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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 HD7970 is one of the quietest high performance video cards we have ever tested. Both fans spin around 2,000 rpm when gaming, and this rises to 2,300 rpm when stressed in Furmark. At the higher performance 1,000mhz setting the fans spin up to 2,200 rpm when gaming and 2,600 rpm when running Furmark. Excellent results at both settings.
awesome. im sure the price is nice too :p
They have been releasing good cards for a while now, those new coolers and fans are great.
Much as we would expect from Sapphire. dont see any stock anywhere yet sadly.
OMG, this card is a MONSTER, I cant believe it slaps the nvidia GTX590 around like its nothing, OMG – OMG, nvidia is in big trouble if this card is coming around nvidia`s release, i feel sorry for all the nvidiot fan boy that gonna get butt hurt… why sapphire, why?
Great card, but I prefer the appearance of the XFX cards. they just look better with that metal cooler.
that overclock is f&*king wicked.
How do you switch between the two bios settings? Is it complicated? Thanks!!
Hi Ryan. Next to the crossfire connectors is a little switch. Power the system down, flip the switch. reboot.
Done.
wonder what’s the vrm temp after overclocking with added core voltage? thanks…