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 is relatively quiet most of the time, even when gaming. Under extended load, the noise rises to around 37.3 dBa which is clearly audible, although never that intrusive.
How much extra would it have cost to include a 64GB SSD? including a 2.5 inch 5,400 rpm laptop drive seems weird.
getting a system out at £500 quid with everything ‘cool’ in it, is difficult. I think this is quite good. Maybe dropping the LE to a HD7850 and putting in an SSD would have worked out the same price, but overall a better all round performance?
@ Davis. I dont agree. its easy to upgrade with an SSD later, for say £60, and you dont have to bin the 500gb mechniacal drive in the system. the hD7850 is much weaker than a HD7870 Tahiti LE and you would have to bin the HD7850 for an upgrade later.
But if you had an SSD in the system then you could save that £60, and get another HD7850 for crossfire, they are cheap right now, that would buy half of one. and you would be faster than a single HD7870.
The CX500 can’t handle 4 PCI E connectors, it only has 2, so Crsossfire is out of the question, unless its low end hardware.
Have just received one of these systems for my son. Nicely put together. The 7870 Tahiti LE was by far the better choice as they have used a micro ATX mobo that does no support Crossfire. Installing an SSD later will be the way we go.
Also to let folk know, the system comes in the case box with the mobo box taped to the top with all the driver CD’s etc. That then comes in a bigger box with more than enough protection for a sate journey. Our one arrived with the mobo box looking like new. Looking forward to giving it a run later.