Fan Noise

In the past years users would accept everything just to get more performance. Nowadays this has changed with people being more aware of the fan noise and power consumption of their graphic cards.
In order to properly test the fan noise a card emits we are using a Bruel & Kjaer 2236 sound level meter (~$4,000) which has the measurement range and accuracy we are looking for.


The tested graphics card is installed in a system that is completely passively cooled. That is passive PSU, passive CPU cooler, passive cooling on the motherboard and Solid-State HDD.
This setup allows us to eliminate secondary noise sources and test only the video card. To be more compliant with standards like DIN 45635 (we are not claiming to be fully DIN 45635 certified) the measurement is conducted at 100 cm distance and 160 cm over the floor. The ambient background noise level in the room is well below 20 dbA for all measurements. Please note that the dbA scale is not linear, it is logarithmic. 40 dbA is not twice as loud as 20 dbA. A 3 dbA increase results in double the sound pressure. The human hearing is a bit different and it is generally accepted that a 10 dbA increase doubles the perceived sound level.

Not only the power consumption is acceptable, but also the fan noise is something one can live with. Yes, a high-end card will product heat that has to be removed somehow, there is not that much the GPU makers can do. Considering the available performance, the GTX 280 is definitely not noisier than any other high-end cards on the market today.

When looking at the fan noise of the Point of View GTX 280 vs. the Zotac GTX 280 Amp! Edition you will notice that the Amp! Edition is quieter even though it uses higher clocks. I think this is caused by variances in the thermal paste application. If you look at the measured load temperatures of both cards you will see that the Zotac card runs 8°C cooler, even though it is overclocked. The most possible reason is that the thermal paste on that card is applied better causing lower temperatures. The fan speed is controlled by the GPU temperature, so a hotter GPU will cause the fan to run faster. This does not mean that all Zotac cards will run cooler, or POV's cards run hotter - each card is slightly different.