Asus GTX580 Direct CU II Review – the ultimate 580?

The tests were performed in a controlled air conditioned room with temperatures maintained at a constant 25c – a comfortable environment for the majority of people reading this.

Idle temperatures were measured after sitting at the desktop for 30 minutes. Load measurements were acquired by playing Crysis Warhead for 30 minutes and measuring the peak temperature. We also have included Furmark results, recording maximum temperatures throughout a 30 minute stress test. All fan settings were left on automatic.

These are fantastic results and a testament to the Direct CU II cooler. The card, under load peaks at 68c when gaming and thanks to the dual fan design it isn't generating much noise at all. The bios profile isn't aggressive when loaded with Furmark, the fans stop at a specific speed, which means the card temperature will rise to 78c, although this is not indicative of a real world scenario.

Return to ambient is a feature we have recently added to our reviews … we measure the time it takes for a solution to return to idle temperatures, immediately after full load. The faster the time, the better the cooler – for example a Noctua NH D14 cooler will return an Intel processor to idle temperatures much faster than a reference cooler. This is a good indication of how quickly a heatsink can dissipate heat.

Even with a noise sensitive fan profile, the dual solution helps to reduce temperatures much quicker than a single fan solution (which is around 28 seconds with our recent testing). Fantastic.

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