see how the temperature rises and levels off, which is very nice. The ASUS EAH5870 maxed out at 85C, but fluctuated between 83C-85C once it leveled out. The fan on the ASUS EAH5870video card was left on auto during temperature testing. The fan never got over 35% during testing, so manually increasing the fan speed in CATALYST Control Center would help lower the temperature some more if you don't mind the extra noise.

Next Page - Power Consumption


Review Index
Page 1 - The ASUS EAH5870
Page 2 - Retail Box and Bundle
Page 3 - The ASUS Smart Doctor Utility
Page 4 - The Test System
Page 5 - Batman: Arkham Asylum
Page 6 - Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
Page 7 - Need For Speed: Shift‎
Page 8 - Resident Evil 5
Page 9 - Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.
Page 10 - 3DMark Vantage
Page 11 - Temperature Testing
Page 12 - Power Consumption
Page 13 - EAH5870 Overclocking
Page 14 - Final Thoughts and Conclusions