Temperature, power consumption and nuisances:
Temperature:
To record temperatures, we opted for the Superposition stress test in Extreme mode. We opted for three 5-minute runs with 10-minute intervals between each test. We took advantage of this benchmark to record the graphics card’s power consumption for the table above.
To find out the Idle temperature, after completing the three stress test loops, we let the card rest for 20 minutes before taking the temperature reading. Bear in mind that most boards benefit from “0 dBa” technology, so the fans cut out below a certain temperature, often between 50 and 55°C. It therefore takes longer to dissipate heat after a period of stress testing or gaming. A card that does not benefit from this technology will be noisier than others at rest. A quick reminder: our temperature readings are taken in Open-Air. In a closed case, the cards will inevitably be warmer.
Boom, it’s just as I feared: the temperatures are really very high, probably due to the design of our reference RX 7800 XT. We think that a bracket with apertures and a perforated backplate would have reduced the temperature. As a reminder, these measurements are taken outside the case, and we imagine that they will be even higher inside a case. In a few days’ time, we’ll come back to the question of how to optimize the card’s cooling.
The other two RX 7800 XTs with “in-house” cooling systems are, of course, more efficient. It remains to be seen what the asking price will be for these custom models.
Power consumption (full configuration):
We use a wattmeter to measure power consumption at the output of our PSU. Our modular power supply is a CORSAIR AX1600i. The result is the average total power consumption of our configuration. Only the graphics card changes between each reading. So it’s easy to calculate the difference between each graphics card.
Good news as far as power consumption is concerned. Even though it’s much higher than the RTX 4070, it’s lower than the RX 6800 XT, and therefore improving. As a reminder, this is the total power consumption of our configuration. Of course, we’d have liked an even better result, but that doesn’t seem to be a negative point.
