[Dobrescu George]

Come on.
 
This: 
 

 

[Dobrescu George]

Actually, the same nvidia Engineer seems to explain things better in here 
 

 

[seanwee]

Subbed!!!

 

[vantt1]

Just got four fans for my HTPC. I have two for intake and two for exhaust. Is this OK or is there a better configuration?
 

 

[DaveLT]

   
Don't worry about it. Maxwell was built specifically with efficiency in mind, so it's not surprising to see these numbers in comparison. 

 
There's obviously going to be small variances in power draw between same cards from different vendors because of different components, but more often than not, results like this mirror themselves quite closely from credible sites who run these benches at reference clocks/voltages.
 
If you account for the wattage being different because of a different test setup, you can still reference the different cards' power draws being similarly apart by percentage between reviews. Guru3D (the benchmark above with the blue bars) monitors their system power draw at a live baseline and compensates it with a full typical load only put on the GPU. TechPowerUp is even more accurate, measuring the power draw directly at the PCI-E power connectors and the PCI-E bus slot combined to bypass all other system components and factors.
 
The one condition where the GTX 970 draws slightly more power than the 380X is in peak and unrealistic loads (because of the higher power ceiling allowance which is very useful for overclockers), such as when stressed with FurMark. For all other purposes, it's often the other way around in power consumption. And It's been proven that the 970 is 20-30% faster, which would mean that the 970 is also around 20-30% more power efficient than the 380X.
 
Similarly, the 380 is not 20% faster nor is the 380X 30% faster than the GTX 960, so there's still a large power efficiency disparity there.
 
However it must be said that pricing-wise currently, the GTX 970 is about 25% more expensive than the 380X which makes them quite even in value, by pure performance per dollar standards (but both still having the same power consumption). And as you said the 3.5GB versus the 4GB may swing potential buyers toward AMD, for those who know about this "Nvidia Scandal". 

 (I personally won't forgive Nvidia for this technically false 4GB advertisement either) 

 

Huh? Last I checked GTX970 is floating around 280USD AFTER DISCOUNT while R9 380X is around 200USD BEFORE DISCOUNT unless you are looking at the overpriced brands.
And anyway you can't find many 380Xs and historically the non X is always the better value of the two.
 
Ay? I happen to know that games which show the 380x is not faster than the 960 happens to be ... "Nvidia optimized" Or basically nvidia is doing to the AMD what Intel did to AMD.
I'm looking at some prices for a ASUS R9 380 STRIX and it's 179 after MIR and 195 after MIR for a MSI GTX960 Gaming
 
 

  Just got four fans for my HTPC. I have two for intake and two for exhaust. Is this OK or is there a better configuration?
 

Hmm. It's somewhat chaotic. What two fans are pulling out is being sucked back in, it matters less at low speed but it's quite inefficient. Granted you don't have any ventilation so ... that might do. 

 

[Tangster]

  Just got four fans for my HTPC. I have two for intake and two for exhaust. Is this OK or is there a better configuration?
 

Are those the only fan mounts? A traditional push pull would be better/

 

[vantt1]

 
Hmm. It's somewhat chaotic. What two fans are pulling out is being sucked back in, it matters less at low speed but it's quite inefficient. Granted you don't have any ventilation so ... that might do. 

They are going to be driven at low speed, so it should be fine I think. Maybe making them all intakes will be more efficient.
 

Originally Posted by Tangster /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Are those the only fan mounts? A traditional push pull would be better/

Yes, strangely the case only has 4 x 80 mm mounts all on one side of the case. The only other fans are for the CPU and PSU. If they were all arranged as intakes pushing air through the case, that should create positive air pressure inside and exhaust at the PCI slots, the grille above the CPU and on the opposite side. That way I can also install fan filters down the line to reduce dust buildup.
 
 

 

[Kitmellow]

  Huh? Last I checked GTX970 is floating around 280USD AFTER DISCOUNT while R9 380X is around 200USD BEFORE DISCOUNT unless you are looking at the overpriced brands.
And anyway you can't find many 380Xs and historically the non X is always the better value of the two.
 
Ay? I happen to know that games which show the 380x is not faster than the 960 happens to be ... "Nvidia optimized" Or basically nvidia is doing to the AMD what Intel did to AMD.
I'm looking at some prices for a ASUS R9 380 STRIX and it's 179 after MIR and 195 after MIR for a MSI GTX960 Gaming
 

 
Going by the prices on Newegg.com, the cheapest I could find was $230 for the 380X and $290 for the GTX 970, which is a 26% price difference that justifies itself in performance per dollar.
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131687&cm_re=380x-_-14-131-687-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127833&cm_re=gtx_970-_-14-127-833-_-Product
 
Perhaps the reason the price is like this is because as you said, the 380X's are harder to find. 

 
There are some good refurbished deals for the GTX 960 too at $155 but the cheapest R9 380 I can find on there is $180. 
 
 

  Just got four fans for my HTPC. I have two for intake and two for exhaust. Is this OK or is there a better configuration?
 

 
Looks like SilverStone ML04... Not traditional in terms of layout, but inline with HTPC and server types. 

