Relatively quiet cooler on 7900 GT

danklumpp

Senior member
Jul 13, 2005
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I've heard from a few short reviews that the stock cooler on the 7900 GT is not that loud. Does anyone have a 7900 GT that can confirm this? (the review 7900 GT had a copper heatsink, that might make a bit of difference)
 

Skott

Diamond Member
Oct 4, 2005
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The 7900GTX supposedly is even more quiet than the 7900GT from what I have heard. Mainly due to the heatpipe setup on the GTX. I'm guessing the sound level will also vary from manufacturer to manufacturer depending on how they set up the fan on the card. The real question is how loud is loud? Only a real db testing unit will tell the story since sound by human ear is too subjective because everyone has different levels of hearing it seems. I doubt the 7900GT is too loud for normal comfort though.
 

nib95

Senior member
Jan 31, 2006
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It's not that loud imo.

My two 7900 GT's are quieter then my old X1900 XTX.
Temps are also far lower, I idle at 44 and load at about 54.
I think that's reasonable, considering my XTX would load at 80 in exactly the same system.
 

Bullhonkie

Golden Member
Sep 28, 2001
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The stock cooler on my XFX 7900GT was unbearably loud. It sounded like a slightly muffled blow dryer, or someone using a vacuum cleaner in another room of the house.

I'm a real stickler for silence though so it may not be as bad depending on your noise tolerance. It was very easily the loudest thing in my system and still audible from across the room.

I replaced it with a VF-900 running at 6v and my temps dropped a ton while being completely inaudible to my ears. I had 42C/70C idle/load temps on the stock cooler at 580/870 and the Zalman dropped those to 33C/48C at the same speeds.
 

Arkane13131

Senior member
Feb 26, 2006
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my 7900gt co superclock sounds like a hairdryer.

the 7800gt was quieter.

im thinking aftermarket cooler because A) it doesnt void my warranty B) i want heatsinks/better cooling on the memory chips C) noise reduction.
 

BFG10K

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
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According reviews the 7900GT is quite loud. I would wait for a passively cooled version to come out.
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
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Originally posted by: BFG10K
According reviews the 7900GT is quite loud. I would wait for a passively cooled version to come out.

or just buy a vf700/900 and get it over with

that's the first mod i'll be making when my xfx arrives from dell... supposed to ship next week... who wants to guess dell pushes back the ship date?