Power-draw and temps
Power consumption| Power consumption - idle | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XFX HD 4890 OC 1,024MB | BFG GTX 260 896MB | NVIDIA GTX 275 896MB | BFG GTX 285 1,024MB | Sapphire HD 4890 XT 1,024MB | Sapphire HD 4870 1,024MB |
| 156 | 126 | 129 | 124 | 157 | 160 |
Our readings, measured at the wall, show that the Radeon HD 4890 XT and OC parts idle at about the same power-draw levels as the HD 4870. That's contrary to ATI's claims, but the numbers held up over both RV790 cards.
Idle power-draw is some 30W lower on comparable NVIDIA cards, which should be worrying from ATI's point of view.
| Power consumption - load (3D) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XFX HD 4890 OC 1,024MB | BFG GTX 260 896MB | NVIDIA GTX 275 896MB | BFG GTX 285 1,024MB | Sapphire HD 4890 XT 1,024MB | Sapphire HD 4870 1,024MB |
| 251 | 243 | 268 | 278 | 247 | 244 |
Under-load figures are better on the '90s, to the tune of ~20W when compared to GTX 275, so it's swings and roundabouts in the power-draw game.
Temperatures
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We noted that the fan profile for the Radeon HD 4890s is set to be more aggressive than on previous R4K cards. It makes them louder under load, but the advantage is that the GPU temperature drops considerably: enough to make ambient-to-load temps lower than on GTX 275.
