Inconsistant reviews on HSF noise?

[wjgollatz]

I have been reading the reviews for several cards on Newegg.com, specifically for 3850 and 4830 cards, and there are mixed reviews regarding the fan noise. Half the reviews say its quiet, the rest the fan is too loud even on the slowest speed.

Could this be a manufacturing defect to have such a high variability - or could this be a result of the user's cases? These fans seem quite small, and would not move alot of air. So to me, it seems they would be susceptible to pressure difference in airflow in the case. If there is a slightly lower pressure than "optimal" the fans could be screeching because the fan is motor is working harder. For instance, if someone has a side vent fan set to eject air from the case, it could create an airflow over the card that disrupts the fan, or less than standard pressure if airflow into the case is not good. Basically - image a venturi tube and the tube is the little sliver of space that the graphics card take up in the case that now has a fan inside of it, especially if the card has another PCI card underneath it making airflow to the fan more difficult.

Anyway - I am hoping to keep my case quiet - I am not playing hard core games, and I am hesitant of getting a card that some say is loud even at idle. But, I am using an Antec 300, so I have some options to adjust airflow.

 

[alcoholbob]

It depends on the case.

A smaller, higher rpm fan will typically produce a more audible noise, although it has less inertia mass and will less likely contribute to case resonance. If you have a well dampened case (if not, try some dynamat) fan noise is very easy to get rid of. Some of the bigger fans even at lower rpms will contribute substantially more to case resonance even though the fan itself is very quiet, since the blades have significantly more inertia mass.

Case resonance is hell. Anyone who knows anything about audio knows its frequencies below 200hz that are hell to tame.

Here's the question, are you more bothered by audible noise, or type of noise? I feel if I had the choice of listening to a stock intel 80mm cpu fan and dealing with the case resonance of a 3lb cooler with dual 120mm fans, I'd take the stock Intel fan. I can dampen that sound easily. You can't do shit about the bigger cooler.

<== this is coming from a guy with a 40lb Coolermaster cosmos case, with 4lbs of dynamat, behind a 5" thick folding table thats dynamatted, in a closet where the door is dynamatted. All in all, about 10lbs of dynamat. I can't hear any of the fans...all I hear is the case resonance. (I would use the stock Intel fan, but temperatures are a bit high which is why I'm using a Coolermaster V10 for the CPU.)

Pros and cons to everything.

 

[alcoholbob]

Originally posted by: wjgollatz
Anyway - I am hoping to keep my case quiet - I am not playing hard core games, and I am hesitant of getting a card that some say is loud even at idle. But, I am using an Antec 300, so I have some options to adjust airflow.

I figured this problem out a long time ago. If you need silence for desktop use, get something like an eee box or a dell studio hybrid. Seriously, it's good enough for 99.9% of what you do. I picked up one for $370 and I can do everything on my desktop as I do on the hybrid. I only really turn on the desktop computer these days for gaming.

Gaming + Silence = Fail. I am the ultimate testament to that, lol.