Hi guys,

there's an interesting blog post over at Anandtech which talks about this new line of graphics cards from Asus. I wrote a "little" comment, which turns out to be almost an essay.. ;)
Feel free to dicuss!

"I wholeheartly agree with Arbie! Good Anandtech guys, if you speak with Asus about this, please tell them that they've got something great there - but to make it a success they have to do much better than most of their utilities so far.

I want a tool which offers at least as much functionality for the power user as ATI Tray tool and which brings GPU voltage control for NV cards (F*ck overvolting - these GPU are hot enough, we need the ability to undervolt). Switching between profiles with a maximum of 2 clicks via a tray icon has to be possible as well as automatic switching, i.e. upon launch / exit of an app. And to round the package a non-power user has to be able to make good use of the presets. These are the basics which just have to work.

If they work properly we could take things a little further. There are 2 major problems which I find untouched since years:

- why always try to maximize fps? I'd so much prefer to set a target frame rate (and I choose if it's 30 or 300 fps) and if the GPU is fast enough in older games it could just throttle down a bit and save power and prolong its life and the life of my ears. I suspect this would require working together with NV though.

- GP-GPU: thanks to CUDA NV cards can now run folding@home and GPU-Grid under BOINC. However, these GPUs and their cooling systems are not build for such loads. Let NV say their chips are fine running at 70 or 90°C 24/7 - they're not.

What I have in mind here: either have a manufacturer spec or have this little Asus software run a test on your GPU (either at a specified temperature or a fixed fan speed, or both) which voltage it requires for which clock speed. With such a profile you could dynamically adjust clock and voltage according to

* needed performance in 3D, see above
* maximum allowed temperature and fan speed (i.e. crunching 24/7)

while always remaining in an efficient operating regime, i.e. not giving the GPU more voltage than it actually needs. This saves power, enables quieter systems and prolongs the life span of the cards.

On the software side this could be as easy as that: you open the tool, select "economic mode", it asks you for the maximum fan speed and maximum temperature (while suggesting reasonable presets). You have a slider for the fan speed where you can hear the noise live. When you click "apply" the tool asks you, if it should detect the optimal voltages for your specific GPU (would need proper safety margins here) or just use the values supplied by NV. Done is your 24/7 setup. There should also be an advanced option to set the voltages yourself ;) And there's of course the game profile, where you allow higher fan speeds and temperatures because this load is run for shorter times.

This idea may not be too revolutionary, because it's really just cool and quiet / speed step for GPUs .. but I had this idea since a looong time ;) And with the current move to "green" there might finally be an opportunity to make GPUs run efficiently!

(BTW: and why is the example 9800GT still using 30W in idle mode with the improvements?! It turns down voltage and clock speed and power mixer should switch unused parts of the chip off.. what's using so much power there?!)"

MrS
____________
Scanning for our furry friends since Jan 2002