How loud are the fans on stock 670 cards?

[cadred]

I was trying to wait for a Gigabyte windforce 670 to come into stock, but it's holding up my build so I'm probably going to nab a stock design 670, which will still be overkill puny 1650x1050 monitors

I read a few reviews that suggested the fans were louder than expected, but I was wondering what the general consensus on noise was.

I'm coming from EVGA 460SC, so if anyone can provide a relative comparison, that would also be great.

Also, I'm not building a "silent" system, but I don't want anything loud or annoying either.

 

[Zanovar]

I was trying to wait for a Gigabyte windforce 670 to come into stock, but it's holding up my build so I'm probably going to nab a stock design 670, which will still be overkill puny 1650x1050 monitors

I read a few reviews that suggested the fans were louder than expected, but I was wondering what the general consensus on noise was.

I'm coming from EVGA 460SC, so if anyone can provide a relative comparison, that would also be great.

Also, I'm not building a "silent" system, but I don't want anything loud or annoying either.

I would try and hold out for that windforce mate,.lots better:thumbsup:

 

[cmdrdredd]

I didn't think it was loud or annoying. Hard to say what you'll think.

 

[Pneumothorax]

As I have a corsair CX1000 and a H100 setup with all fans set to very low, the reference GTX670 is fine while on idle, but noisy as hell when gaming. It makes an annoying hum when spun up on BF3. Much worse than my ASUS EAH6970. Should've got the gigabyte when it was in stock arghhh!! If you care about noise, do not buy a reference 670.

 

[ShintaiDK]

GFs box got a GTX670, we dont even notice it. I would say its more silent than her old GT450.

 

[Termie]

I'm going to have to agree with others here. My reference EVGA GTX670 is simply not quiet. I actually think it's worse at idle than at load, because of the character of the motor noise. All you hear at idle is the buzzing, which is pretty annoying. At load, the more usual fan noise overwhelms the buzzing and you mostly just hear what sounds like a typical blower-style fan. It isn't actually that loud, partly due to the low temps of the GTX670.

Compared to my reference EVGA GTX460, which is completely silent at idle, there is no comparison - the GTX670 is louder. At load, the 460 is also quieter, although not by quite as much.

Keep in mind that the GTX460 does not have a blower-style fan, and when EVGA introduced its external exhaust (EE) edition, it was universally panned as being far too loud and running far too hot. It is simply a given that a blower-style fan will be louder, all else being equal. But it has its purpose - the hot air is expelled out the back of the case. If you don't care about this, there is no reason to ever buy a blower-style fan. Unfortunately, nVidia/EVGA have added to the problem here by using a cheap motor and fan assembly.

As an aside, blower-style fans are much better for use in SLI.

 

[cadred]

I would try and hold out for that windforce mate,.lots better:thumbsup:

Yes... theoretically... and if I could find one. It's been a good while and I haven't even seen a hint of stock at any place I trust to buy from (or make returns too). I've seen all of the other 670 brands come in and go out of stock, but not the windforce.

Yes it's awesome on paper and in benchmarks but the farther away from stock design the more risk there is in reliability and failure since it's a less proven design. Right now the complaint rate on newegg isn't any better than any stock card out there.

That's not to say that the windforce 670 won't end up being an awesome card, but it could just as easily be dropped or quietly revised in the next few months too.

 

[cmdrdredd]

If you are gaming with headphones or have your speakers turned up a bit you probably won't even hear it unless you are listening for it. Newegg reviews are mostly people who buy a card then it doesn't run at a 100% overclock like someone on xtremesystems got.

One guy I remember said a motherboard was 1 egg because he couldn't get his CPU above 4.7Ghz. That's the fault of the motherboard now is it?

 

[Termie]

Yes... theoretically... and if I could find one. It's been a good while and I haven't even seen a hint of stock at any place I trust to buy from (or make returns too). I've seen all of the other 670 brands come in and go out of stock, but not the windforce.

Yes it's awesome on paper and in benchmarks but the farther away from stock design the more risk there is in reliability and failure since it's a less proven design. Right now the complaint rate on newegg isn't any better than any stock card out there.

That's not to say that the windforce 670 won't end up being an awesome card, but it could just as easily be dropped or quietly revised in the next few months too.

It was in stock at Amazon earlier today and is still available for $430 shipped at Superbiiz.

 

[njdevilsfan87]

I'm going to have to agree with others here. My reference EVGA GTX670 is simply not quiet. I actually think it's worse at idle than at load, because of the character of the motor noise. All you hear at idle is the buzzing, which is pretty annoying. At load, the more usual fan noise overwhelms the buzzing and you mostly just hear what sounds like a typical blower-style fan. It isn't actually that loud, partly due to the low temps of the GTX670.

My reference 670 has no such buzz, and it definitely by far the quietest blower I have ever used. Still, because I can hear it, I'm replacing it with a Windforce model soon, and if I can hear that, then I will put a H60 on that.

 

[Pneumothorax]

It was in stock at Amazon earlier today and is still available for $430 shipped at Superbiiz.

WTF, missed it again! Back to the OP, my reference GTX670 is so annoying and the 'silent' 670's are never in stock, I'm just about ready just to jump in one of the quieter 7970's as by the time I'm done getting a 3rd party cooler for my reference 670, the price will be about the same. Another plus is I can get the 7970 tomorrow for $3.99 shipping from amazon

 

[Termie]

WTF, missed it again! Back to the OP, my reference GTX670 is so annoying and the 'silent' 670's are never in stock, I'm just about ready just to jump in one of the quieter 7970's as by the time I'm done getting a 3rd party cooler for my reference 670, the price will be about the same. Another plus is I can get the 7970 tomorrow for $3.99 shipping from amazon

This has got me thinking...I'm on the line with EVGA right now (their support line is awesome), but it turns out they have not had anyone call in with this problem yet. They admitted the artifacting problem on the SC cards, however, so it's not like they're trying to cover something up.

