Silencing a super-high-end video card?

They make noise, too.

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TeeJayHoward
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2009 8:51 am
Location: Colorado

Silencing a super-high-end video card?

Post by TeeJayHoward » Sat Nov 17, 2012 10:39 pm

What is the most effective way to silence a GTX690 or a pair of them? Is water cooling the only way to bring noise levels down on the big boys? If so, about what level of noise could you expect from the system under a full Furmark load?

pet
Posts: 34
Joined: Fri Jun 03, 2011 7:35 am

Re: Silencing a super-high-end video card?

Post by pet » Sun Nov 18, 2012 5:26 am

Arctic Cooling sells a quiet cooler, see http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/cooling/vga/5 ... tml?c=2182.

A review can be found at http://www.kitguru.net/components/graph ... 690/all/1/: the results are impressive. Besides, you should be able to modify the fan speed curve to attain an even better result when it comes to sound level, while getting the same temperatures the built-in cooler provides.

Dirge
Posts: 111
Joined: Sun Apr 11, 2004 8:55 pm
Location: New Zealand

Re: Silencing a super-high-end video card?

Post by Dirge » Sun Nov 18, 2012 6:00 am

There is a difference in terminology between quieting and silencing something. I think you will find it near impossible to silence a 'super-high-end' video card, let alone a pair of them. Water cooling sounds like a good option in your case, though there will be some noise created by the reservoir pump and radiator fan (hopefully a large slow moving fan).

Unfortunately quiet computing is a trade off of performance vs efficiency and the ability to quieten a device.

Irrelevant
Posts: 95
Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2012 9:44 am

Re: Silencing a super-high-end video card?

Post by Irrelevant » Sun Nov 18, 2012 2:53 pm

I've been doing a lot of research in this area, and there are a few impressive (and expensive) aftermarket coolers out there that can keep even high-end cards silent at idle. If you want silence at load, though, watercooling is the only way to go.

For air-cooled, multi-GPU configs, I think the Logisys VC6006 Dracula would probably be the best, as it can be a 2.5-slot solution, if you mount the fans over your expansion slots. However, it's $80 and doesn't come with any fans, which will be at least $20 for a pair of SPCR-approved 120mm's.

Your other options are the Prolimatech Mk-26 ($75, no fans) or the Accelero Xtreme ($80-$100). The Thermalright Spitfire only works for single-GPU setups, and every other GPU cooler out there is either insufficient or unavailable in the US.

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