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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. 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 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
When idle, the card is basically silent, with the fans spinning around 1,000 rpm. Then under gaming load, they spin around 1,800 rpm, generating 32.8 dBa noise. This is audible but likely to be drown out in a high airflow chassis. Furmark spins the fans to around 2,000 rpm, raising the noise levels a little higher. Even under Furmark load however this card will not intrude.
damn, thats a mega card, more than my whole system cost however!
White pcb is really awesome, never seen that done before. wozzers, can never buy this b aby, off to try and win it now !
Yeah that is serious. Im not easy impressed but KFA2 are right up there now with the best of them after seeing this.
Very sexy, looks like the knd of card you can only dream about
Small fortune but very sexy. Nv for the win
Not available online sadly. Any ideas when they will have stock?
damn the more I re-read this, the more I want it 🙁 sucks to be a student.
The price is ridiculous for most people, but a good point is made in the conclusion. People who buy these kind of cards really dont care. ive seen reviews dock two points for a price over £500 when really the people who buy these and read the reviews tend to focus on overclocking, temps and how easy it would be to watercool 🙂
holy bank balance batman!
No SLI results? :p come on, lets see SLI across 4 screens next 🙂
Im not so sure on the white to be honest. its quite sore on the eyes. Id like it in pink. any takers?
Whats the significance of the ‘hall of fame’ stamp on the back of the PCB? anyone know
Great pics by the way, I can see every transistor on the board. really nice idea.
its a awesome gpu no doubt……i called it a beast
That looks like a Awesome card 3 fans OMG.
this is the highest factory oced gtx 680,overvoltage it with afterburner 2.2.3 ,i think it will reach 1.45 ghz +core clock,maybe better buy than the msi lightning 680