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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
The KFA2 GTX680 cooling solution is fantastic. The fans only spin at around 1000 rpm when idle, and rise to around 1,400 rpm when gaming. There is not a significant amount of noise, even when loaded in Furmark. Generally this card will remain ‘silent' inside a performance chassis. Considering the ultimate performance this is a heck of an achievement.
Excellent card, i was planning on buygin a GTX680 but im loooking at the MSI board too
What is their warranty system like in the UK? its important and very few people ever mention it.
Their 4GB version would be better for 3 screens, its around £70 more however.
Its for a small audience and the card looks like it is well made, although that thermal paste screenshot is quite scary. I would love to know how many people (not just KFA2 cards), are running with that amount of thermal paste on their GPU cooler. many people dont realise that too much thermal paste is worse than not enough as it causes massive heat issues for the core and can cause long term failure.
I wonder how KFA2 sales are developing in the UK, there seems to be too much competition for another new starter. are they related to BFG? their artwork styling looks very similar.
KFA2 is a spinoff of Galaxy Tech.