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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
Sapphire have done their homework with this design. By increasing the fan size to 90mm, and by adding an extra fan, they never spin above 2,000 rpm, even when loaded in Furmark. The card is basically inaudible when placed inside a performance based gaming system. One of the quietest performance gaming cards we have tested, registering under 32 dBa when we tested with Crysis.
Tres bien ! very nice design. More cards should use bigger (and more) fans.
Great card, if they could get it out for £150 A lot of people would jump all over it.
Dual fan cards rock. AMD always stick with those shitty little 60mm red fans. must be a stockpile in a warehouse somewhere of 10 billion.
Been buying Sapphire for 10 years now, it aint gonna change anytime soon 😉
Can it be bought anywhere yet?
Looks much better than the reference design. 1000mhz core is great. I recently bought a new 24 inch screen and my 6770 runs out of steam with some games, might ebay it and go for one of these if the price is right.
Two of these in crossfire for under 300? you should follow up. I bet it would kick the GTX580 ass.
@Optix,
by us in the Netherlands, we can get this card for a minimum of £146 (€170) and for a average of £154 (€180) (with the current exchange rates!!)
€1 ≈ £0,85