[H]ard Does New Heat / Noise Test (real world) for 480

[jrphoenix]

Due to all the controversy on heat / noise. Kyle ran a new test for "real world" scenarios. Interesting read. If you don't like heat / noise he suggests you do not buy this card. I was amazed he could hear the setup downstairs from his office with the office door closed!!

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/0401/geforce_gtx_480_real_world_temperatures_sound

Conclusion:

The Bottom Line

The GTX 480 is hot. I know many enthusiasts are not going to be satisfied with a video card that idles at 73C (and even hotter in most SLI setups) and runs 93C under pretty much any kind of load. There have to be long term implications to this and I would just suggest that you buy from a board builder that has a rock solid warranty and a reputation for great customer service if Fermi is for you. These cards are hot and can very much raise the temperature in the room you are using your setup in. Maybe NVIDIA can bundle a coupon for a new ceiling fan?

The GTX 480 is loud. The fans however do not become annoying unless they are spun up to very high RPM levels. Even SLI, while you can certainly hear it, is not distracting once you get used to it. Single card noise is manageable if you have a lower ambient temperature to start with and have good chassis airflow. No doubt this is one of the reasons we are seeing a "Fermi Certified" chassis from Thermaltake. If you have good airflow in your chassis, the sound is not annoying high pitched or bothersome. However If you are a person that cherishes silence, the GTX 480 is not for you.

 

[shangshang]

"Reputable warranty" will mean shit if they don't have it in stock at the time you RMA one. And judging from the limited availability of Fermi to retail vendors, I suspect a lot of people will be shit out of luck when RMA'ing this thing.

Let's see how long before I'll see a post in here with some title like:
"...(so and so company).. warranty sucks because they don't have GTX480 available"

 

[apoppin]

Someone who Kyle B banned at his own forum, suggested the pine wood in his house was echoing the sound and exaggerating the louder sounds


i am going to run my own tests:

1. GTX 480
2. HD 5870
3. GTX 280
4. HD 4870-X2
5. 2900XT

Please note #5 .. i want you to all hear *REALLY loud*
---i am going to do a better test than any of these sites have done, so far

 

[Madcatatlas]

try the HD 4870/90 instead of the double gpu x2?

I like your ambition!

 

[apoppin]

try the HD 4870/90 instead of the double gpu x2?

I like your ambition!

i can add my ASUS DK 4870-1GB .. it is loud at 100%

Let's really find out. Thanks

My testing is going to be a little (actually, very) different. i think you will all like it. By tomorrow, with a lot of luck. i have to test in the dead of night - where i live is really rural - ideal for this kind of audio comparison.

 

[RussianSensation]

try the HD 4870/90 instead of the double gpu x2?

I like your ambition!

My 4890 idles at 57*C at 23% fan speed and maximum load temp in Unigine Heaven V2 is 72*C at 33% fan speed.

4870 X2s and 4850 X2s are known to be far louder cards.

Also Kyle said he tested sound levels about 4-5 feet away. I think a lot of users have their cases 1-2 feet away (I.e., near their table, on top of their table or under their table) so I dont understand that methodology.

The other thing to keep in mind, after load, the ambient temperature inside the case went up from 24*C to 37*C (in the middle of the case where it's usually the coolest). That's going to have a major impact on your overclocked Core i7 CPU load temps as well. While some people are more sensitivity to noise than others, a 13*C increase in case temperatures is going to directly impact your cpu and mobo VRM temps. This is what no one wants.

 

[Zstream]

Someone who Kyle B banned at his own forum, suggested the pine wood in his house was echoing the sound and exaggerating the louder sounds


i am going to run my own tests:

1. GTX 480
2. HD 5870
3. GTX 280
4. HD 4870-X2
5. 2900XT

Please note #5 .. i want you to all hear *REALLY loud*
---i am going to do a better test than any of these sites have done, so far

So now we have to watch what wood we have in our house? FFS this stuff is getting plain stupid.

 

[ronnn]

Living in a softwood house, it deadens sound. Pine is even softer, especially if it has turned blue from the beetle.

 

[apoppin]

So now we have to watch what wood we have in our house? FFS this stuff is getting plain stupid.

Did you miss the smilie?
- the fun part was that KyleB *banned* a long-time forum member for *daring* to question his methods

What you will get is another test .. with more video cards .. at REAL gaming situations as well as idle to 100% .. and done with a lot more clarity and transparency that what i have witnessed, so far.

You ok with that?

