Reference design graphics cards ?

[Willis]

Confused when a card has Reference after it.

Whats it mean, sorry been out of the loop on old PC stuff

 

[dave_beast]

Confused when a card has Reference after it.

Whats it mean, sorry been out of the loop on old PC stuff

Reference is the first of a new card that has a "standardised" layout, usually made by only 1 or two partners, eg Sapphire/MSI etc to the exact same specification as set by the manufacturer, eg AMD or NVIDIA. All boards will have exactly the same layout.

Reference designs usually have water wheel type coolers, as opposed to normal cooling fans on after market cards, such as the MSI 7970 lightning.

AFAIK, there are only water cooling blocks available for reference design cards, with the very rare non ref block.

Reference 7970

Non reference

 

[Willis]

Thanks for the info Dave.

 

[dave_beast]

No problem matey, have fun choosing a GPU

 

[ishoeyi]

whats usually better?

 

[thezakarum]

Both have they're pros and cons.

Reference cards usually run a little hotter but act as another exhaust removing hot air from inside the case.

While the non reference cards usually run cooler but don't act as an exhaust and dumps all the heat inside the case, they usually require good case air flow because of it.

Hope this helps.

 

[KatanaDV20]

Thanks Dave thats a good explain

I was wondering about this also

 

[tobsmonster2]

whats usually better?

Depends on your needs.

Non-reference cards:

• Usually keep your GPU temps lower
• Usually offer better overclocking potential
• Are often quieter
• Usually dump a lot of hot air into your case, and around your other components

Reference cards:

• Dump most of your cards heat out the back of the case (helpful in small cases/htpc's)
• Easy to watercool thanks to an abundance of compatible water blocks
• That's about it^

If you've got a case with good cooling (i.e fans to move the hot air out), then non-reference are usually better. Even if they do cost a little more.

EDIT: thezakarum beat me to it

 

[Cleeecooo]

Reference is the first of a new card that has a "standardised" layout, usually made by only 1 or two partners, eg Sapphire/MSI etc to the exact same specification as set by the manufacturer, eg AMD or NVIDIA. All boards will have exactly the same layout.
Pretty much all cards on realease are reference with on refs springing up after a few weeks.

AFAIK, there are only water cooling blocks available for reference design cards, with the very rare non ref block.

Very rare, no. All popular cards will have waterblocks made for them if the demand is there.

eg, GTX 570 2.5gb's

 

[KatanaDV20]

Why are the reference cards good at dumping hot air to the outside but the blinged-up multi-fan non-ref ones are rubbish at it? Is it because the ref-cards have just one fan and an exhaust port on the back but the non-refs dont have an external exhaust port (only monitor inputs) on the back?

Pity they dont design em to have an outlet to vent to the outside!!

 

[tobsmonster2]

Why are the reference cards good at dumping hot air to the outside but the blinged-up multi-fan non-ref ones are rubbish at it? Is it because the ref-cards have just one fan and an exhaust port on the back but the non-refs dont have an external exhaust port (only monitor inputs) on the back?

Pity they dont design em to have an outlet to vent to the outside!!

If you look at the pictures above, you can pretty much see why.

On the reference cards the shroud covers the length of the card, so when air gets pulled in through the front, the only place it can go is out the back. With the non-reference cards, the fans draw air down onto the metal heat sink fins and then out into your case. There is no shroud to guide the air.

 

[KatanaDV20]

If you look at the pictures above, you can pretty much see why.

On the reference cards the shroud covers the length of the card, so when air gets pulled in through the front, the only place it can go is out the back. With the non-reference cards, the fans draw air down onto the metal heat sink fins and then out into your case. There is no shroud to guide the air.

Ahh ok thanks mate I was always under the impression that the non-refs were better at cooling because of blinged coolers and twins fans. While that may hold true for the GPU its not true for the rest of the case...something I only now realize lol.