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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 Sapphire HD7950 is the quietest card on test today, emitting only 33.2 dBa of noise when gaming. This rises to 35.8 dBa when pushed hard in the synthetic Furmark test. This is with the higher fan profile. When set to the lower option, the noise decreases further peaking at 32.3 dBa when gaming.
Awesome, if its £360 thats £130 less than their 7970….
1,200mhz? thats insane. worth the money for that alone!
Looks like this is the new ‘to buy’ card, like the previous 6950 which could be unlocked.
Why are all the companies supplying them in such low states of clock? 1000mhz seems easy and would get them sales.
ARIA Dont sell this one. just the 800mhz version. Its 360. I think this will be closer to 400. Are they any different, better batch or hand picked maybe?
XFX cooler looks better, this is very plastickly. I would wait on the better Toxic edition which will probably be out in a month, with even higher clocks and premium capacitors etc.