The other thing to keep in mind, after load, the ambient temperature inside the case went up from 24*C to 37*C (in the middle of the case where it's usually the coolest).

in ONE test. Shall i run my tests with my 5 case fans off or on?

 

[RussianSensation]

in ONE test. Shall i run my tests with my 5 case fans off or on?

You should run your test to replicate real world conditions. In the real world do you turn off your 5 case fans? Run it with them to see if the CM fans drown out the noise of the card.

Also, it's very important to test the cards without changing any of the fan profiles. In other words, the cards should be tested as is "from the factory". After this test, you may want to change fan profiles to see if you can lower the fan speed within reason relative to temps (but "from the factory" test I am more interested in).

 

[apoppin]

You should run your test to replicate real world conditions. In the real world do you turn off your 5 case fans? Run it with them to see if the CM fans drown out the noise of the card.

Also, it's very important to test the cards without changing any of the fan profiles. In other words, the cards should be tested as is "from the factory". After this test, you may want to change fan profiles to see if you can lower the fan speed within reason relative to temps (but "from the factory" test I am more interested in).

agreed

i am starting to hear one of my case fans; i will add a drop of 3-in-1 to see if i can silence it. Otherwise, i DO run with 5 case fans and they are relatively quiet.

You will not hear any of the video cards at their idle. The noise issue is "under gaming load" and NOT "under max load" as with FurMark (max fan noise is less of an issue, since they *never* get there there in gaming)

For the gaming test, i would let the automatic fan profile take care of each card as it was designed to do.
- What game shall i use? Crysis?
... a benchmark loop would be ideal to hear the card's fan rev up and down.

 

[jrphoenix]

agreed

i am starting to hear one of my case fans; i will add a drop of 3-in-1 to see if i can silence it. Otherwise, i DO run with 5 case fans and they are relatively quiet.

You will not hear any of the video cards at their idle. The noise issue is "under gaming load" and NOT "under max load" as with FurMark (max fan noise is less of an issue, since they *never* get there there in gaming)

For the gaming test, i would let the automatic fan profile take care of each card as it was designed to do.
- What game shall i use? Crysis?
... a benchmark loop would be ideal to hear the card's fan rev up and down.

I'm eagerly awaiting your results. This should be interesting. Does the 2900 run as hot at the 480 is? The 480 at 93c is amazing. I living Florida and your home can be warm in the summer... this would be like having a heater on in your computer room! Kyle said overnight the temps in his office went up 10 degrees!

 

[bryanW1995]

agreed

i am starting to hear one of my case fans; i will add a drop of 3-in-1 to see if i can silence it. Otherwise, i DO run with 5 case fans and they are relatively quiet.

You will not hear any of the video cards at their idle. The noise issue is "under gaming load" and NOT "under max load" as with FurMark (max fan noise is less of an issue, since they *never* get there there in gaming)

For the gaming test, i would let the automatic fan profile take care of each card as it was designed to do.
- What game shall i use? Crysis?
... a benchmark loop would be ideal to hear the card's fan rev up and down.

I only use 3 in 1 case fans. I should probably just break down and get a fan controller, but I have 3 antec 900 cases so already have plenty of the 3 in 1's...

 

[RobertR1]

Someone who Kyle B banned at his own forum, suggested the pine wood in his house was echoing the sound and exaggerating the louder sounds

So he should move or remodel for Fermi's sake? you're doing a pitiful job running around on different forum defending fermi. It's sad...

 

[ronnn]

I only use 3 in 1 case fans. I should probably just break down and get a fan controller, but I have 3 antec 900 cases so already have plenty of the 3 in 1's...

I have the cheapest fan controller - no sensors, no nothing. Is 8 years old, best money I spent.

The only downside - is that the weird noises that can come from hard drives and whatever starts to bother you. Total silence does not exist.

 

[Voo]

What I'd love to see would be tests not just with the standard fan profiles, but normalized to some temperature. E.g. how much rpm do you need to keep the 5870 @90° as compared to the 480 when running some benchmarks.

Maybe the 480 isn't much louder than the 5870, but if one card is 10° cooler that should be taken into consideration, as I don't think it's too far fetched for enthusiasts to compile some own fan profiles - I've done it before for most of my cards..

 

[ronnn]

I only use 3 in 1 case fans. I should probably just break down and get a fan controller, but I have 3 antec 900 cases so already have plenty of the 3 in 1's...

I have the cheapest fan controller - no sensors, no nothing. Is 8 years old, best money I spent.

The only downside - is that the weird noises that can come from hard drives and whatever starts to bother you. Total silence does not exist.

Those antec fans are noisy at any level, much better stuff out there.

