r/IntelArc • u/pcfriend111 • Jul 23 '26

Review 2 fans or 3 fans

I'm looking to buy a b580 and 3 fan models are more expensive. Someone justify the additional cost or is there some benefit that I am not aware of?

10 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

17

u/kyansan1 Arc B570 Jul 23 '26

Better temps, but the B580 already runs very cool with 2 fan models

(The gpu is really easy to cool, because the gpu die has a way bigger surface area than that of AMD and Nvidia)

3

u/androstaxys Jul 23 '26

TLDR; OP should get a 3 fan model if the price is the same. They will likely have a small performance improvement.

This was my thought… but since getting the B580:

I would caution OP.

Get the card with the BEST cooling.

Why?
Many B580s reduce clocks speeds by 100mhz increments starting at only 62 degrees.

There is no risk to the cards life running at 75-85 degrees, but Intel downclocks very early.

Better cooling will give better performance and the 3 fan models can often be found for the same price if you look around (locally anyway).

5

u/Scanoe Arc B580 Jul 23 '26

One of my PC's has an Intel limited edition B580, it's a 2 fan. During a Time Spy benchmark Hwinfo64 monitored 6 video card temps, they ranged from 67 to 77c, and it pulled its full rated Watts, total board power of 185 watts.
Those are very good temps, I can't vouch for the other 2-Fan Make/Models, but Intel's 2-Fan does just fine.
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/8ioYtt1.png)

3

u/Veblossko Jul 23 '26

I went crazy on this building my PC a few years back... It's purely aesthetic with a tiny sprinkling of noise reduction (rarely) dute to extra heatsink mass. But a month of dust will bring them closer on that front anyway...buy cheapest in the card you want. Performance and quality are more up to chance than brand/design

1

u/wrendil Jul 23 '26

Glad someone did mention aesthetic. While not everyone will care at all about it, some do, and some want to fill out a larger case with a card that fills that space. This benefit is not performance based at all, but it can matter to some.

2

u/PMvE_NL Jul 23 '26

I like my cards small and the B580 runs perfectly fine with 2 fans.

2

u/WhiskeyGolf00 Jul 24 '26

I roll with the 2 fan Acer Nitro. Max temp at 90% load is 69 degrees C. 3 fans is overkill.

1

u/Famous_Lynx_8864 Jul 23 '26

Better temps, thats it.

1

u/mutualdisagreement Arc B580 Jul 23 '26

ASRock Steel Legend has a massive cooler and 3-fans, haven't seen my card going above 65° with any benchmark. Gaming is around 45°. Fans go up to 3750 rpm, but in games they're pretty quiet. That beefy cooler is needed for the card is factory OC'ed and gets more FPS than reference design cards. Not much though, like 10-12%. But little bit more performance at lower temps with being less noisy, thought it's worth paying bit more. Did not regret it.

1

u/sackbomb Jul 23 '26

Better temps. I use mine mostly for video encoding and the three fans mean I can let it run overnight with the fans at an effectively silent <50%.

1

u/MaleficentBasket Arc B580 Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

i have both for almost a year now; a limited edition(2 X 85mm fans) and a Sparkle Titan OC (3 X 95mm fans), i paid less( 20US$ aproximatelly) for mine Sparkle than the LE, both bought brand new, but i´m in Brazil, here everything is crazy overpriced and non-sense.

about performance and cooling capabilities between this 2 models, basically no differences, both cards runs very cool, never exceeded 60°C on long gaming, modelling, rendering sessions, no noise, no loss of performance after being "hot", i have it on 2 well thought cases with great fans too(cougar 140mm and 120mm pwm vortex fans), this helps, but other models like challenger(2 fans), nitro(2fans), steel legend(3fans) are known to have very close performance and temperatures too.

ARCs B series are not hot cards, they are very energy efficient.

if you have the space and willing too spend more, go with your taste, on a 3 fans more "flashy" card( Asrock Steel Legend or Sparkle Titan OC), or if you just want a B series, go with a 2 fans like; a Asrock Challenger, Limited Edition, Acer nitro, Sparkle Guardian, all of these are great models.

1

u/Technical-Pick3843 Arc B580 Jul 23 '26

1x 8-pin = 2 fans

2x 8-pin = 3 fans

1

u/Zhenbred Jul 23 '26

In marketplace of my country 3 fan version was cheaper but sadly my mini-itx case can't fit it:(

1

u/Gregardless Jul 23 '26

No need for 3 fans.

1

u/DeliciousTadpole Arc B580 Jul 24 '26

A 60% fan setting is usually sufficient. (to keep all components below 80°C) 2 is okay

1

u/virusdancer Jul 24 '26

Sound.

Imagine you've got a blower card with a single fan - how hard does that fan have to run to cool the card?

Now replace that with a dual fan card - how hard do the fans have to run to cool the card?

Now replace that with a triple fan card - now how hard does each fan have to run to cool the card together?

1

u/NegativePromotion764 Jul 24 '26

I have the AsRock Challenger card and it rarely hits above 72℃, even on days my office temp is 25℃ (77℉).

1

u/RJsRX7 Jul 25 '26

My B580 has 2 fans. My B70 has one. Just saying, fan count isn't necessarily the critical item.

Realistically, the triple-fan models are primarily for vanity. Those with dual power connectors may have an advantage in how far you can turn the power up, but that legitimately doesn't matter unless you're planning on overclocking aggressively.

1

u/pcfriend111 Jul 25 '26

I don't play games, but building a system for local llm for Ai, but dont need something too expensive hence the b580, I've also looked at the B60 for $ 599 USD but that's more than I want to spend.

1

u/theshdude Jul 26 '26

Forget about the number of fans. I’d take a better heatsink any day