Closer Look Around, Moving Our Spotlight...

Up to now we have been given you a quick view on the actual package and a first view on the GeForce GTX 260 graphics card. This means it is about time to dig a bit deeper and find out what the Gainward GeForce GTX 260 edition is all about, by checking a bit more closer and in detail. We will start with the front and move slowly to the back, and turning the video card upside down. We might not have mentioned it yet, though the GeForce GTX 260 edition from Gainward is build upon the default reference design from NVIDIA, which is actually the case for most manufacturers. Though recently we also saw some announcement of a water cooling solution for the GeForce GTX 260 graphics accelerator, as well as some 3rd party cooling solutions. We will actually take a closer look and highlight some of the vital features, and some of the benefits...

As already mentioned the Gainward GeForce GXT 260 edition does feature the standard cooling designed by NVIDIA, which is somehow natural as this is what most manufacturers opt for a new release. The cooling design isn't bad at all as NVIDIA did take a good look back at their previous experience with the GeForce 9800 series, which also was a similar PCB design. We should as well notice that both the GeForce GTX 260 and its bigger brother the GeForce GTX 280 feature the same cooling solution, which is a more improved version of what we saw recently on the GeForce 9800 GTX accelerator. This is somehow normal as the GT200 chip is far bigger and generates a bit more heat as such. The main focus was also to try and keep the noise level low and still allowing some nice clock speed settings. All that combined led to the cooling solution as you will find on most GeForce GTX 200 series cards.

This cooling solution though out by NVIDIA is one of the best solutions seen so far, which really does make a difference. Although the design isn't all that new and less innovation then we have seen from NVIDIA over the past years, we do see that they keep on top of things and really strive towards good cooling and reduction of the noise levels at the same time. We don't see why this cooler shouldn't be able to keep the Gainward GeForce GTX 260 edition running cool and stable. The Gainward cooling design is equipped with a low noise fan and adjustable fan speed, which is controlled by the fan speed logic and can easily be adapted. The fan will circulate the air through the aluminum fins of the heatsink towards the back of the graphics card. All this together is the driving force behind the cooling solution and just taking up two expansion slots which is an excellent choice if you are thinking of running two of these high-end cards.

The Gainward solution looks awesome as a whole and does without a doubt stand out in the crowd. The design looks good, feels good and has the edge over some other competitor versions. Next to the black heatsink you can see the Gainward logo in full detail as well as the Gainward name. The cooler is bigger than what we are somehow used to but it does have its advantages as it is quite effective and to that extend keeps the GT200 chip at lower temperature. Next to that this also means that the Gainward GeForce GTX 260 card doesn't take up much extra space, though it is still a dual slot graphics card. And as we saw already, the new mainboards envisage this by having left more room available between the PCI Express expansion slots. But still you might actually need to take this into account when you are thinking about going down the SLI path, and would like to stick two or even three of these in your gaming system.

The full height of the cooler and in this case also graphics card becomes only clear when we look at the card from the side. It shows that the cooler is actually a dual slot solution, which is something you should be aware of when going for the Gainward GeForce GTX 260 edition video card. The cooling system is just like the blower style that NVIDIA is using quite frequently. Though the fan system does work well since it draws the air from the front side venting striped holes through the actual heatsink and finally out at the back. As already stated, the GT200 chipset is a quiet big chip that is still manufactured with a 65nm process while ATI has already shifted towards the 55nm solution. Of course NVIDIA is well aware of this and is working hard to catch up and get their own 55nm chips produced, although they are extremely quiet about it for the last few months. What goes around in their mind we don't know, but we could well imagine that they are working on a new strategy to not only get into the 55nm games but also think about the future reduction process at the same time.

The cooling solution is designed quite simply once you take a closer look at it, and merely an enhanced version of their excellent cooling for their GeForce 9800 GTX edition. We can see that NVIDIA added some venting hole at the top of the card as well, which is beneficial to reduce the heat and able to circulate the hot air away from the inner part. At the back NVIDIA has put the dual DVI connectors and one video interface. The outlet has one part with venting holes which does provide a lot of room to exhaust the hot air out of the system. This will certainly be very beneficial for the thermal aspects as the hot air does not remain within the system itself. However we don't know yet what NVIDIA did with the hidden heatsink, though we would believe it will guide the air towards the defined venting holes. At least that would be a good idea and is actually what we have seen being the case in previous solutions.