They're transferring me up to "Level 2 Techs" for more help...

I'll update shortly.

Edit: Wow, EVGA is awesome. Although they haven't heard fan noise complaints, they're setting up an advanced RMA for me, sending out a new card at their expense. Of course, it might end up sounding exactly the same, but I give them plenty of credit for trying hard to right the problem.

 

[cadred]

It was in stock at Amazon earlier today and is still available for $430 shipped at Superbiiz.

First or 3rd party? I have watches on first party Amazon, and I wouldn't buy something like this 3rd party due to potential return issues.

I have no experience with superbiiz, so I wouldn't buy something this expensive to test their service. Also they are overcharging $30, which is kind of a jerk move.

Keep in mind that the GTX460 does not have a blower-style fan, and when EVGA introduced its external exhaust (EE) edition, it was universally panned as being far too loud and running far too hot.

Not sure which version my 460 is counted as. I would say I don't notice it at idle, and it's only under high load that is makes any noticeable noise it's a moderate pitch sound, mostly like blowing wind, not terribly annoying.

It's not labeled EE and it looks "similar" to the style of the 670 reference cards:

 

[JujuFish]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/598?vs=542&i=419.420.421

 

[Termie]

First or 3rd party? I have watches on first party Amazon, and I wouldn't buy something like this 3rd party due to potential return issues.

I have no experience with superbiiz, so I wouldn't buy something this expensive to test their service. Also they are overcharging $30, which is kind of a jerk move.



Not sure which version my 460 is counted as. I would say I don't notice it at idle, and it's only under high load that is makes any noticeable noise it's a moderate pitch sound, mostly like blowing wind, not terribly annoying.

It's not labeled EE and it looks "similar" to the style of the 670 reference cards:

It was Amazon first party - they had 17 in stock, I believe, when I checked.

Your 460 is an EE edition. I'd say you'll find the 670 quieter than that, unless you have the nasty gritty bearing sound I have.

 

[Destiny]

My Case fans are louder than my Gigabyte Windforce... they also have been instock on AMAZON every day for the past three days sold by AMAZON for $399! You just have to be quick! :sneaky:

 

[Zanovar]

Yes... theoretically... and if I could find one. It's been a good while and I haven't even seen a hint of stock at any place I trust to buy from (or make returns too). I've seen all of the other 670 brands come in and go out of stock, but not the windforce.

Yes it's awesome on paper and in benchmarks but the farther away from stock design the more risk there is in reliability and failure since it's a less proven design. Right now the complaint rate on newegg isn't any better than any stock card out there.

That's not to say that the windforce 670 won't end up being an awesome card, but it could just as easily be dropped or quietly revised in the next few months too.

Yeah i undertand what you mean about buying from a place you trust.Im from the U.K,and there is only 4 places i trust to buy from here(returns etc),and one of them has given me the runaround(held my money with no intention of shipping the card to me).so im back where ive started,so now waiting for funds to be refunded to my account and start all over again:S.

 

[shauni]

By the way, is the Windforce inaudible at idle? what RPM does it idle at?

 

[cadred]

My Case fans are louder than my Gigabyte Windforce... they also have been instock on AMAZON every day for the past three days sold by AMAZON for $399! You just have to be quick! :sneaky:

Son of a bitch... if i hadn't been so busy today I would have been checking on it... dammit.

 

[blackened23]

I've only used 680 but the word is that it is definitely louder than the 680 fan. It shouldn't be bad on auto but if you have overclocking ambitions - you'll need manual fan for that and it can make a "humming" sound with high manual fan settings.

 

[cadred]

I've only used 680 but the word is that it is definitely louder than the 680 fan. It shouldn't be bad on auto but if you have overclocking ambitions - you'll need manual fan for that and it can make a "humming" sound with high manual fan settings.

Speaking of which, I just went for an EVGA 670 FTW, which was only $20 over their reference design for whatever reason (recall of SC, I suppose). Anyway, seemed like a fair price for the upgraded cooling, which I think uses the 680's pcb and cooler. Hopefully it won't be any louder than my 460SC

 

[cmdrdredd]

Speaking of which, I just went for an EVGA 670 FTW, which was only $20 over their reference design for whatever reason (recall of SC, I suppose). Anyway, seemed like a fair price for the upgraded cooling, which I think uses the 680's pcb and cooler. Hopefully it won't be any louder than my 460SC

Should be good. My card never really loads up the fan higher than 60% and it's not overly loud. Yes you can hear it but I can hear any fan if I listen for it lol.

 

[saratoga172]

I have an Antec 900 and my case fans are louder than my SLI'd 670's. The cards really aren't loud at all.

 

[Destiny]

By the way, is the Windforce inaudible at idle? what RPM does it idle at?

Fan Speeds at 24% = 750RPM = 35 degrees celsius...

 

[toyota]

Speaking of which, I just went for an EVGA 670 FTW, which was only $20 over their reference design for whatever reason (recall of SC, I suppose). Anyway, seemed like a fair price for the upgraded cooling, which I think uses the 680's pcb and cooler. Hopefully it won't be any louder than my 460SC

that card supposedly has a high power target than the reference gtx670 too. I actually pulled the trigger on that card too but I am not sure if it went through or not. for some reason the mastercard secure code would not work and failed on me but newegg actually shows it was successfully charged. I guess I will know in the morning. grrr