EVGA GTX 1660 Black - Is it Truely Silent at Low Loads?

[RhoXS]

I recently installed an EVGA GTX 750 Ti in a new build because I already had it unused in a closet. Except for the GTX 750 Ti, this machine is completely silent at low loads because none of the fans are running. Although the GTX 750 Ti fan is somewhat quiet, with an otherwise silent machine, it is annoyingly loud. So, after all the expense and effort to build a silent machine, I am thinking about just replacing it with a EVGA GTX 1660 Black.

Does anyone have experience with the GTX GTX 1660 Black and is it completely silent at low loads?

It is not advertised with a zero speed fan but only as being whisper quiet and not audible. Is this indeed true?

 

[RhoXS]

OK, I bought the EVGA GTX 1660 Black and crossed my fingers that it would be a lot quieter than the EVGA GTX 750. It appears my fingers were not sufficiently crossed because the 1660 is almost as noisy as the 750. The 1660 sound is a little smoother than the 750 but in a completely quiet room, as is my home office, and all other fans stopped, it still represents an annoying drone. The EVGA software does allow adjustment of fan speed down to 40% but has no provision to stop the fan. 40% also appears to be the default speed. My hearing is compromised due to constant tinnitus and almost zero response above 10K Hz but I can clearly hear the damn thing humming away. If I stop the fan with my finger the machine is 100% silent. The Corsair AIO water pump, running 100% of the time, is not at all audible to me.

 

[alcoholbob]

Generally most cards below x70 won't have silent modes. Not sure if its due to cost, but with many x60 or below cards some either don't have PWM at all and just run at a fixed speed, or a design that mirrors the FE card. Since FE cards have a 41% minimum fan BIOS speed, that probably is what you ended up running into.