• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

MSI Twin Frozr II Noise: Or, what is the quietest GTX 460

D

drizek

Golden Member
I've been thinking about picking up a GTX 460(or any card that can do 1080p with current/future games), and I am concerned about idle noise, particularly with the aftermarket coolers. Right now I have a Sapphire 4830 that was extremely loud and whiny before I hooked it up to a fan controller. I want my card to be totally silent when idle, I really don't care about load noise too much. My current setup is silent at idle, but there is almost no over clocking headroom due to the inability to run the fan any faster at load.

I heard both good and bad things about the Twin Frozr II, and right now there is a $125 GTX 460 OC on th egg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-519-_-Product

So some questions

1. Is the GTX 460 fast enough to run most games with good settings? What about Crysis/Crysis 2?
2. Is a 380W power supply good enough? This is overclocked so it uses even more juice than the stock ones.
3. Is $140 after tax too much money to spend on this card?
4. Is a 6850 faster and/or quieter? The HIS version on ebay costs the same at $141.
5. Not to start a flame war, but is PhysX/CUDA actually useful for anything? I kind of want to go with ATI because of the lack of Display Port on nvidia cards, but I also am curious about what advantages nVidia has.

Has anyone tried the XFX 6870 that anand reviewed? People on SPCR said that it actually wasn't that quiet.

Specs are:

Phenom II 720 @ 3.65, 4GB DDR2 667, HD 4830 currently. Antec Earthwatts EA380 (the old, non-D variant that actually has 2x6 PCI-E connectors)
 
Last edited:
OK, scratch that. Just bought an Antec TruPower New 550W. Couldn't pass it up at $45 AR/Tax.

So ignoring max power consumption considerations, what is the quietest card at idle?
 
I find that the GTX 460 runs Crysis ok at 1920x1200. By that I mean 30fps with nearly all the settings on "very high". IMO a pair of GTX 460's are what's going to be required by future games in order to run them well.

If you don't care about "future proofing", the 460 is a great card for today's games. You can run pretty much any game fully maxed out with a ton of AA and maximum image quality settings in the drivers.

People are saying that Crysis 2 will not be as demanding as the first one, but I find that hard to believe, personally. Crytek has always pushed the envelope.
 
@tviceman

Getting a 6950 at $140 would be a no-brainer, but I messed up in my post. I meant the 6850. There is also the 5850 at around that same price.


@SickBeast

Since my current system is single-card and my next will almost certainly be Bulldozer, is SLI really an option? I haven't looked into it much yet.
 
Last edited:
drizek said:
@tviceman

Getting a 6950 at $140 would be a no-brainer, but I messed up in my post. I meant the 6850.
Click to expand...

I would personally rather have the gtx460. The twin Frozr II will allow for some impressive overclocks while keeping the card very cool and quiet. I have the gtx465 twin frozr II, and despite GF100 being notoriously hot, even with a huge overclock my card stays quiet and cool when gaming.
 
Ended up buying the 460. I just didn't want to risk ending up with a loud card, and I don't think the $250 for the 6950/560 TI is worth it. They are about 30% faster but 100% more expensive. I can overclock this for everything its got, and I won't feel too bad if I end up breaking it.
 
drizek said:
Ended up buying the 460. I just didn't want to risk ending up with a loud card, and I don't think the $250 for the 6950/560 TI is worth it. They are about 30% faster but 100% more expensive. I can overclock this for everything its got, and I won't feel too bad if I end up breaking it.
Click to expand...

The GTX 460 is in a league of its own right now. The 6800 series has not been around long enough to be as cheap and overclocked you put yourself into GTX 470/hd5870/6870/6950 performance territory with ease. $130 to $150 for a high res 1gb DX11 card that has a ton of muscle. And no, clock for clock the 560 is not 30% faster, not even close.

Don't worry about idle noise with the GTX 460, it downclocks and undervolts heavily at idle. Super quiet card.
 
Last edited:
This is the card I have right now, waiting for my RMA'd 2500k/p67. It sure is quiet sitting in its anti-stat bag. 😛

I guess the twin (though smaller) fans cover a greater portion of the card and cool better that way, even with lower rpm.
 
I can't speak for any other card, but the Sparkle GTX460 that I bought was an absolute atrocity as far as fan speed was concerned; the fan spun at 2500rpm at idle and literally sounded like a hairdryer. And it wasn't just a faulty card because I went to get it replaced. In contrast, the HD6850 that I got after giving up on the 460 idles at just ~1000rpm and is basically inaudible in my case. And that is no mean feat because I was trying to build a silent HTPC.

As far as I know, the GTX460 series has a 40% fanspeed minimum (dictated by the BIOS) with only the occasional vendor providing 30%. I don't know how universal that is (40% may be 1000rpm on a different card) but on the Sparkle it meant 2500rpm at idle. However, the reason I bought the 460 in the first place was because of the countless reviews calling it a silent card. And, unless it's just Sparkle's cards being crap, that's a load of hogwash.

To cut it short, I would at least by wary of the 460 because of the 40% fanspeed minimum. And I'm actually quite curious to know how fast the fans spin on other cards when idling if anyone has the info (I stumbled in here looking for that). The Sapphire card that I have now, at least, blows the Sparkle out of the water.

Also, my little sister gave birth as I was typing this. So, yay.
 
Last edited:
I got the 460 and have been happy with it. It is basically silent in my system, and even when overclocked and folding it is still reasonable. It does run at just over 2000rpm at idle, but I think if MSI used good fans, then it doesn't matter.

Yes, the minimum speed is 40%, but as long as it is quiet, I'm fine with that. My Sapphire 4830 had a 20% minimum, but the fan on it was so loud even at that speed that I needed to wire it up to my fan controller.

Overall I've been pretty happy with my 460, it is cool and quiet when idle and I've never seen it go past 70C. Due to the way I had hooked up my 4830, it would go well past 90C with just a mild overclock.

Oh, and congrats.
 
drizek said:
I got the 460 and have been happy with it. It is basically silent in my system, and even when overclocked and folding it is still reasonable. It does run at just over 2000rpm at idle, but I think if MSI used good fans, then it doesn't matter.
Click to expand...
I figured as much. The fins on the Sparkle fan were flimsy as hell (very thin plastic) but, being a reference card, I didn't know if it applied to other cards.

The only other Sparkle card I've owned died due to a shitty coil (that overheated and burnt) so I guess I'll have to make a mental note to stay away from them in the future. I only bought it because it was cheap; all the other 460 cards cost as much as the 6850 and is an additional 80 bucks in my country.

Oh, and congrats.
Click to expand...
Why, thank yew.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top