NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 MSI Cyclone Cooler vs PNY Stock Cooler Linus Tech Tips

The video opens with Linus explaining the setup and goal: to compare the cooling and acoustics of two GeForce GTS 450 variants, the MSI Cyclone cooler and the PNY stock cooler, under load and idle conditions. He notes that the Cyclone cooler is more open and exhales less air outside the case, which gives it an advantage on an open test platform, whereas the PNY card uses a shrouded design that exhausts more air outside the case. The testing method uses Furmark-like load with four times anti-aliasing to stress the GPUs while monitoring temperatures and fan speeds, and he also discusses the implications of case airflow when the cards are installed in a typical chassis. Early results show the MSI Cyclone maintaining cool temperatures around 48 C under 100 percent GPU usage with the fan around 53 percent, and the fan rpm behavior is described as responsive yet manageable. Linus then shifts to a quieter idle scenario, noting that the Cyclone becomes nearly silent at idle, with room temperature context provided to frame the intake air temperature. He contrasts this with the PNY reference card, which shows higher GPU temperatures under load but keeps fan RPMs around 30 percent, suggesting a very quiet operation due to a tuned fan profile. The discussion acknowledges that these are not perfect apples-to-apples comparisons due to differing cooling designs, and hints at future tests including possibly increasing fan speed for both cards to explore temperature responses further. Finally, a brief note is added about the full-speed noise level of the Cyclone, with the caveat that the open-air test setup does not fully mimic a case environment, and an invitation to stay tuned for additional overclocking results.

Topics · technology · hardware · gpu · cooling · acoustics