Following on from our stock thermal and acoustic testing, here we re-test the operating temperature of the GPU, but with noise levels normalised to 40dBa. This allows us to measure the efficiency of the overall cooling solution as varying noise levels as a result of more aggressive fan curves are no longer a factor.
To hit 40dBa noise output, we increased fan speed up to 1780rpm, or 48%. That resulted in the best RTX 4090 thermal performance yet, with the GPU at 61.8c and the Hot Spot at 69.5C, making it about 2c cooler than the Inno3D X3 OC. Memory thermals, meanwhile, hit 68C, so that's another 2 degree reduction against the Inno3D.