The next silent videocard

Evgenie Rudometov

Rudometov@rudometov.com

Using the next modification of firm processing technique Silent-Pipe, company Gigabyte has released completely silent videocard Gigabyte GV-NX86S256H

Modern high-powered computers demand the adequate videocards which basis is made by powerful video chips which the last years even more often name as geometry processors (GPU). These chips by quantity of used semiconducting transistors, and on level teploobrazovanija frequently do not concede complexity of the internal architecture to the high colleagues – to PC central processor units (CPU).

For support of correct operation of the videocards created on the basis of such units, adequate resources of cooling are required. Last are usually presented by the "cooler" specially developed under everyone videocard consisting of the heat sink, installed and fixed on GPU, and also powerful fan intensively blowing in the given heat sink. Such constructions are simple and rather reliable, however they have also a serious disadvantage: they represent a powerful source of acoustic noise. It is the negative factor for the majority of users with which designers try to struggle, trying to find optimal constructions of heat sinks and fans.

However thanks to application of current technologies variants of cooling systems and without fans are possible. As an example of one of such solutions it is possible to result videocard Gigabyte GV-NX86S256H created on the basis of rather powerful GPU  — NvidiaGeForce 8600 GTS.

GPU Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS

Geometry processor GPUNvidia GeForce used in a videocard 8600 GTS belongs to GeForce 8 set. Its key parametres are resulted in Table 1.

Table 1. Key parametres GPU Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS

Code name	G84
The "know-how", micron	0,08
Number of transistors, million	289
Frequency of a kernel, MHz	675
Memory type	GDR3
The bus of memory, bit	128
Frequency of memory, MHz	2000
Pass-band of memory, Gbyte/with	32
Memory size, Mb	256
The interface	PCI Express x16

Package and videocard key parametres

The package of videocard GigabyteGV-NX86S256H is presented in a Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. A package of videocard Gigabyte GV-NX86S256H

Into structure of a package of a videocard enter:

·         the Packing box;

·         Videocard Gigabyte GV-NX86S256H created on the basis of video chip NvidiaGeForce 8600 GTS,

·         Cables and adapters,

·         the Documentation in English,

·         CD-ROM with the software.

Key parametres of videocard GigabyteGV-NX86S256H are resulted in Table 2.

Table 2. Key parametres of videocard Gigabyte GV-NX86S256H

Units and subsystems	Parametres
The geometry processor	Nvidia GeForce 8600GTS
The hooking up interface	PCI Express x16
Size of a video memory, Mb	256
Width the bus of a video memory, bit	128
Video memory type	GDDRIII 16Mx32
D-SUB	Yes (through the adapter)
TV-OUT	Yes
DVI	Yes (DVI-I)
VIVO	No
MultiView	Yes

The minimum system requirements necessary for correct operation of a videocard, are presented in Table 3.

Table 3. The minimum system requirements

Units and subsystems	Parametres
The central processor unit	Intel of Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon
The hooking up interface	PCI Express x16
Size of dynamic storage, Mb	128 (2048 or more – for bolshej productivity)
The optical drive for installation ON	CD-ROM or DVD-ROM
The operating system	OS Windows Vista, Windows XP with SP2, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows 2000
Power supply unit, W	450

The videocard supports Direct  10 and OpenGL  2.0, processing techniques PureVidio and SLI. For the organisation of pattern SLI two maps GigabyteGV-NX86S256H, and also the motherboard with two PCIExpess x16 slots are required, SLIbridge connector and it is recommended to use a power supply unit power of 1000 W and above.

Features of a construction

Widespread resources of cooling of the high-powered video chips, consisting of the heat sink and the fan, generate, as is known, considerable acoustic noise. However there are also the alternative variants which are not providing usages of fans. For example, maintenance of the video chip of a temperature mode necessary for correct operation can be reached by means of the several compact heat sinks jointed by special heat-conducting handsets. (Heat Pipe). Such path was selected also by designers of videocard GigabyteGV-NX86S256H (a Fig. 2).

Fig. 3. Appearance of videocard Gigabyte GV-NX86S256H

The principle of operation of thermal handsets is grounded on thermophysics of transformation of the liquids concluded in hollow handsets, vehicles of transmission of thermal energy playing a role.

Specially picked up liquid placed in a thermal handset, under the influence of heat derivated from operation nagretogo of the semiconductor chip, passes in a gaseous state. Thus at the expense of transformation heat considerable quantity is swallowed very much. In a vaporous state the liquid reaches the cold end of the thermal handset jointed to the heat sink, disseminating heat. At the expense of cooling the liquid in a thermal handset is condensed, giving heat to a handset, and from it and to the heat sink which disseminates heat in environing space. skondensirovavshajasja the liquid thanks to molecular forces through the special porous substance coating an internal surface of a thermal handset, comes back in hot area where again evaporates, carrying away redundant heat of the semiconductor chip.

Usage of thermal handsets allows to create constructions from the several heat sinks jointed together. Such constructions effectively disseminate redundant heat GPU at the expense of the internal air streams provided with case fans at complete absence of acoustic noise from the videocard.

Such construction has been taken as a principle systems of cooling of video chip NvidiaGeForce 8600 GTS videocards Gigabyte GV-NX86S256H. The method of cooling by means of the given construction consisting of several heat sinks and thermal handsets, has been named by experts Gigabyte processing technique Silent-Pipe.

The construction of cooling system of a videocard is resulted in a Fig. 2 and a Fig. 3.

Fig. 3. Cooling system of videocard Gigabyte GV-NX86S256H

It is necessary to mark, that the realised solution is completely silent, that raises its attractiveness among potential users.

As to productivity of the specified videocard it has been estimated in the course of testing.

Productivity

Pattern of the system used in testing of videocard Gigabyte GV-NX86S256H:

·         the Motherboard of Intel D975XBX (a chip set i975X),

·         the Processor of Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 (Conroe, Dual Core, 65 nanometers, 2,93 GHz, the bus — 1066 MHz, L2  — 4 Mb),

·         Dynamic storage DDR2 667, two Apacer units on 1 Gbyte, two channels,

·         Videocard Gigabyte GV-NX86S256H (chip Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS, bus PCI Express x16),

·         Hard disk drive Seagate in 7200.10 size of 750 Gbytes,

·         OC Operating system Windows 2003 Enterprise Server.

The performance level of videocard Gigabyte GV-NX86S256H is characterised by the numerical data resulted in Table 4 and in a Fig. 5. As matching objects the videocards created on the basis of chips ATI Radeon X600 and Nvidia GeForce 5600 have been selected.

Table 4. Results of performance of the test 3DMark05

Videocards	Results
GV-NX86S256H	11721
Ati Radeon X600	2293
Nvidia GeForce 5600	993

Fig. 4. Results of performance of the test 3DMark05

The cited data do not require remarks and testify to high efficiency of videocard Gigabyte GV-NX86S256H.

In summary it is possible to recommend the given map to a wide range of users which are interested in silent, rather high-powered videosystems.

Videocard GV-NX86S256H has been given by the Moscow office of company Gigabyte