 
I think your setup is already good considering your mounting options. Since hot air rises and cooler air sinks, your current setup is still going to be rather neutral which is a good thing (since it was designed to be laid on its current side). It should exhaust warm air properly, without feeding back into the intake airflow loop much. If you're worried about it, put a divider outside the case between the intake and exhaust haha. 

 
I do not recommend using all intake or all exhaust fans. Using all intake fans would not only create excessive dust buildup, degrade cooling and increase maintenance (even with fan filters installed), but since your CPU fan is a stock top-down blower, using all intakes fans would mean that the only exhaust area would be the PCI-E brackets. This isn't adequate for the amount of intake power.
 
On the other hand, using all exhaust fans would create a situation where there's not enough intake pressure to be efficient for given the amount of exhaust power. 
 
The only way to get optimal efficiency is with the overall lack of positive or negative pressure having just smooth and balanced airflow both sides. As long as the pressure of air going inside and outside the case are equal, that means it has the least resistance and is also the most efficient setup. You do not want to create additional resistance inside the case with the wrong balance of intake and exhaust fans. This means that means your two intakes and two exhausts are prime.
 
If you want to get even higher efficiency, stand the case upright on its front face so that the two exhaust fans will only exhaust warmer air upwards while the bottom two intake fans constantly suck in cooler air for better separation and slightly better ambient case temperatures.
 
 
Honestly though, it doesn't matter that much... as long as sources of airflow are present (i.e. fans), air will find its way around regardless and circulate properly as tested in the video below. 

 
 
 
 
EDIT: Consider buying yourself a dust filter at the very least for your power supply if not all your intake fans too. If you lay your PC on its side, the PSU intakes air so close to the floor that it could get quite nasty and heat up with dust clogged in, forcing the PSU fan to spin to higher RPMs/be noisier.
 
A $2-$5 fan filter is all it takes to extend the life of your power supply, since it can be dangerous and bothersome to open up and clean.

 

[Dobrescu George]

Is anyone here a pro on constructing a PC? Especially a small one? 
 
With freaking 1080 coming, I am going to build a portable PC instead of buying laptop. Seems smartger at the moment. 
 
I wanted to use a Fractal Node 202 Case + 6700K + 1080 GPU, but I am not sure if all of these have enough space inside node 202. 

 

[Duncan]

How big are the 1080 cards? It's getting a bit vulgar how long they're getting... 980ti is sat at 32cm long...

 

[Tangster]

10.5" or 26.7cm according to Nvidia specs.

 

[Dobrescu George]

  10.5" or 26.7cm according to Nvidia specs.

 

How big are the 1080 cards? It's getting a bit vulgar how long they're getting... 980ti is sat at 32cm long...

 
 
Does it fit inside a node 202 then ? 

 

[Kitmellow]

How big are the 1080 cards? It's getting a bit vulgar how long they're getting... 980ti is sat at 32cm long...

 
32cm? Wow that must be an OP version of the 980 TI.

 
Reference Design for all consumer Nvidia flagships is limited to 10.5 inches as per spec, which is 26.67cm
 

   
 
 
Does it fit inside a node 202 then ? 

 
Yes it will fit no problem lol. 

1.  
2. Graphics card compatibility: Maximum dimension of graphics card is 310x145x47mm (LxHxD) 

​http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/node-series/node-202 
 
 
You'll need to find a good Mini-ITX motherboard, a good monitor and peripherals to go with it though.
 
Oh, and if you are planning to overclock your Skylake/Kaby Lake CPU with an overclocked GTX 1080 as well, the stock 450W power supply it comes with won't be enough, so you could have problems finding a replacement PSU of that size since you need an even higher energy density in that small SFX form factor... 

 

 

[Dobrescu George]

   
32cm? Wow that must be an OP version of the 980 TI.

 
Reference Design for all consumer Nvidia flagships is limited to 10.5 inches as per spec, which is 26.67cm
 
Yes it will fit no problem lol. 

1.  
2. Graphics card compatibility: Maximum dimension of graphics card is 310x145x47mm (LxHxD) 

​http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/node-series/node-202 
 
 
You'll need to find a good Mini-ITX motherboard, a good monitor and peripherals to go with it though.
 
Oh, and if you are planning to overclock your Skylake/Kaby Lake CPU with an overclocked GTX 1080 as well, the stock 450W power supply it comes with won't be enough, so you could have problems finding a replacement PSU of that size since you need an even higher energy density in that small SFX form factor... 

 

 
Laptops never had this problem XD
 
Well... 
 
A P870 Clevo laptop comes with OC 6700K + OC 980 200W + display + all other components from a power brick of 330W. I thought that having 450W in a node202 will be an excess. 

 

[NamelessPFG]

http://www.techpowerup.com/222326/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1080-does-away-with-d-sub-vga-support
 
Well, crap. I knew it was gonna happen eventually, but this means the 980 Ti and Titan X are now the highest-end cards that retain VGA and a built-in RAMDAC. Guess the FW900 faithful are gonna have to invest in HDFury adapters now.
 
I suppose that by the time I actually have to replace my GTX 980 for performance reasons come Volta or the gen after, 2560x1440 144+ Hz G-SYNC monitors won't be stupid overpriced with horrible QC problems anymore, so I would hope...