970 massive noise

[maddogmcgee]

So I did something silly. I was tossing up between a 970 and a 290x. I decided to get the 970 because of the lower multiple monitor power usage (about 50 watts at idle) and because it would be a little quieter....only I stuffed up and got a galax 970 black edition v2 with blower fan (instead of the galax 970 EXOC black edition that I read the review for). So i'm stuck with a video card that is WAY louder than my Gigabyte 7870 it's replacing and runs hotter.

At the moment i'm fighting with the shop and Australian consumer protection laws to try and return it. Ideally i'll get a Gigabyte 970 for 480 AUD or a gigabyte 290x for 410 AUD (if the sale lasts).

What are my options if I am unable to return the product? Are their any coolers designed for the 970 or do I need to get one of the artic coolers that are suitable for lots of different video cards? Any their any cheaper options that will still reduce the noise enough that I don't need to use headphones while gaming?

Thanks guys

 

[alcoholbob]

Have you considered installing EVGA Precision or MSI Afterburner and running a custom fan profile that's quieter?

 

[maddogmcgee]

Yeah, the first thing I did was set a custom profile in afterburner. With my 7870 I can make the card virtually silent through all usage by upping temps a little. With the 970 it does not help as it just delays the fan increase for a few seconds. It's only hitting 55 percent fan speed even at stock fan profile, the problem is this is still really loud. I can't imagine how people dealt with stock 290x's with a blower. If I put music on my closed ear headphones its fine, but I would prefer not to have to do this all the time. If i'm spendind 500 AUD on a video card (after delivery and tax) I would prefer to not have a constant annoying noise.

I suppose I could unlock the voltage and trying undervolting, but I doubt this would make a large improvement?