Ive had mine a few days now and can confirm that at stock it is totally silent and cannot be heard above my case fans (Antec ambers x 2 + another antec at low volts on the side, completely silent as its blowing at 25%).
I pushed mine to the max within ATI overdrive to to 690 core and 800 mem and was getting 45 degrees under 3dmark 05, not pushed it further because frankly I cannot be bothered, this gives all the eye candy I want. Lots of crashing in games until I realised it was ATI tool and not the excellent 6.5 catalysts, which I highly advise u to get as long as u do a clean install.
I'm sure it has got further to go and when I have some time Ill give it a go, I have to say that if you want to push it further use Rivatuner and not ATI tool as Ive found the latter to mess with BF2 and make it unplayable. Good luck. I pushed further to 710 850 with Rivatuner with no lock ups except in BF2, and after loads of experimenting realised it was ATI tool, google it!!,I stopped, not sure where the limit is yet, but want to explore some games before I carry on benching)
As for overclocking the card, Im not convinced the stock cooler or the (chip/mem yield, over xt-x) will give you WOW results, but if you want a card that is quiet and quick and considerably cheaper than the XT-X, then this is it, its the best of the bunch IMO, because of its affect on ambient temps and the rest of your rig.
I'd give this card 9.5 out of 10 for design, not a ten because the mem and core are not as good as the xt-x, but hey its damn good
, as this card lets my rather crappy stepped 3700 SD hit over 2.8 with only 1.485 V (1.55 previousy) and keeps the case temps down to high twenties because it blows all that heat outside my case, where as my old 6800GT just sat there being hot.
BTW this card will save you a bundle in heating costs as the hot air out of the case can heat a small room easy when playing games, so make sure your exhaust is not against a wall or you'll create a hot spot and your ambients wont change. Hope this helps, because I wont be benching again for a while as I'm to wowed with playing max on BF2, HF2, FEAR and Oblivion at 1600x1200.
Oblivion just needs a bit of work on the grass to work at this res but outstanding when u get it right and thats with the chuck patch, where u get all the eye candy you can throw, well, a lot of top of the line candy at, overclocked that is, ofcourse.
p.p.ps. naaaw give the card a 9.7
