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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
This cooler is extremely quiet, inaudible when idle and hardly noticeable when gaming. The fans spin at 1,200rpm when idle. When gaming, they spin to 1,600 rpm – this raises the noise levels to just below 33 dBa. When loaded with the synthetic stress test Furmark, they spin at 1,800 rpm, which is audible, but likely to be drown out inside an enthusiast gaming chassis.
All in all, fantastic acoustic performance.
delicious. well worth the money. AMD must be worrying at this price…..
Im waiting for 660, it should be under £200 and hopefully much better value, like the 460/560.
Thats a really good price. they were close to £300 when I saw the overclocked models, last time. wonder if they will drop to £230 before christmas.
I hear these cards aren’t selling well. I think the price is still too high for gamers in general.
I own this card and I have OCed it a little higher than the displayed “Maximum” OC’s. I’ve managed to get a very stable 130MHz core and 140MHz memory boost from the stock clocks. (Using MSI Afterburner)
Hi Vincent, nice one. You got a good card 🙂