which video card is better?

[greenmedic88]

Squilliam said:
The 4xxx series never had a heat problem. It ran at the temperature it was designed to.

The reason why they let the temperature idle at 80 degrees is to reduce the hot/cold cycling of the GPU and to reduce the noise. IIRC the GPU is rated to 105 degrees C.

The temp of the GPU is not so much the issue as the heat it generates inside the case. If you don't have a well ventilated case, all that heat stays inside your PC case.

The 4870 and 4870x2 have a vent in the upper half of the card to expel heat which is channeled by the shape of the fan/heatsink housing. Single slot 4850s don't.

Regardless of how hot it can run stable, a better heatsink and fan system like the Thermaltake DuOrb VGA cooler, could have the same 4850 running at 28 degrees idle, 37 degrees at load. Prime for overclocking.

http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=722