What you need to know
- AMD will move away from blower-style coolers for its next generation of GPUs.
- Instead, AMD could use axial-fan cooling systems.
- Many NVIDIA GPUs and some AMD GPUs already have axial-fan cooling systems.
AMD might move towards axial-fan cooling systems for its next generation of GPUs (via PC Gamer). Keen eyes noticed an image within a slide from AMD that teased the Big Navi reference design. The design showed off a GPU without a blower, causing many to speculate online about AMD's future cooling solutions.
One person pointed out on Reddit that the card shown doesn't have a blower. AMD's vice president and general manager of the Radeon Business Unit, Scott Herkelman, confirmed the change in a follow-up comment, stating, "There will be no blower reference fans for gamers on next gen. So you are correct ;)." Herkelman added more details in another comment:
Our AIBs may choose to do a "blower" design on any of the next gen GPUs, however, the majority of feedback we received from the community at the launch of 5700 XT on AMD reference designs has guided us towards dual/tri-axial designs. I'm excited for you all to see them when the time is right!
Based on these comments, it's clear that AIBs can make GPUs with a blower in the next generation, but that AMD leans towards a dual or tri-axial design. Axial fans generally cool systems better than blower fans, though that's not always the case. Additionally, axial fans usually run more quietly than blower fans.
PC Gamer points out that AMD has some designs with axial fans, such as the Radeon VII (Vega), but that generally, its hardware features blower-style fans. One of AMD's primary competitors, NVIDIA, already uses axial fans in several GPUs.
For now, be sure to have a look at the best of what AMD has to offer in our collection of the best graphics card options.
