The quietest GPU Coolers

Relentless81 · 3 Jan 2020 at 08:23

Hi,

My most recent GPUs have been my current GPU which is a Vega 56 Pulse which is a two fan cooler and far too loud for my ears.

Before that I had a Fury Nitro, it was quieter than the 56 I think this is due to the 3 fan cooler but was still much louder than the system fans and was noticeable when it started up.

Prior to that I had a reference 290X which was like a jet engine until I put an AIO on it and then it was inaudible and before that I had what I think was one of the quietest cards I've owned which was a 3 fan Gigabyte 970

I'm tempted to go back to Gigabyte on my next GPU but was wondering what other coolers are quiet? I definitely wont be getting a two fan cooler again thats for sure.

Cheers

Minstadave · 3 Jan 2020 at 08:29

Would you consider aftermarket? The Raijintek Morpheus II will make any card silly quiet with the right fans.

I have one on my 1080 and it's completely inaudible.

Relentless81 · 3 Jan 2020 at 12:29

Minstadave said:
Would you consider aftermarket? The Raijintek Morpheus II will make any card silly quiet with the right fans.

I have one on my 1080 and it's completely inaudible.

Yeah I've been reading about them, but the compatibility list seems out of date and I'm not sure whats involved in ensuring all the relevant parts are covered plus I love a good back plate I'm a sucker for a clean looking build

Psycho Sonny · 3 Jan 2020 at 18:01

Relentless81 said:
Yeah I've been reading about them, but the compatibility list seems out of date and I'm not sure whats involved in ensuring all the relevant parts are covered plus I love a good back plate I'm a sucker for a clean looking build

My Palit 2070 super Jetstream is quiet and it runs extremely cool too.

I could probably run it silent

Grim5 · 3 Jan 2020 at 18:28

The ASUS Strix cooler is the best AIB cooler in the market. Ranks number 1 in both temps and noise.

Relentless81 · 4 Jan 2020 at 07:24

Grim5 said:
The ASUS Strix cooler is the best AIB cooler in the market. Ranks number 1 in both temps and noise.

Is there anything I can read/watch about this please?

I'm not a fan of Asus products generally but interested to read up

drakulton · 4 Jan 2020 at 11:59

Minstadave said:
Would you consider aftermarket? The Raijintek Morpheus II will make any card silly quiet with the right fans.

I have one on my 1080 and it's completely inaudible.

+1 for the Raijintek Morpheus II. I've got a couple of noctua NF-A12x25 PWM fans slapped on it and I have to keep checking that they're still spinning as it's very quiet.
The support list is shockingly out of date, but they do provide a comprehensive bundle of different sized heatsinks to fit to the parts needing cooling.

And if you want to use the backplate you can always fix it to the pcb with those small sticky foam pads.

Relentless81 · 4 Jan 2020 at 18:16

drakulton said:
+1 for the Raijintek Morpheus II. I've got a couple of noctua NF-A12x25 PWM fans slapped on it and I have to keep checking that they're still spinning as it's very quiet.
The support list is shockingly out of date, but they do provide a comprehensive bundle of different sized heatsinks to fit to the parts needing cooling.

And if you want to use the backplate you can always fix it to the pcb with those small sticky foam pads.

How do fans attach? I'm interested now as something to tinker with on the Vega 56 but how do I know where to put the heatsinks and if ill be able to keep the backplate? Suppose I could get a GPU riser thing so you can't see the back that would be interesting

Minstadave · 4 Jan 2020 at 18:23

Relentless81 said:
How do fans attach? I'm interested now as something to tinker with on the Vega 56 but how do I know where to put the heatsinks and if ill be able to keep the backplate? Suppose I could get a GPU riser thing so you can't see the back that would be interesting

Wireclips.

I've got the initial revision so I have kept both the VRM/DIMM plate and backplate on my 1080. It's still not pretty however.

Here's a vid of it being installed on a Vega card:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e2BUnYFbM8

Relentless81 · 4 Jan 2020 at 18:33

Minstadave said:
Wireclips.

I've got the initial revision so I have kept both the VRM/DIMM plate and backplate on my 1080. It's still not pretty however.

Here's a vid of it being installed on a Vega card:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e2BUnYFbM8

Holy mother that looks horrendous. Thanks you've saved me from making a mistake I think!

