KitGuru KitGuru.net – Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards
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
This card is very quiet indeed and it impressed us over the last week of testing, averaging around 32 dBa when gaming. It is actually ideal as a high powered discrete solution for a powerful media center with a focus on gaming duties.
So in theory it should be around £130? seems good. shame I missed that 5850 xtreme however, that was even better value.
The Vapor X cooler is great. I recently took my off to clean it as it is about a year old. I advise everyone to clean their systems out. the amount of dust that builds up in a graphics card over a year is scary !. can also stop performance too and block fans
Their fans are also good, you should have pointed that out more in the review.
Nice card, good for the price, but I want to aim higher next time, like a 6950.
After looking at the power consumption figures I’m wondering why this card has two 6pin PCIe plugs, surely they aren’t both necessary.
Sapphire normally do this with their cards to help with overclocking performance.