Asus has unveiled a new GeForce 6600 DDR2 graphics card with a twist. Typically, graphics cards have their processors on the topside of the card, and when fitted in a standard computer case have their GPU cooling solutions facing downward. We all know that heat rises, so naturally this is not optimal for cooling the GPU, as some heat is allowed to return.

To counter this, the Asus Extreme N6600TOP Silent graphics card has the GPU installed on the backside and fitted with a heat pipe. Asus is calling this new cooling method ReverseCool, and boasts that it allows for temperatures up to 30 degrees cooler while remaining completely silent, which could prove very attractive for gamers craving a near silent computing environment.

The N6600TOP comes clocked at 400MHz on the core. Its 256MB DDR2 memory is clocked at 800MHz, putting performance in between the standard GeForce 6600 and 6600 GT. Rear connectors include DVI, D-sub, and TV-Out. Given the overclocking ability of the GeForce 6600 DDR2, I'm very anxious to see the first reviews of this card appear.

Although the card is listed in Asus's website, pricing and availability details were not available.

Forum member b3njo also posted this in our BPN.  Thanks!

News source: X-bit Labs





There are 27 additional comments
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(4 replies) Quote this comment Reply to this comment #1 Posted by raskren on 04 Jan 2006 - 02:43
And all that heat goes right into the CPU heatsink!

Well, that's what the GPU makers have been saying for the last 10 years.
Quote this comment #1.1 Posted by denzilla on 04 Jan 2006 - 02:46
I always wondered why they never did that and then I came to the same conclucion you did

Heats becoming a big issue for GPUs now. I just RMA'd my crappy x700Pro because even in a well ventilated case it enjoyed 70c.
Quote this comment #1.2 Posted by raskren on 04 Jan 2006 - 03:30
Some hardware site interviewed an engineer at one of the major GPU mfgs and that's the answer he gave. It really makes no sense though. Since heat rises you can either have the heat accumulate underneath the video card and eventually rise up to the cpu, or (with an inverted gpu) have the heat rise up immediately [or buy an Arctic Cool Ati/NV silencer and exhaust the heat out the back of the case].
Quote this comment #1.3 Posted by sphbecker on 04 Jan 2006 - 15:45
It seems like getting the heat off the GPU board as soon as possible would be the best solution. Processors don't tend to run as hot as GPUs and they normally have much more room for larger heatsinks, so I am not too worried about the heat build-up. As the previous poster pointed out, the heat is going to raise either way. This idea just gets it into the computer's air stream sooner and probibly helps keep the GPU memory a little cooler.
Quote this comment #1.4 Posted by Aaronz0rz on 05 Jan 2006 - 01:19
when i look at the inside of my case
the ventilation seems to go more through the area between CPU and GPU
there isnt any outtake below the videocard, this makes perfect sence, with good fans especially
Quote this comment Reply to this comment #2 Posted by )(RockerBoy on 04 Jan 2006 - 02:44
Nice
Quote this comment Reply to this comment #3 Posted by DirtyLarry on 04 Jan 2006 - 02:45
It does in theory make a lot of sense actually.
However one just has to wonder if this innovation has been around years as the article states, why has it not been used until now?
Quote this comment Reply to this comment #4 Posted by Section 31 on 04 Jan 2006 - 02:54
Maybe GPU companies are sticking with the "traditional" way to make GPUs.
Quote this comment Reply to this comment #5 Posted by joeydoo on 04 Jan 2006 - 03:12
The best Way to fix the problem would be to install cards flat in-line with the motherboard rather than perpendicular to it. But then you wouldn't have any room left for other boards so..... that doesn't work either.
(1 reply) Quote this comment Reply to this comment #6 Posted by raskren on 04 Jan 2006 - 03:27
As much as everyone around here hates Intel, I have to say that BTX is the smart solution to the inverted video "problem".
Quote this comment #6.1 Posted by bob_c_b on 04 Jan 2006 - 03:42
BTX is a great solution and I am willing to bet we will see AMD with BTX boards soon. Every major OEM offers BTX form factor now (Dell, HP, IBM, Sony) so it is only a matter of time and when set up correctly cools really well.
Quote this comment Reply to this comment #7 Posted by divertom15 on 04 Jan 2006 - 03:30
the perspose would be defeated if you put it in a BTX system right?
Quote this comment Reply to this comment #8 Posted by ipodman715 on 04 Jan 2006 - 03:46
Now that's smart! :p
(3 replies) Quote this comment Reply to this comment #9 Posted by Hooya on 04 Jan 2006 - 04:06
And I just bought an MSI 6600GT. I might have bought this if I would have known about it.

