single fan o dual fan?

[franksvga]

I´ve seen this two versions of the same card

isn´t dual fan better?

[MiRai]

I think we're missing some details here... Like what GPU are we talking about?

[mbox_bob]

Single vs Dual depends on the design of the shroud, which way the air blows, how much air (CFM), how efficient the heatsink is, how warm the intake air is, etc... for the most part, if it's done right, it's not going to make a large temperature difference. It might make a difference in noise levels though.

[franksvga]

this is the card I´m reffering to:

EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 GAMING (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IPVSGEC/ref=s9u_simh_gw_i1?ie=UTF8&fpl=fresh&pd_rd_i=B01IPVSGEC&pd_rd_r=TPGBAW9RQHH72HEVXF50&pd_rd_w=OuucF&pd_rd_wg=oROUa&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=&pf_rd_r=7J2VFKG4QJT8BPAAC00R&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=1cf9d009-399c-49e1-901a-7b8786e59436&pf_rd_i=desktop&th=1)
is it more air flow better for multiboxing ? I mean, it obviously consumes more power, I would like to know if it´s worth to go dual

:)

[MiRai]

this is the card I´m reffering to:

EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 GAMING (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IPVSGEC/ref=s9u_simh_gw_i1?ie=UTF8&fpl=fresh&pd_rd_i=B01IPVSGEC&pd_rd_r=TPGBAW9RQHH72HEVXF50&pd_rd_w=OuucF&pd_rd_wg=oROUa&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=&pf_rd_r=7J2VFKG4QJT8BPAAC00R&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=1cf9d009-399c-49e1-901a-7b8786e59436&pf_rd_i=desktop&th=1)

is it more air flow better for multiboxing?
Well, if the card was made with a single fan, then they felt that it was capable of cooling the components on the PCB with only a single fan. EVGA didn't release the GPU with a single fan in hopes that people would never exceed 50% load or something like that. So, if you want to use that GPU, it's going to operate in the same way that any other reference GTX 1060 is going to.

That particular GPU has been out for over a year now, and EVGA was able to engineer the base 1060 into a small enough PCB where only a single fan was required, whereas two fans are required to cool a larger PCB.



I mean, it obviously consumes more power, I would like to know if it´s worth to go dual
I can't imagine that an additional fan uses more than, say... 10 watts, at most—something completely negligible, and nothing that anyone would ever budget their PSU around.

The two different fan setups are rated to run at the same base and boost clock speeds, so there should be no difference between them.

[franksvga]

thanks guys, that info was really useful :D

[Ughmahedhurtz]

To better explain, there are generally two types of fans in GPU cooling systems:

1. Centrifugal blowers (aka Squirrel-Cage fans)
2. Axial fans (aka box fans, the most common type you see for almost all case ventilation and CPU coolers)

Within the box fan domain, you generally have models with high(er) static pressure and low static pressure capabilities. High static pressure fans are better suited to things like liquid-cooling radiators as the resistance to airflow through the many tiny radiator fins is much greater than just pushing low-speed case air through a grate on the sides of the case. Centrifugal blowers are capable of significantly higher static pressures (sometimes called head pressure) than box fans, largely dependent upon the orientation and curved/straight shape of the fan's blades.

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/fan-types-d_142.html

With all that in mind, centrifugal blowers are significantly more efficient (for a given size of fan) at moving higher volumes and higher pressures of air, like squeezing more air through the much smaller spaces in a GPU shroud, or at moving more volume in a smaller fan (because you can't put a 120mm or bigger axial fan on a GPU, eh?). The penalty is usually that they are much noisier for a given size of fan. My previous NVidia 460GTX's single little centrifugal fan spinning at 80% was louder than all 8 of my Noctua 120mm case/CPU fans at 100%. Notice that the newer dual-fan NVidia cards talk about "whisper silent" and such, and they have dual axial fans.

So,it's basically a matter of required minimum airflow, how hard it is to force the air where you need it to go through, and how noisy do you want it to be.

[MiRai]

Ugh brings up a good point about noise. Perhaps the single-fan solution makes more noise as it tries to cool the smaller PCB, whereas the dual-fan solution is going to produce less noise as the RPMs are kept lower. Then again, I really have no idea as I've never used a single-fan GPU like that (non-blower style setup).

Single-fan setups like that are generally preferred by people who have small form factor builds, or even something like an HTPC.

[mbox_bob]

Aye. I was wondering if the heatsink was designed differently to help offset that, but then if that was the case, why wouldn't you use the same design on the larger PCB's. Makes me wonder if this card wouldn't just run a little hotter or with more noise.

Also, after looking at all the pictures, it doesn't appear as though it is more Centrifugal than Axial, and the open back on the shroud makes me believe it will through heat back into the case just as much, if not more than it will push out the back through vent holes in the slot plate.

That said, on that same Amazon link is a fairly confident review of the single fan vs double fan.

[Radical Redemption]

Well, im really satisfied with MSI's "TWIN FROZR V" air cooling technology with two dual fan. The fans don't even start spinning unless it reaches at least 70 degrees celsius, but sometimes they are abit noisy.

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Empyrion and Dishonored: The Death of the Outsider are the only two games I have that actually make the 980Ti fans spin up to more than about 30%.