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Reference 7970 Noise Levels

BodgeITandRun

BodgeITandRun

BodgeITandRun

Associate
Joined
7 Jan 2012
Posts
425
Location
Leeds,UK
I just wondered if anybody with experience could tell me how noisy they are under load? My Sapphire OC X should be quiet, but suffers from coil whine anyway, so it doesn't need to be silent. Is it there, but very bearable?

The last reference card I bought was a 6990 and under load it was something else,lol.
 
I'd be wary of asking for subjective opinions, look on a review site and compare their findings with a card you have owned.

I remember 1 guy on this forum claiming his 480 wasn't loud at all, eventually he said he always gamed with headphones on :D
 
straxusii said:
I'd be wary of asking for subjective opinions, look on a review site and compare their findings with a card you have owned.

I remember 1 guy on this forum claiming his 480 wasn't loud at all, eventually he said he always gamed with headphones on :D
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Lol, that is a good point.

I will have a good scour around and see what I can find. I did see one ages ago, but the mic was right next to it and I would imagine any card is loud with a mic next to it and since I don't rest my head against my computer it didn't help much.

Cheers for the reply
 
IT's subjective, but I had dual DirectCU II 7950's which were very quiet, but then wanted something which vented air out the case, so tried ref 7970's.

They are fairly loud. It's not too high a pitch, but above 50% can become a bit annoying.



If you have good air flow it will help, and keep it at stock it won't be too bad, and actually can remain fairly quiet.

Though you can also do like I did and overclock, but undervolt, to try and keeps temps/noise down.

It depends on how sensitive you are to fan noise.

I remember my 5850 ref cooler being quiet, even when I oced the thing to 900. Then I had some Sapphire Toxics, which were a bit noisy for my liking in crossfire.

Ref 7970s are not awful, but by no means quiet.
 
they are loud when gaming. Always buy non reference if you want to game with speakers. I sent my reference 7970 back as it was too loud. I just bought Asus gtx 680 DCU2. They are supposed to be quiet under load.
 
Could always do what I did. If you can find a decent priced reference card. Buy an aftermarket cooler. I got the Arctic Accelero Xtreme (around £50) and it is inaudible upto around 60% which still keeps the card below 60degrees. Even at 100% it is still quiter than the reference at 40% - 50%.

Terrific cooling solution, but be warned it is massive. Makes the card take up 3 slots and adds to the length of the card as well. And doesn't vent out the back so requires good case cooling.
 
i dont notice any noise from my ref 7970 but then i dont have the most quietest of pc's and use headset when gaming but ive have took them off when in game to see how noisey they get but didnt notice anything to worry about
 
old gamer said:
i dont notice any noise from my ref 7970 but then i dont have the most quietest of pc's and use headset when gaming but ive have took them off when in game to see how noisey they get but didnt notice anything to worry about
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Well that's good news then. I will know by tonight/tomorrow if it annoys me.
Just picked up a second one cheap, so look forward to playing with that.
 
Vid as promised. Speakers we're off and i'd been playing BF3 Metro 64 player server for about 15 minutes. Ref 7970 at 1150/1650 at 1.2v stock fan profile


Edit: Damn phone went off....
 
That's whisper quiet. All I can hear is a gentle whooooo since the mic is closer to the vent but apart from that all I can hear is keyboard tapping.
 
dave_beast said:
Vid as promised. Speakers we're off and i'd been playing BF3 Metro 64 player server for about 15 minutes. Ref 7970 at 1150/1650 at 1.2v stock fan profile


Edit: Damn phone went off....
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Thanks for that.

Just fitted mine and am quite happy with it after a quick 3dmark11 run. Not as quiet as my other card, but still fine once I changed the fan profile from auto.
 
V F said:
That's whisper quiet. All I can hear is a gentle whooooo since the mic is closer to the vent but apart from that all I can hear is keyboard tapping.
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Yes, and i've squeezed it into a modded Storm Scout, so airflow is not amazing, but noise has never been a problem.

BodgeITandRun said:
Thanks for that.

Just fitted mine and am quite happy with it after a quick 3dmark11 run. Not as quiet as my other card, but still fine once I changed the fan profile from auto.
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What's it like in gaming, 3dm11 is very intensive and the fans will be approaching 70% and very noisy. In BF3 my fan doesn't go over 45% tops.
 
dave_beast said:
Yes, and i've squeezed it into a modded Storm Scout, so airflow is not amazing, but noise has never been a problem.



What's it like in gaming, 3dm11 is very intensive and the fans will be approaching 70% and very noisy. In BF3 my fan doesn't go over 45% tops.
Click to expand...

In gaming it is fine, I have it as the lower card of the two, with my custom card being the top one in my system and have the fan speeds turned down.

I have fairly good ventilation in my case and literally cleaned it out yesterday, so it has a lot less dust. It is a very manageable level for gaming, once I got the fan profile just right being the key element.
 
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