Graphics cards with active cooling

Active (fan)

— this category includes graphics cards equipped with active cooling of the air type.

Strictly speaking, all systems that forcibly remove heat from the cooled components are active (including water ones — see the relevant paragraph). However, specifically in graphics cards, this term is used mainly for air cooling. It is most often carried out at the expense of a cooler — a design that combines a fan (or several fans) and a radiator. The radiator is in direct contact with the cooled components and removes excess heat from them due to natural heat transfer; and the fans "blow" this heat from the radiator fins. The so-called blowers used in some high-end solutions work in a similar way; the difference lies in the fact that a special impeller is used instead of a fan, and the role of a radiator is actually played by a solid outer casing of the graphics card.

Anyway, it is this type of cooling that is most popular in modern graphics adapters. Active air systems are far superior to passive ones in terms of efficiency, they can be used even in high-performance models. And such systems favorably differ from water blocks not only by their low cost and compactness, but also by their battery life: the cooler or blower works by itself, while the water block requires an external water cooling system. However air cooling creates noise and consumes energy, unlike passive; and water it is somewhat inferior in efficiency. However, in most cases, these shortcomings are not of decisive importance and are “overwhelmed” by the advantages.