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ASUS has released version one of a BIOS update tool for its ultra-premium air-cooled ROG Astral graphics cards, OC and standard flavors. Yesterday's update advertises an improved "Quiet Mode," that implements a "more silent fan curve." TechPowerUp reviewed the quad-fan configured ASUS ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 OC Edition cards late last month. Resident GPU evaluator, W1zzard, awarded the astronomically-priced flagship model with an "Editor's Choice" badge, but simultaneously pinned on a "But Expensive" honor. The lesser (GB203-based) Astral did not receive any accolades. Both models have courted criticism for louder than expected operation; W1zzard did not enjoy listening to the Astral GeForce RTX 5090 OC Edition's collective fan concerto. "Out of the box" settings were not great, and the quiet BIOS mode did not "help much" in reducing the highest-end Astral's cacophony.
TPU's GPU guru elaborated further: "the second BIOS runs a more relaxed fan curve, but it's not much quieter and achieves 36.5 dBA with 70°C. Sure, good temperature, but isn't the point of a 'quiet' BIOS that isn't quiet, even if temperatures are higher? MSI's Suprim lineup does much better noise-wise, with temperatures that aren't that much higher." The ASUS ROG Astral RTX 5080 OC Edition seems to be a less noisy prospect, given that its cooling solution is not dealing with the largest "Blackwell" GPU die. Its sound signature was less offensive, but W1zzard reckoned that there was room for improvement. On this subject he stated: "with the default (performance) BIOS, temperatures are extremely low, but noise levels are a little bit on the high side with 36 dBA. I would have preferred a more balanced setting. Good thing that ASUS includes a secondary quiet BIOS with their card. Now the card runs whisper quiet, emitting only 26 dBA, which is highly impressive for a card in this performance segment. It is not the quietest card though, the MSI Suprim SOC is a tiny bit quieter, and it is so out of the box, without requiring a manual BIOS switch change." ASUS has seemingly absorbed initial feedback from review outlets (plus early adopters)—yesterday's update arrived just under two weeks from launch time. Watch out for possible upcoming reassessments.
View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source
TPU's GPU guru elaborated further: "the second BIOS runs a more relaxed fan curve, but it's not much quieter and achieves 36.5 dBA with 70°C. Sure, good temperature, but isn't the point of a 'quiet' BIOS that isn't quiet, even if temperatures are higher? MSI's Suprim lineup does much better noise-wise, with temperatures that aren't that much higher." The ASUS ROG Astral RTX 5080 OC Edition seems to be a less noisy prospect, given that its cooling solution is not dealing with the largest "Blackwell" GPU die. Its sound signature was less offensive, but W1zzard reckoned that there was room for improvement. On this subject he stated: "with the default (performance) BIOS, temperatures are extremely low, but noise levels are a little bit on the high side with 36 dBA. I would have preferred a more balanced setting. Good thing that ASUS includes a secondary quiet BIOS with their card. Now the card runs whisper quiet, emitting only 26 dBA, which is highly impressive for a card in this performance segment. It is not the quietest card though, the MSI Suprim SOC is a tiny bit quieter, and it is so out of the box, without requiring a manual BIOS switch change." ASUS has seemingly absorbed initial feedback from review outlets (plus early adopters)—yesterday's update arrived just under two weeks from launch time. Watch out for possible upcoming reassessments.
View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source
