Personal Heater
Pros: DirectX 11
Cons: Hot, Loud
It's really hard trying to come up with some "pros" and "cons" when it comes to graphics cards and the rate at which most of them become "out-dated" (so to speak). When I say "out-dated", I am simply referring to the rate at which new cards appear on the market that yield better results. I will give you (the reader) a little background information in order for you to better understand this review and where I am coming from in order to compare my personal experience(s). I upgraded to Fermi from an eVGA GTX 280, and quickly did not regret my purchase, at the time, the main reason behind my upgrade because for Folding@Home, this card on it's own (GTX 480) was yielding 14-16k Points Per Day for me compared to 6-8k per day with the GTX 280. The only real and much noticeable difference was the heat this card was dumping/creating compared to the 280... There is a good reason behind why I titled this review as "Personal Heater", as this is exactly what this card was for me 
I suppose that in the Winter time this was not an issue at all; however, in the summer time, I found it unbearable to say the least (just for gaming) without having a fan on me. The reason I said that another con was "loud" was due to the fan noise... I leave my fan on 70% and it is fairly loud, unfortunately, while in game (BF3, the card temperatures will reach up to 86 degrees Celsius depending on the ambient temperature of the room, which is usually never above 22 degrees Celsius). The card itself on idle at 70% fan speed will be anywhere between 45 - 54 degrees Celsius.
Something that I would recommend for this is an after-market cooler
The only reason I give this card a 4/5, is because of the heat and noise it generates. Other than that, I cannot complain as I am to this day still using this card and I am able to keep up with the latest games that are being released.
I suppose that in the Winter time this was not an issue at all; however, in the summer time, I found it unbearable to say the least (just for gaming) without having a fan on me. The reason I said that another con was "loud" was due to the fan noise... I leave my fan on 70% and it is fairly loud, unfortunately, while in game (BF3, the card temperatures will reach up to 86 degrees Celsius depending on the ambient temperature of the room, which is usually never above 22 degrees Celsius). The card itself on idle at 70% fan speed will be anywhere between 45 - 54 degrees Celsius.
Something that I would recommend for this is an after-market cooler
The only reason I give this card a 4/5, is because of the heat and noise it generates. Other than that, I cannot complain as I am to this day still using this card and I am able to keep up with the latest games that are being released.
