KitGuru KitGuru.net – Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards
Recently 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. We are using a heatpipe based passive power supply and an Intel SSD to keep noise levels to a minimum. The motherboard is also passively cooled. This gives us a build with 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 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
Idle noise is recorded at just under 30dBa which wouldn't be audible in the majority of systems. When gaming it rises to around 37 dBa which is clearly audible although not annoying. Furmark pushes the fan around 5c higher causing an additional 0.9dBa. This isn't the quietest board we have tested, but it is not going to annoy a gamer.
I have owned several asus cards and they always have served me well. this looks a solid purchase with a fine price. cant beat £159.99 ! (well you could, £99.99 – talk to them zardon :p).
Very nice indeed. good performance all round. Quick question however, why 3 screen testing, who the hell can afford 3 monitors?
Rather boring looking board, but it performs well. temps are excellent. 65c under load is more like what I want to see.
Been waiting for a good review of this for a while, saw it on OCUk last week, didnt know if it was any good. I agree about the low overclocks. surely its not hard to crank the bios clocks a bit, its basically running at stock and can hit 1000mhz on the core !
Excellent, been waiting for this for a while. I never buy Sapphire or XFX, only Asus. I wait 🙂
Excellent all round card, doesn’t seem that quiet though which is a bit disappointing
Leather case is a weird addition for a gfx?
Poor clock choice for such a card, far too low
price of the 6850 is good, crossfire they are killer, but bot sure it’s worth it as a really fast single card doesn’t need a profile