Thermal Performance

To thermally test the cards we recorded GPU temperatures for each individual core using RivaTuner. Idle readings were taken at the desktop in Windows Vista 64-bit Home Premium with Windows Aero enabled, while the load reading taken while the GPU configuration was running our Crysis benchmark at 1,920 x 1,200 with 0xAA.

This is one of the most demanding tests in our benchmarking suite, and is sure to get those GPUs sweating. We didn't go higher because we felt that if we increased the load too much, some of the slower cards wouldn't deliver realistic numbers because they'd be bottlenecked in other ways.

All temperatures were taken with the cards cooled using only their standard stock coolers and running on our open air test benches, which have no additional airflow other than that present in the room.



The new GeForce GTX 285 has the lowest idle temperature we've seen to date from a high-end GPU and they're a good eight degrees lower than the GTX 280's idle temps. At load, the GTX 285's temperatures are acceptable as well - they're consistent with the GeForce GTX 280's readings. We saw no difference in temperature between the reference clocked GTX 285 and Zotac's factory overclocked AMP! Edition.