Then again, is this thing going to be PCI-E and SLI compatible? I assume so, since that's the way things are headed.
Quote this comment #9.1 Posted by Pc_Madness on 04 Jan 2006 - 07:21
Whats the point with SLI though? The second card will just pour heat onto the first. :
Quote this comment #9.2 Posted by Nikolic on 04 Jan 2006 - 09:37
At the moment, the top SLI card pours heat onto the bottom card - so it wouldn't really make any difference.
Quote this comment #9.3 Posted by martinj on 04 Jan 2006 - 10:08
To PC_Madness and to Nikolic DUG
You have one card putting heat up (the top one) and the bottom one putting heat down. No????
Quote this comment Reply to this comment #10 Posted by soothsayer on 04 Jan 2006 - 04:50
I can't believe it took someone this long to figure this out. I've been saying they should do this for a while now. Anyway, this is good news.
Quote this comment Reply to this comment #11 Posted by groingo2 on 04 Jan 2006 - 04:56
It's one of those DUH innovations, so simple yet nobody else ever did anything with it...hope it works well and catches on!
Quote this comment Reply to this comment #12 Posted by mko on 04 Jan 2006 - 04:59
Most high end video cards already use air ducting cooling methods, so whether or not the GPU is on top, the heat should technically be exhausted outside of the case before it reaches the CPU. My case has a empty PCI slot above the topmost AGP/PCI slot on my motherboard, so a video card with ducting should hopefully work.
Quote this comment Reply to this comment #13 Posted by tiwaris on 04 Jan 2006 - 06:50
I would call it use of common sense (which is not so common )
Quote this comment Reply to this comment #14 Posted by fr33k on 04 Jan 2006 - 07:01
Now you won't have to put your face on the floor, and tip the case to see if the GPU fan is running
plus you will be able to see all the fancy graphics printed on the fan shroud that attracted you to the card when you bought it
(1 reply) Quote this comment Reply to this comment #15 Posted by Nave on 04 Jan 2006 - 10:44
I am not so sure about this. For all I know fans on the heatsinks that I have blow INTO the heatsinks. The fans that I am using try to increase the air flow between the fins of the heatsink. Exhaust air flows out of the bottom of the heatsink and rise around the fan. Believe it or not, if you have the fan backwards, aka pulling air out of the heatsink, effciently is decreased. It made about 10 degrees' difference on my athlon XP 2800+. Sometimes these kinds of stuff goes against intuitions one may have regarding heat flow.
Getting the GPU to the other side is not exactly the issue IMHO. How it apparently sucks in the already hot air that flows out of the CPU and blow it into the graphics card is not the best way to cool stuff down.
I for one wish the BTX factor can do its catching-on more quickly.
Quote this comment #15.1 Posted by jon86 on 04 Jan 2006 - 13:04
This graphics card is passively cooled, not actively cooled.
Quote this comment Reply to this comment #16 Posted by CeL_dAmAgE on 04 Jan 2006 - 17:39
This is interesting, a lot of overclocking potential with this one, huh?
Quote this comment Reply to this comment #17 Posted by lylesback2 on 04 Jan 2006 - 21:55
common sence has finally hit ASUS   i need a very good video card, and this may be what im looking for.

Quote this comment Reply to this comment #18 Posted by travl0r on 06 Jan 2006 - 19:37
it's all about the overclocking potential
let's wait and see
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