Whether you are building a gaming rig for your gaming fantasies or a high-end working computer to manage your excessive workload, GPU is the main component of focus in any PC.
However, GPUs come in a variety of sizes, shapes, designs, and performances. When deciding on which GPU to go for, one of the main confusion often people get is which variant of the GPU to go for.
This article will highlight all the major differences in hopes of making your choice between single fan vs dual-fan GPU easy as per your requirements.
Single Fan vs Dual Fan GPU Comparison
The comparison between both the GPUs will be based on their size, cooling technology, performance, noise levels, and last but not the least, their prices.
Both the GPUs have their positive as well as negative aspects all of which will be discussed in the following part.
Performance Degradation Due To Heat
Performance is the first and foremost element to differentiate between both. To keep it simple for everyone, you will not feel any difference in performance when you run both GPUs for a short amount of time.
However, you will notice a visible difference when you keep them running for longer periods as the Graphics card tend to produce noticeable heat which is more efficiently handled by a dual fan GPU than the single fan GPU.
Due to a poor ventilation system in a single fan graphics card, you will notice much more thermal throttling in performance, on the contrary, dual-fan graphics cards won’t have to deal with such issues.
My Preference Based on Performance of The Cards
If you are planning a PC that you are gonna use for longer periods of gaming or working, the dual fan GPU should be your priority.
You will get much better performance with a dual fan GPU because of its ability to maintain its temperature for a longer period.
Cooling Technology
This is one of the most significant and striking differences which you should carefully look into while deciding on your future GPU. Both the GPUs have different ways of functioning to remove heat from themselves.
In Single Fan GPU’s
A single fan GPU uses a blower-type cooling technology which means that the single fan it has sucks cold air into it and then forces it to pass through the heat sink before letting it out of the PC casing through its vents at the base.
Putting it simply, it removes the warm air from the casing by expelling it through the card’s base.
In Dual Fan GPU’s
A dual-fan GPU uses an open-air cooling technology which implies that both the fans remove the hot air coming from its heatsink and release that air inside the casing from its top and bottom part.
In this way, the hot air is released inside the casing and it relies on the cooling ability of the casing to remove that heat lingering inside the case.
Overall Cooling Of The System
A single fan GPU, although removing heat from the casing, does not provide as good cooling as a dual-fan GPU, whereas, on the other hand, a dual-fan GPU completely relies on the cooling capability of the casing for the cooling.
My Opinion Regarding Cooling Technology of The Cards
If you own a pre-built PC from a company that does not have a decent cooling system inside, you should go for the single fan GPU, whereas, if you do not own a pre-built PC and have your custom rig with several cooling fans in the casing then you should go for the dual fan GPU.
Noise Levels
As your GPU continues working, it draws more and more power from the power supply to maintain its performance, while doing so, it produces more and more heat.
Now, since both the GPUs have the same performance (considering you are comparing the same model GPU) the single fan GPU has to work more to match the performance of its dual fan counterpart. While doing so, it produces a lot more noise than the dual fan GPU.
On the other hand, the fans on the dual fan GPU spin comparatively slower and hence make a little less noise while maintaining their performance at the same time.
Thoughts on Noise Levels of The Cards
Well, this is pretty straightforward, GPUs that have single fans are bound to spin much faster than the individual fans on the dual fan GPU and hence are noisier. This is why I recommend going for the dual fan GPU if you want quiet and silence inside your casing.
Size Do Matters!
Choosing between the dimension specifications in terms of size can be a tricky business, especially if you are very conscious of aesthetics.
Because the size has a great impact on how your casing looks and also decides if you will have room for future upgrades like cooling fans or not.
An average single fan GPU’s length is around 170mm while a dual fan GPU can have a length of up to 200mm at least.
So you get the idea, that a single fan GPU can easily fit in your motherboard and casing while this may not be the case with a dual-fan graphics card because of the obvious reason.
My Suggestion Regarding The Size Of A Graphics Card
Based on just their sizes, I prefer the single fan GPU. First, it can fit in almost any size of motherboard and casing.
Not to forget that dual Fan Graphics cards are considerably bulky, so you have to take the “GPU SAG” into the account.
Secondly, it will leave a lot of spare room if one wants to install fans or another GPU in the future.
Price Comparison
The simple comparison is that the dual fan GPUs, since providing you a much better experience regarding their performance, are much more expensive than the single fan GPUs.
The single fan GPU might be available at a lower price because obviously, it would have fewer components in it, causing the manufacturer less production budget to create that graphics card.
Conclusion
In my point of view, if you are looking to keep your casing clean with a lot of room to spare for fans or other upgrades, you should go for the single fan GPU.
Whereas, if you are looking for that edge in performance without having to worry about the GPU’s life, the dual fan GPU is the way to go.
Moreover, if you are more inclined toward cooling technology I think the dual fan GPU is a much better choice for you.
However, if you are a bit short on money and are willing to compromise on the performance a bit, then the single fan GPU is the product for you.
This is all I could compile for you. I hope this article helped you regarding the topic of “single fan vs dual fan GPU” and I hope that after going through this article, you are now clear on what product suits you best.
Is a single fan GPU good for gaming?
Single fan GPUs will provide you the same performance as their dual fan counterparts for short intervals of gaming. Whereas, the single fan GPU is not considered optimal for longer gaming periods because it gets overheated.
