Graphics Card Noise Comparison

[billysielu]

I'm trying to find a new graphics card.

I currently have a 5870 Vapour-X and I CAN'T HEAR IT. People have told me their cards are QUIET, then I go round their house and it sounds like a tornado in comparison to my card.

The point I'm trying to make, is we need to QUANTIFY the noise levels. It's not sufficient to base a purchase on someone saying a card is quiet.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE w/ CHERRY ON TOP

OC3D - Find a way to quantify noise levels, in a reproducable and comparable way. That is the most important feature of a card for me - if given everything "560 Ti and above" to choose from, I would choose the quietest - but I don't know which is the quietest!

You can probably use the same method for coolers and cases, 3 birds with 1 stone yo

 

[sheroo]

The only real way to do it is by having an anechoic chamber and taking precise measurements with a sound level meter. Othewise you'll only ever get subjective comments about sound and noise levels. There are sites out there that dedicate themselves to quiet computing and have such equipment. But I still think that we have a way to go before quiet computing combined with full on gaming becomes the de facto standard.

 

[SmoulderingCircuits]

There are some midrange cards with slab/ fanless heatsinks on them but I can't remember exactly which ones. Try a few fanless mid range cards rather than one noisey beast

 

[jonowee]

Different people, different tolerances. For me, my noise tolerance is quite low, 1200RPM is my upper limit for most 120mm case fans (Scythe Gentle Typhoons being the only exceptions for higher RPMs). Some people feel the 2000 RPM under load on Thermaltake Frio or Coolermaster V6 GT bearable, but I just find them offensive.

I'd rather downclock for less folding PPD and have quiet folding for me and the computer to be in the same room.

As for current generation cards, Nvidia pulled their head out of their arse for the 5xx series, while AMD buried the 69xx in that Nvidia 4xx orifice for heat then noise. Open body, non-reference cooled cards will help with the noise, but if the chip is a hot one, the fans will still ramp up to keep up.