Fan noise question (specifically GTX 470)

[jmp_78]

I am looking to upgrade my Radeon 4870 and would ideally like a GTX 470 - however, I had crossed it off my list as I like video cards to be as silent as possible. From what I have read at least due to Fermi's heat output, the fan noise is quite loud.

My Asus 4870 Dark Knight came with a non-reference cooler and I am happy with the noise this makes at idle. Temps-wise in my Raven case, it sits at desktop at ~38degrees. I am worried that a GTX 470 with reference cooling (all I can afford) will be much louder at idle...

Anyone care to put my mind at ease?

 

[An Exception]

Some are loud, some are reasonably quiet, it seems it varies from chip to chip, and is likely to do with different leakage level between each chip.
Air flow will help of course...

 

[An Exception]

Take a listen...

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/03/26/nvidia_fermi_gtx_470_480_sli_review/7

 

[jmp_78]

Some are loud, some are reasonably quiet, it seems it varies from chip to chip, and is likely to do with different leakage level between each chip.
Air flow will help of course...

Airflow isn't a massive problem, as I have 3 180mm fans in the bottom of my Raven case - so happy on that score.

TBH, gaming noise doesn't bother me too much 'cos I usually wear headphones... it's just the everyday Windows tasks that I don't want to be distracted from if at all possible!

 

[An Exception]

I would say it should probably be ok for you then.

 

[AWPC]

470/480 are silent in Windows. Its only gaming when the fan gets to 70%+ you start to notice. If your case has decent airflow & fans it will be ok most of the time.

 

[Rroff]

Yeah can't hear mine in windows at all, I have a probably medium level of case noise other than the GPU from PSU, CPU cooler, etc. and can only hear the 470 over it once it exceeds ~65% fan speed but its not annoying until its over 70-75% - it rarely gets that high outside of intensive stress tests/benchmarks tho.

 

[Metroid]

Watercooling for GF100 is a must. It will eliminate noise and heat at once plus you can overclock beyond normal levels.

 

[ran_out]

Mine is no louder than my case fans unless i'm playing a game, where it can get pretty loud after a while compared to the 4870 it replaced - but not loud enough to be annoying after setting up a fan profile.

 

[accod]

So I can guestimate the level, is the reference cooler on the 470/480 at 70% very roughly the same noise as 70% on a reference 5850?

 

[BinnsY]

I have just swapped from an 8800GTX to the gigabyte 470 OC and if anything I would say its a tiny bit quieter. I certainly cant hear it over my Antec 900 when in windows.

 

[Peter450]

I have one, it's very quiet, untill the fan gets turned up to 65% or more, u can just set the fan manually to stay at 50%, and you wont here a thing, the reason it can cut in louder sometimes when playing games is the fan is default set at 40% till it's starts to get hot then it goes up, at 40% the card starts to get hotter in some games and the higher speeds kick in

If you leave it near stock speeds and wack the fan to 50% i dobut you will ever hear a thing, mines OC and i have the fan set at 50% rising as the temp does and i never notice it above my case fans

you can use a custom fan profile as well, it sounds complicated but using something like MSI is actually very easy to do