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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
The HIS HD6870 may run a little hotter than the other HD6870's we have tested, however the noise levels are markedly lower, 3dBa under Furmark load for instance. The HIS fan profile is less aggressive to compensate for the distinctly average reference cooling solution.
Boring reference design but crossfire performance is fantastic.
Their pricing is fantastic, there are price wars aplenty right now, they seem to be dropping every day !
HD6870 is still disappointing I think compared to 6850, but we will only be able to judge it when third party versions hit the market.
These are down to 179 quid in the UK today !
The pricing is different on every store I visit,. its a bit of a nightmare getting set figures for either 70 or 50.
wicked. two 6850s in CFX for me.
Excellent pricing but 460 is still good
I like the fact they have quietened the card down compared to reference design, however does anyone like the reference cooling? seems madness to buy now when we all know that better coolers will be announced for the same price in a month.
The 6870s are impressive but the 6850’s are bullshit because amd sumbitted 6850 with 1120 cores(6870) instead of 960 or whatever which proves that the results for the 6850 were just liek downclocked 6870s
as I said in the other discussion. not all 6850s had the higher count.
I realised sorry 🙂