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We have changed our method of measuring noise levels. We have built a system inside a Lian Li chassis with no case fans and have used a fanless cooler on our CPU. The motherboard is also passively cooled. This gives us a build with almost completely passive cooling and it means we can measure noise of just the graphics card inside the system when we run looped 3dMark tests.
Ambient noise in the room is around 20-25dBa. We measure from a distance of around 1 meter from the closed chassis and 4 foot from the ground to mirror a real world situation.
Why do this? Well this means we can eliminate secondary noise pollution in the test room and concentrate on only the video card. It also brings us slightly closer to industry standards, such as DIN 45635.
KitGuru noise guide
10dBA – Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves
20-25dBA – Whisper
30dBA – High Quality Computer fan
40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refridgerator
50dBA – Normal Conversation
60dBA – Laughter
70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer
80dBA – City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal
90dBA – Motorcycle or Lawnmower
100dBA – MP3 player at maximum output
110dBA – Orchestra
120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine
130dBA – Threshold of Pain
140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range)
160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum
The tiny fan on the AFOX HD7850 Single Slot cooler has to spin very high to maintain the thermal curve. As such the AFOX card is louder than the reference board under load. It is noticeably loud, especially when tasked with the synthetic Furmark suite.
The fan spins around 70 percent when gaming and this rises to 81 percent in Furmark.
When idle this drops to 20 percent which is basically inaudible.
single slot for a 7850 is quite impressive. ill not want them myself, but its a good idea to get your name noticed IMO. media fanbois should love this.
They would work well in the latest silverstone small form factor chassis. im tempted to build a second system now, with a liquid cooling system.
Its HOTTER, LOUDER and more power hungry. Even if its single slot, its a pretty big fail if u ask me.
im confused, are foxconn actually behind these or is it a different company? the name surely must mean they are linked in.
@ Maxwell.
Its less power hungry, did you read the graph wrong? also single slot cards are always going to be hotter and louder. unless they can suddenly develop new fan technology that is half the size/depth which miraculously is quieter. hasn’t happened.
@ Davis
AFOX are an off-shoot of the Foxconn brand. Originally set up as a graphics division to Foxconn it soon split and became its own company.