EVGA_JacobF
Here it is, the EVGA 460 FPB Update, changelist as follows:
- New in version 1.1 - Fanspeed on External Exhaust cards can now be reduced to 30% in EVGA Precision (Part numbers 01G-P3-1371-XX and 01G-P3-1373-XX Only)
- Core/Processor clock increased to 720/1440 (Part numbers 768-P3-1360-XX and 01G-P3-1371-XX Only)
- Fanspeed unlocked to allow up to 100%
FPB is an interesting beast. I have done some quick profiling of the Thermal/Fan speed characteristics with Furmark 1.8.2 on my eVGA GTX460 SC External Exhaust (-1373) and have discovered some interesting facts. Clock speed GPU 763MHz, Memory 1900MHz, all factory-default for the GTX46) SC EE.
OBSERVED BEHAVIOR:
1. The GF104 hard-throttles around 98-99 degrees C; an observable drop in Furmark frame-rate occurs and the Furmark temperature graph suddenly flattens at ~99 degrees C GPU core-temp REGARDLESS OF FAN SPEED. (The hard-throttling may either be an internal attribute of the GF104 itself or triggered by the video-card BIOS. No matter, such protection is really necessary...... GPU core-temps consistently exceeding 100 degrees C are not long-term healthy for the GPU silicon.)
2. Before FPB (with the original eVGA -1373 BIOS) , the GF104 Core Temp vs Fan Speed had the following pattern, as measured using eVGA Precision OSD:-
70 degrees C ---- ~50%
80 degrees C ---- ~60%
90 degrees C ---- ~70%
99 degrees C ---- 80% (Furmark integrated temperature/time graph suddenly flattens at this temperature, the Furmark frame-rate drops back a few FPS as the GF104 throttles and the fan-speed stays statically maxed out at 80%. If Furmark is allowed to continue to run at this temperature, the frame-rate continues to drop slowly and eventually stabilises. WARNING: Prolonged running of Furmark is NOT recommended.... )
3. With FPB V1.0 (-1373 card) the Thermal Profile vs Fan Speed remains IDENTICAL TO THE ORIGINAL PROFILE above in paragraph #2, with just ONE exception ---- when the temperature reaches the throttle-point (~ 99 degrees C), the fan-speed SUDDENLY JUMPS from 80% to 100%. The only noticeable benefit from that jump is that the loss of frame-rate during throttling is a little less severe than when the fan maxed out at 80%. FYI: After Furmark is shut down on a return to Desktop, the fan speed gradually falls in a continuous fashion from 100% to 40% as the GPU cools down. However, on the temperature ramp-up, the fan-speed shift from 80% to 100% is always a step-function and totally synchronous with the GF104 frame-rate throttle and the consequent flattening of the Furmark temperature/time curve.
4. With FPB V1.1 (-1373 card), the Thermal Profile vs Fan Speed remains identical to the behavior in paragraph #3, except that the lower fan-speed limit becomes 30% instead of 40%.
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COMMENTS (again solely in reference to FPB with the -1373 SC EE version of the GTX 460):-
It seems that the only real benefit of the FPB fan speed jump from 80% to 100% at the throttle-point is to protect the GF104 by helping to reduce the internal thermal stess during throttling.. Since the profile of Fan Speed vs GPU Temperature in FPB is identical to the profile in the original GTX460 SC EE BIOS as shipped except for the 20% speed jump at the throttle-point, then there is zero net temperature-reduction/timing margin benefit at any temperature below the throttle-point. That is extremely disappointing. I initially naturally assumed that FPB would have modified the default Speed Profile in a CONTINUOUS way up to 100% maybe as follows:-
70 degrees C --- 50% (Originally 50%)
80 degrees C ---- 70% (Originally 60%)
90 degrees C ---- 85% (Originally 70%)
99 degrees C ---- 100% (Originally 80%)
Hopefully FPB V1.2 will replace the overclock-useless fan-speed jump from 80% to 100% at the GPU throttle-point with a more reasonable continuous fan-speed thermal profile --- such as outlined above.
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Some related observations on the fan/heat-sink combo in the SC -1373 External Exhaust:-
This combo does not appear to be up to the cooling task even when only default factory-overclocking the card, at least when compared with a previous similar-dissipation excellent-overclock performer from the eVGA stable.
With Furmark running, the GTX460 SC EE fan/heat-sink combo should have reached thermal equilibrium well below the GF104 throttle temperature. ( FYI: During my quick test series, the GTX460 EE Intake air temperature was ~ 27 degrees C, GPU idle temp at 30% fan was ~ 40 degrees C.)
For reference, I own a eVGA super-clocked GTX260 Core216 (55nm GPU) SSC which clocks the GPU readily to 700MHz (factory-default 675MHz). In exactly the same location in the same computer, this GTX260 @ 700MHz reaches thermal equilibrium at GPU core 90 degrees C in Furmark Extreme Burning mode and with NO thermal throttling whatsoever. That thermal equilibrium is also reached with a fan speed ~ 80-85%, still plenty of head-room.
Since the full-load power-dissipation of the GTX260 Core216SSC and the GTX460SC are pretty comparable ( ~ 160-180 watts), it does seems that the GTX460 SC EE deserves a comparable-performing heat-sink/fan combo. As a minimum, a full copper heat-sink/heat-pipe instead of the copper/aluminum hybrid, given the constrained space. Or maybe a mini-version of the "overflow"-style a la GTX480. I'm sure that the open-fan non-EE version of the GTX460 SC (-1362) is a much better thermal performer than the -1373. However, the thought of most of the 160 watts of power being 'exhausted' inside the computer case instead of being exhausted outside is not particularly attractive. The eVGA GTX260 Core216 series got the External-Exhaust fan/heat-sink design really right. Maybe eVGA should revamp the GTX460 EE design to more closely match the thermal/mechanical design of the GTX260 Core216 series ?