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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 system isn't the quietest we have experienced, thanks to the use of the Thermaltake Frio cooler. The company have set the fans to offer good cooling performance at the expense of a little noise. Under Furmark load, the GTX570 fan spins up to compensate for rising temperatures.
Nice system, not so sure about the caching system mind you, but I have never been sold on Intels tech in this regard. Id much rather have a small SSD as a standalone drive for boot.
Nice case, and good performance. Seems the UK market is heating up lately. Nice to have alernatives from dell etc.
I agree completely, great system, but let down by the frio. I bought a frio and even at the lowest fan settings, they were annoying me. they emit a ‘whir’ sound, like a high pitched whine. Very annoying and I had to replace the cooler completely because of it.
I like this a lot. I havent heard the frio but ive read a lot of positive reviews about how good the cooling is. shame about thos efans.
Seems ok, but I dont know about that SSD caching thing, seems a bit of a ‘patch’ to fix a slow hard drive.