I know it's weird as I'm the only person that looks at it but the way my pc looks is important to me and I'm not a fan of how that looks at all

Appreciate the video that's helped me decide to look into AIB coolers more and rule that out

Drumroll · 4 Jan 2020 at 21:43

Owned one of them GPU and it was loud and hot. Almost turning the glass side window in a flat top glass stove.
The main issue was the inability of blowing the hot air outside the case. All being over the m.2 (at 70C quite often, sometimes hotter) and the side panel.
Previous Asus HD7970 DirectCU II much better.
EVGA RTX2080 quite good, but went water now.

drakulton · 4 Jan 2020 at 23:25

Relentless81 said:
Holy mother that looks horrendous.

Horrendous is in the eye of the beholder. https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/t...tx2080ti-raijintek-morpheus-air-mod.18857220/

McGraw · 5 Jan 2020 at 00:33

Grim5 said:
The ASUS Strix cooler is the best AIB cooler in the market. Ranks number 1 in both temps and noise.

I’m curious as to why you specify AIB partner cooler; are you saying that the reference coolers are best...or something else?

Grim5 · 5 Jan 2020 at 00:41

McGraw said:
I’m curious as to why you specify AIB partner cooler; are you saying that the reference coolers are best...or something else?

I'm saying if you want the coolest and quietest off the shelf air cooled card, it's the asus strix.

Relentless81 · 5 Jan 2020 at 07:30

drakulton said:
Horrendous is in the eye of the beholder. https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/t...tx2080ti-raijintek-morpheus-air-mod.18857220/

Yeah I'm a Noctua fan myself but I just don't like the way the cooler looks and there are too many questions regarding compatibility

Brazo · 5 Jan 2020 at 09:23

Grim5 said:
I'm saying if you want the coolest and quietest off the shelf air cooled card, it's the asus strix.

No the coolest and quietest cards will have the largest heatsink and biggest fans. As you know the Morpheus takes this to the extreme. The Asus Strix is ‘only’ 2.7 slot and is very good but not the best heatsink and fan combo out there.

I know you can link me to a techpowerup graphic showing the Strix to be the quietest but that’s only in silent bios mode which reduces performance. Outside of this mode it is it is not the most silent. Like for like it is not the most silent.

Laws of physics can both be overcome. All things being equal a 2.7 slot heatsink can’t compete with a 3 slot heatsink which in turn can’t compete with a Morpheus.

Grim5 · 5 Jan 2020 at 10:17

Brazo said:
No the coolest and quietest cards will have the largest heatsink and biggest fans. As you know the Morpheus takes this to the extreme. The Asus Strix is ‘only’ 2.7 slot and is very good but not the best heatsink and fan combo out there.

I know you can link me to a techpowerup graphic showing the Strix to be the quietest but that’s only in silent bios mode which reduces performance. Outside of this mode it is it is not the most silent. Like for like it is not the most silent.

Laws of physics can both be overcome. All things being equal a 2.7 slot heatsink can’t compete with a 3 slot heatsink which in turn can’t compete with a Morpheus.

But Morpheus is not an off the shelf GPU? It's a 3rd party modified cooler that you need to install, same as if you put a AIO on your card.

oldbanana · 5 Jan 2020 at 10:37

Get whatever aftermarket card with an ok heatsink on it, and slap 2x 120mm fans on it, it will be inaudible, fans top out at like 700rpm.
I have been using my rtx 2080 amp like that for 6 months now, you cant hear it under full load, while it`s in an open case on the wall 50cm from my face, without headphones or any other sounds in the room.
The cooler and fans did fine at stock too but, with stock voltage most GPU coilwhine, so I undervolted mine abit, the coil whine stopped, whole system is about as noisy as a regular brick under load. Also this solution is so cheap, all you need is a few zipties and 2 fans and an optional gpu to regular 4 pin cable if u want to regulate fans from the GPU, you can just keep em on PWM on a cpu fan header as well. I have tested the morepheus II in the past but i dont see the point, paying extra for it sincer this solution is every bit as good, even better since the cooler covers vRM and memory as well, when morpheus does not, unless you feel like using glue to add some heatsinks when you use it.
You could do this exact same thing to your current card, no need to buy new.

Brazo · 5 Jan 2020 at 16:22

Grim5 said:
But Morpheus is not an off the shelf GPU? It's a 3rd party modified cooler that you need to install, same as if you put a AIO on your card.

But there are AIB cards with quieter solutions than the Strix cards, simply because they have a bigger cooler and better fans.

Bluntwrapped · 5 Jan 2020 at 18:09

From what I’ve read and seen the 3 fan wind force type coolers on the Gigabyte OC cards are the most quiet and efficient. Longer card, more surface area and the fans don’t kick in until the temp reaches 50c or so.

If the 1080 Strix is anything to go by, its definitely not the quietest cooler.