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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 Asus Matrix HD7970 Platinum is the quietest high performance HD7970 we have tested, claiming top spot in the noise test. When gaming it is noticeably quieter than the Sapphire HD7970 Toxic Edition and the HIS 7970 X Turbo IceQ X2. Fan speeds on this card shift between 1,000 rpm when idle, 1,800 rpm when gaming and 2,100 rpm under Furmark load.
We can see by cross referencing the results on this page and the last, that Asus are opted for slightly higher temperatures under load for reduced noise emissions. Its a great trade off.
Thats another beautiful card for AMD. Quite a few really high end, loaded boards for 7970 lovers.
Good review thanks.
ASUS deserve a lot of credit for this – I love it when companies go nuts on the design for the high end audience. Im tempted to go for this later in the year, but I agree – the Sapphire HD7970 6GB Toxic Edition looks to be a slightly better deal all round.
Zardon – top review bro. I still think the GTX680 is the best value for money high end card on the market however. you can pick up a killer one for £380
Im not a fan of triple slot coolers – I think in this case it has helped ASUS lower the noise levels which is welcomed, but they are huge cards and take up so much space in a case. I think Sapphire 6GB Toxic is still the best, but the extramemory really isn’t needed for most people/situations