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quietest card 290x pcs+ or vapor x VS 970 g1/msi/ftw

futang17

futang17

futang17

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Joined
7 Nov 2014
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53
I'm looking to get a new gfx card, upgrading from 560 ti SLI. I game at 1920x1080 right now and don't think i'll upgrade monitor anytime soon (if I do it'll be 1440p).

Basically I want the quietest gaming experience at 1080p ultra setting. I play BF4 and looking to get Shadows of Mordor.

The cards are all between $350 and $380 so price is moot, and performance wise they're all neck and neck. Which would give me the quietest experience?


290x either pcs+ or vapor-x, and 970 is either gigabyte g1, msi twin frozr, or evga FTW acx 2.0

I can't decide. Thanks.

sys spec:
i5 2500k @4600mhz
8 gig ram
240 gb SSD
 
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VaporX over PCS+.

But GTX970 MSI gaming and Asus Strix do that 0db fan mode when idle.

Gigabyte Gaming is a great cooler too.
 
None of them are quiet when gaming in reality-everyone usually says 'X' card can't be heard-due to the fact they own it(swayed decision) or gpu fan noise is disguised in their already noisy case.

GB/TF/Strix make a racket when they spin up imo, the acx 2.0 is known to be one of the loudest 970 coolers too.

An AC Xtreme 3 or 4 on top are the quietest on air when gaming but you need to fit it yourself and purchase a card via oCuk to keep warranty intact.

AC Xtreme 4 is the least hassle as there is only a big heatsink backplate to fit along with the cooler, but that takes out the small 1Xpci-e lane above the gpu lane and two under it=4 in total, or Xtreme 3 takes 3 slots but is more fiddly to fit with individual heatsinks.

It is the quietest gpu air cooler bar none.

It's pricey too, but the XFX 290 and coupon=£200+£65 but you can sell the 4 games for about £55 or more to get the cost back down.

Even@100% fan, it's a gentle hum-no irritating air 'whoosh'.

The best part, you can keep it and use it again and again and again-mines been on 5870/6950/7970/7950 and now on one of my 290X.

If you can't be bothered custom fitting, then ymmv on which one is actually quiet under load.
 
I run an MSI Twin frozer 290x and I have to keep the fan speed at 50% in order to keep it cool so that's one to avoid, If your considering a 290/290x (I wouldn't be) stick with an AMD only brand such as Sapphire.
 
MSI fan is also very quite though... I hear my case fans over the GPUs even when fan speed is 80%

This is my two after almost 3 hour gaming.. MSI 290 Gaming Edition, super quite and keep quite cool on the temp side might not be as good as other cards but defo one the quietest on the market.
Alien%20GPU%20temps.png
 
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the pcs+ is not that quiet out of the box but due to its epic cooler you can slow the fans down with ab and still keep temps well under control
 
shankly1985 said:
MSI fan is also very quite though... I hear my case fans over the GPUs even when fan speed is 80%

This is my two after almost 3 hour gaming.. MSI 290 Gaming Edition, super quite and keep quite cool on the temp side might not be as good as other cards but defo one the quietest on the market.
Click to expand...

I think you might want to get your ears checked. The 290 gaming I had was too loud at around 50%. Unbearable at 60%.
 
I have a 970 acx 2.0 and Ben though it claims to be super quiet etc. it isn't really that impressive noise wise. I hade a palit OC 770 and the noise is pretty similar while playing wow.

Don't get me wrong it's great card and not super noisy but it's not what it claims.
 
Disco_P said:
I think you might want to get your ears checked. The 290 gaming I had was too loud at around 50%. Unbearable at 60%.
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My case fans are much louder than the GPUs... This just one them factors that noise is something every person will hear differently. What might seem quite to me might seem loud to you.

I can only give the OP advice how I hear them.. Even think it was Gibbo when he reviewed the 290s and said its one of the quietest of the 290s series.

Yeah here
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18575360

The MSI 290X is one of the best cards we've tested, its cooling solution looks superb and is incredibly quiet, the only downside is it lacks real cooling ability due to the fans simply being too quiet even at 100% fan speed. The included backplate does a great job and also looks great, though it does heatsoak and as such heats any other cards up that might be near it more so than a card without a backplate, so be aware of this if running crossfire or mining with more than two.

With the Asus 290X BIOS this card with fan at 100% which is still not that loud, about equal to 45% on the reference cooler will hit anywhere between 1175-1240MHz on the core and they will do 6600-6800MHz on the memory. All MSI 290X Gamers seem to be equipped with Hynix memory, good move!
 
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"fans simply being too quiet even at 100% fan speed" that is just untrue and very misleading. I had two of these cards and anything above 70% was really loud. There's no way that at 100%, the fans are quiet.
 
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Wizzfizz said:
"fans simply being too quiet even at 100% fan speed" that is just untrue and very misleading. I had two of these cards and anything above 60% was really loud. There's no way that at 100%, the fans are quiet.
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If they was any way possible for me to show you how mine sound then you find he correct..

My fans spin 5% over 5c so 40c = 45% 70c =75% etc and my case fans are much more audio-able
 
He isn't correct because I've own a couple of those cards. I run a quiet rig and those things sounded like they were taking off above 60%.

Also owned the MSI Gaming and Gigabyte Windforce 290xs, although not as bad as my refs, they also got rather audible at around ~70%. The Gigabyte was slightly more noisy than the MSI Gaming but I don't know if this was anything to do with the extra fan that it had or not.
 
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Wizzfizz said:
He isn't correct because I've own a couple of those cards. I run a quiet rig and those things sounded like they were taking off above 60%.
Click to expand...

And am using two right now :p even with my own custom fan profile. If it was so loud do you think I would be running the speed 5% over vs temps.
 
Yes, I believe you would.

Like I said, my case is quiet and those cards that I've listed above were noisy above 60% / 70% (none refs) - To claim the card is quiet, even at 100%, is untrue. Those refs that I had were crazy loud!


:p
 
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I can agree with you that each person's hearing is different to the next. But to make a claim that even at 100% fan speed, the MSI Gaming 290x is quiet, is nothing short of ludicrous. You're either losing your hearing (and should go get an ear test) or your case fans are like turbines anyway :p

You have reference cards for Crossfire don't you?
 
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