Conclusions And Recommendations

Several results emerge from our comparison of TV tuner/capture cards. First, it’s clear that new generation devices run hotter than old ones (46° C versus between 34° C and 42° C). That observation must be tempered by the relatively diminutive sizes of the newer devices, because new generation capsules are more than an order of magnitude smaller by volume than their old generation counterparts - between 24 and 33 times smaller by ratio, in fact. To our way of thinking, a smaller device operating at a somewhat higher temperature introduces less overall heat inside a PC case than a much larger one operating at a lower temperature.

To supply case temperatures, we measured at all four corners at the top of a mid-tower case and at the mid-point between front and back at each edge. We then took the average of those six readings to provide the value shown in the final column of the preceding table. We think these numbers help to prove our contention that bigger tuner capsules running at lower temperatures output more heat overall than small capsules at hotter temps. The only anomaly in that data is the Leadtek card, but as it’s the newest of the old generation TV tuner/capture cards in our test batch, it probably benefits from more compact circuitry elsewhere on the board, as well as one of the coolest operating temperatures in the table.

Returning again to the table of values presented earlier, it’s crystal clear from readings for the AVerMedia M780 combo tuner that newer, smaller tuner capsules now operate at temperature ranges equivalent to those of CPUs and GPUs. That’s why we recommend using TV tuner cards, either old or new generation models, in cases where nearby fans can move air across them - preferably on its way out an exhaust ventilation port in fairly close proximity, and preferably via big, slow-moving fans that make very little noise.

Now that we’ve worked all the way through this exercise, hopefully it’s become more understandable why the Hush PC we discussed at the outset of this article had trouble coping with two old generation tuner capsules in the close confines of that enclosure, right next to a graphics card with its own GPU. Alas, the motherboard in that build is too old to include a PCIe x1 slot for us to try the AVerMedia M780 combo card instead. With several PCI combo cards that incorporate the same kinds of capsules now available on the market, though, expect us to follow up soon and let you know if they also cause that Hush unit to overheat or not. They are on their way to our test labs, so it should be interesting to find out!