Videocards should come with noise level ratings on the box

[chizow]

Yep dB ratings can be unreliable which is why I suggested RPMs at different duty cycle %. Those can be reliably and easily monitored with software and monitoring tools. Also anyone really interested should have enough experience with various fans to have an idea of how that translates into noise.

 

[God Mode]

...and if you would actually believe any of those noise ratings, I have some nice beachfront property in Florida I'd like to sell you. Limited time offer only, first come first serve.

What does your fictional beach property have to do with people wanting some basic information when shopping for an expensive product? Do you look at fan specs at all when you buy them? What should the average person look at when shopping for something? Some people dont know good hardware forums exist and rely on the basic reviews they see on the net or from the product box.

Yeah, more misleading marketing. Like how they market fans with decibel ratings that aren't even close to reality.

Some information is better than none. Even the maximum and or average rpm of the coolers would suffice. A basic idea of fan noise is important to many people.

The attitude some of you have is strange. Its an either all or nothing approach. It akin to expecting a certain model of car to perform identical to each other in all elevations, climate fuel used, weight etc with no defects or variations at all.

Just because the manufacturer advertises products with data from the cherry picked best case scenarios doesnt deny the need and importance of product information. In this instance, I find the information about the fan and noise level of said product to be important.

 

[VashHT]

Originally posted by: God Mode

...and if you would actually believe any of those noise ratings, I have some nice beachfront property in Florida I'd like to sell you. Limited time offer only, first come first serve.

What does your fictional beach property have to do with people wanting some basic information when shopping for an expensive product? Do you look at fan specs at all when you buy them? What should the average person look at when shopping for something? Some people dont know good hardware forums exist and rely on the basic reviews they see on the net or from the product box.

Yeah, more misleading marketing. Like how they market fans with decibel ratings that aren't even close to reality.

Some information is better than none. Even the maximum and or average rpm of the coolers would suffice. A basic idea of fan noise is important to many people.

The attitude some of you have is strange. Its an either all or nothing approach. It akin to expecting a certain model of car to perform identical to each other in all elevations, climate fuel used, weight etc with no defects or variations at all.

Just because the manufacturer advertises products with data from the cherry picked best case scenarios doesnt deny the need and importance of product information. In this instance, I find the information about the fan and noise level of said product to be important.

All they're saying is that if companies did put dB ratings on the box, companies would lie about it or inaccurately measure it to make themselves look better than other companies. As other people pointed out there isn't really a standard for measuring it, so what sounds like a good idea would probably end up with a pointless number on the box that isn't accurate.

Basically, its a good idea but it probably wouldn't work out in the real marketplace. The difference of having reviewers do it is that they do it the same way with each card they review and have no interest in selling you that card.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: VashHT
All they're saying is that if companies did put dB ratings on the box, companies would lie about it or inaccurately measure it to make themselves look better than other companies. As other people pointed out there isn't really a standard for measuring it

Well, there are standardized ways of measuring, but companies won't always measure using those methods or will outright lie.

What WOULD be somewhat workable is if there was a THIRD PARTY certification, kind of like 80+ for power supplies. Now, being "80+ certified" doesn't say diddly-squat about quality, but it does say "yes, based on our standardized and published methods of measurement..." So, if some organization had a standardized and published method of measuring fan noise... maybe "SPCR 40-" for products under 40dBA measured from X distance at Y temperature, etc. That might work.

 

[taltamir]

in an ideal world, video cards will indeed come with noise spec, tested with modern realistic methology, and by the same independant lab.
But everything that has been specced so far resulted in blatent lies, optimizations to the test with reduction in real world performance, and so on...
Not to mention that there are different TYPES of noise, and that matters a lot more (is it an alternative noise? high pitch? low pitch? humming?) which makes the whole thing kinda pointless... read the reviews, if people complain about noise then don't get it... or budget for an after market HSF to begin with.

 

[IlllI]

Originally posted by: Zap
Well, there are standardized ways of measuring, but companies won't always measure using those methods or will outright lie.

that reminds me of lcd companies. how many times have we see "100000!! dynamic contrast ratio" etc etc

if there is no standard way to measure, then basically anyone could just make up some random number and slap it on the box.

 

[pmv]

Sadly I think it would only work if there was some third party that tested them all to a common standard.

To those who say 'noise doesn't matter' because you can't hear it over the sound of a game - it does if you live in a flat with no sound insulation!

I use headphones to avoid disturbing the neighbours, but before I put a lot of effort into quietening my PC (including changing vid card) I didn't dare turn it on after midnight.

(and before I get any smart alec comments about priorities - housing here costs approximately 10 gazillion times the cost of a good PC! Though the way the economy is going that might be about to change...)

 

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: clandren

Originally posted by: Zap
Well, there are standardized ways of measuring, but companies won't always measure using those methods or will outright lie.

that reminds me of lcd companies. how many times have we see "100000!! dynamic contrast ratio" etc etc

if there is no standard way to measure, then basically anyone could just make up some random number and slap it on the box.

CRT size measurements... had nothing to do with the actual size... SOME manufacturers adhered to the following convention: "it is the distance from the bottom glass in a diagonal to the top right plastic rounded up to the nearest odd number)"... so a 18.5 inch monitor would be 20.3 inches and rounded up to 21 under this measurement.

Not that diagonal size makes much sense now that only the screen is measured, since the surface area for the same diagonal is completely different depending on the aspect ratio...