 

[apoppin]

I'm eagerly awaiting your results. This should be interesting. Does the 2900 run as hot at the 480 is? The 480 at 93c is amazing. I living Florida and your home can be warm in the summer... this would be like having a heater on in your computer room! Kyle said overnight the temps in his office went up 10 degrees!

Well both the 2900XT and the GTX 480 are both built for high operating temps. Mine is still running and after being in CrossFire for quite awhile.

If you close up a room with a 250W light bulb, if you have good insulation, it will also raise the temperature. i really like this feature for 9 months of the year as i mostly game on cold early mornings or late evenings. My home is where it is colder rather than warmer for most of the year and i can appreciate the extra heat.

The rest of the time, i do *everything else* on my notebook PC

 

[apoppin]

So he should move or remodel for Fermi's sake? you're doing a pitiful job running around on different forum defending fermi. It's sad...

How many *different* forums am i on?
This one, HardOCP and my own

Kyle can do whatever he likes; it is clear he points out its shortcomings. GTX 480 IS hot - in comparison to the Radeon 5000 series; but not so out of line with previous successful GPUs if you consider its performance.

i don't see my self as "defending fermi" as it does a pretty good job of defending itself performance-wise.
- i just have a different PoV regarding 'heat' as being an advantage in a cold climate.

As to noise, what all the tech site are pointing out is GTX 480 at *MAX load*
- it never gets there in gaming .. how can that be "real world"

So, i am going to explore with my own set of tests - far simpler yet more demonstrative of actual noise - in gaming.

 

[bryanW1995]

I have the cheapest fan controller - no sensors, no nothing. Is 8 years old, best money I spent.

The only downside - is that the weird noises that can come from hard drives and whatever starts to bother you. Total silence does not exist.

Those antec fans are noisy at any level, much better stuff out there.

what do you recommend? I don't mind spending a few $$$ for some quiet. I have an ssd now, too, so quieter case fans could be nice!

 

[bryanW1995]

How many *different* forums am i on?
This one, HardOCP and my own

Kyle can do whatever he likes; it is clear he points out its shortcomings. GTX 480 IS hot - in comparison to the Radeon 5000 series; but not so out of line with previous successful GPUs if you consider its performance.

i don't see my self as "defending fermi" as it does a pretty good job of defending itself performance-wise.
- i just have a different PoV regarding 'heat' as being an advantage in a cold climate.

As to noise, what all the tech site are pointing out is GTX 480 at *MAX load*
- it never gets there in gaming .. how can that be "real world"

So, i am going to explore with my own set of tests - far simpler yet more demonstrative of actual noise - in gaming.

just ignore him, apoppin.

I remember years ago when many green-teamers accused apoppin of wearing red-tinted glasses. Heck, he even carried the "red-team" torch in a fantastic 8800gtx 640 vs 2900xt comparison with keysplayr. Which is apoppin now, green or red? Maybe he's just like most of us and actually cares about which card is better for your individual wants/needs.

 

[McLovin]

.... i really like this feature for 9 months of the year as i mostly game on cold early mornings or late evenings. My home is where it is colder rather than warmer for most of the year and i can appreciate the extra heat.....

Seriously?

LOL

I have never seen anyone tout extra heat put out by any electronic equipment, outside of a space heater/furnace/etc, as being a FEATURE.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Someone who Kyle B banned at his own forum, suggested the pine wood in his house was echoing the sound and exaggerating the louder sounds


i am going to run my own tests:

1. GTX 480
2. HD 5870
3. GTX 280
4. HD 4870-X2
5. 2900XT

Please note #5 .. i want you to all hear *REALLY loud*
---i am going to do a better test than any of these sites have done, so far

I had a 2900 Pro @ 800MHz, never thought it was that loud. When I'd launch a game you could clearly hear the fan spin up, but it wasn't too loud in my opinion.

 

[Paratus]

just ignore him, apoppin.

I remember years ago when many green-teamers accused apoppin of wearing red-tinted glasses. Heck, he even carried the "red-team" torch in a fantastic 8800gtx 640 vs 2900xt comparison with keysplayr. Which is apoppin now, green or red? Maybe he's just like most of us and actually cares about which card is better for your individual wants/needs.

Concur, Apoppin tends to not suffer dumb asses well and they end up misinterpreting that as being a fan boy.

 

[Voo]

So, i am going to explore with my own set of tests - far simpler yet more demonstrative of actual noise - in gaming.

Just with standard fan profiles or also with special profiles to normalize them to the temperature they're running at?