Rad 4870 and GTX280 - how loud?

[LintMan]

My 8800 GTX just died and I'm looking at the Radeon 4870 (probably Diamond 1GB 4870PE51G) and GTX280 (probably EVGA 01G-P3-1282-AR).

I've seen a few customer reviews saying the 4870 is pretty loud. I haven't seen much about noise on the GTX280, but I don't know if I just haven't looked in the right spots. Now, my 8800 wasn't exactly silent, but it didn't stand out at all among my case and CPU fans, even at peak gaming. So I can stand some noise, but don't want something that makes me need headphones.

For people who have heard these cards - particularly those who have seen both - how noisy are they? Should I expect either of them to be noticeably louder than my 8800GTX?

Thanks!

 

[error8]

PM apoppin, since he has both cards and knows which is silent and which is not.

 

[Dkcode]

The GTX280 is about the same noise level as the 8800GTX. So if the G80 did not piss you off then the 280 wont either. The only thing is that the fan peaks in a shorter space of time. The card does run fairly cool though, idling around 45C and peaking at around 75.

 

[asdftt123]

I own a Diamond HD4870 1GB and I can't hear it at all...highly recommended.

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: asdftt123
I own a Diamond HD4870 1GB and I can't hear it at all...highly recommended.

What do you keep your fan speed set for?

I've got my 4870 512MB at 40% right now, and its barely audible over the other fans in my system. Cranking it up much higher, though, makes it very loud. Sounds like a dustbuster when you hit 100%.

 

[F1shF4t]

Originally posted by: Bateluer

Originally posted by: asdftt123
I own a Diamond HD4870 1GB and I can't hear it at all...highly recommended.

What do you keep your fan speed set for?

I've got my 4870 512MB at 40% right now, and its barely audible over the other fans in my system. Cranking it up much higher, though, makes it very loud. Sounds like a dustbuster when you hit 100%.

If you are content at having the card run at 80C idle and about 86C load than the stock fan settings are inaudible. I start to hear the card clearly at about 32% fan speed but thats cause my comp is on the table right next to the monitor. (The stock HIS card at 86C the fan hits 30%, I don't bother doing the fanmod btw) Either ways some cards come with a different bios (Like my MSI) and I actually have to throttle the fan at idle.

I had my old 8800gtx on a stock cooler for only a while, but it was a lot quieter than 4870 cooler with a fanmod (or my msi card).

 

[SSChevy2001]

I also have the 4870 1GB and if configured right it's dead silent on idle. My current bios setting is now idles at 550/200mhz - 43c - 4% fan speed. On load it runs at 810/975mhz - 67c - 40% fan speed. 40% fan speed is more like 70% for my 8800GTS 512, which isn't bad but it's not silent.

The biggest problem with the 4870 is the DDR5 not being able to switch speeds without flickering. So to get the most out of the power saving you need to set the bios voltage and memory speed down, then use a OC utility to overclock once in windows. With that adjustment though you'll be saving around 45w on idle, which is a good amount of power.

 

[LintMan]

Thanks for the info, everybody! It sounds like I'd be OK with the 4870 if I'm willing to manually manage the fan speeds, but this also gives me an another excuse, uh I mean reason, to spend the extra dough on the 280.

 

[Keysplayr]

My 280 idles at about 45C at a room temp of about 70F. Fan remains at 30% (500-600 rpm).
Jumps up to about 63-68C while gaming, and the fan ups itself to about 40%. Very quiet.
I cannot speak for the 4870 although others have.

 

[zerodeefex]

I have a 4870x2 that I have running at 40% idle and 65% in games. It's pretty darn loud. Going to probably WC it eventually to keep noise levels down since I have some near silent pumps.

 

[Zebo]

http://techreport.com/articles.x/15651/11

They all sound like hair dryers to me - only reason I keep water cooling. CPU's have really sophisticated coolers these days with heat pipes, thermo siphons, and 120mm inaudibly low RPM fans but no such magic on GPU. The closest is AC Accelero VGA Coolers but still not silent but damn good - good enough for 99% of the people who thinks noise is an issue. Get one and you'll be happy I think.