NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 Cooler Round Up Zotac AMP! vs GELID Icy Vision vs Stock Linus Tech Tips

The video conducts a focused, side-by-side comparison of three GTX 480 cooling solutions. It starts with a setup description, noting that both the Zotac AMP! Edition and GELID Icy Vision coolers are triple-slot designs and visually explaining that the stock GeForce GTX 480 uses a dual-slot cooler which exhausts air back into the case. The creator runs FurMark in extreme burn mode to establish under-load temperatures and uses MSI Afterburner to monitor, while keeping the same overclock across all cards for a fair test. The Zotac AMP! Edition demonstrates a notable temperature advantage, reaching a maximum of around 72°C with a much smaller delta relative to ambient when run at 80% fan speed, and it remains very quiet compared to the stock cooler. By contrast, the GELID Icy Vision shows higher GPU temperatures and noisier operation under the same conditions, stabilizing around 80°C with fans around 57-80%, and its noise is described as pulsating in close cases. The host then emphasizes the Delta temperature (room to GPU), explaining how it translates into real-world GPU temperatures depending on ambient room conditions, and concludes that, for GTX 480 cooling, buying an AMP! Edition card may offer similar performance with lower noise and better acoustics than adding an aftermarket cooler to a stock card. Overall, the verdict favors the Zotac AMP! Edition for best temperature headroom and quiet operation, while noting that the Gelid Icy Vision is still a viable option for users needing cooler compatibility with other GPUs, but is not as consistent or quiet in this specific test. The video closes with practical takeaways on what the results mean for overclocking headroom, case airflow implications, and the trade-offs between purchasing a pre-built upgraded card versus retrofitting an existing GPU with a third-party cooler.

Topics · hardware · technology_reviews · graphics_cards · computer_hardware