We take our noise measurements with the sound meter positioned 1 foot from the graphics card. I measured the noise floor to be 32 dBA, thus anything above this level can be attributed to the graphics cards. The power supply is passive for the entire power output range we tested all graphics cards in, while all CPU and system fans were disabled. A reading under load comes from running the 3DMark Time Spy stress test for 30 minutes.
In terms of noise levels, the 3070 Gaming X Trio is right up there with the quietest cards we’ve ever tested. We recorded noise output at 34dBa, which matches the RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio and means the card is effectively silent once installed in a case. Default fan behaviour, in case you’re interested, is to spin up to just 1400rpm, or 42%. It's overall hugely impressive stuff.