Video cards and fan noise

[dderolph]

I've never had a video card with it's own fan. If I replace my old card with one that has a fan, will I likely notice a slight increase in noise from my computer? I know adding fans to a computer usually increases noise but do the small fans on video cards also make a noticeable difference?

 

[sbuckler]

Probably - it depends on how noisy you case is, and how noisy the fan on the graphics card is. Incidentally small fans are only quiet if they spin slowly, which tends to not be the case, if they spin fast you'll get an irritating whine. Check out the reviews, buy the quietest make of card, if it irritates you then get an aftermarket low noise cooling solution.

 

[dderolph]

OK, thanks.

 

[Auric]

Them leetle viddy card fans are the highest noise makers in even an average system. Depending on the card they may be disabled before resorting to replacing with a pricey after-market cooler. If need be, a low speed 80-92mm fan can be rigged to blow across the existing heatsink.

 

[dderolph]

OK, thanks for that additional info.

 

[Keysplayr]

No offense, but: Duh.... 🙂

 

[dderolph]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
No offense, but: Duh.... 🙂

I know it may be a dumb question but, as I said, I've never used a video card with a fan on it. The closest thing I can compare a small diamater fan to, from my past experience, is an overdrive processor I installed in a Pentium computer many years ago. That small fan made no difference in noise level. So, I needed to ask this question to get the facts on these video card fans.

 

[Tiamat]

If you have no other case fans less than 80mm and no Deltas or Tornado fans, then you will hear it because they all have the whiny higher pitched noise.

 

[dderolph]

Well, the CPU fan is 60mm. And, I have one 80mm case fan. So, I conclude from the comments posted so far that I should expect to notice a difference in noise.