ASUS GTX 700 Series - Qualified for silent video cards ?

[Macky]

Hi Mike/Team ... do the video cards STRIX-GTX750TI-OC-2GD5 and GTX760-DC2OC-2GD5 by ASUS are qualified for silent performance video controllers? Which one is better? I'm planning to setup a tri-monitor Home PC for both basic/intermediate gaming and home theater purposes. Appreciate your kind feedback.

[CA_Steve]

Welcome to SPCR.

This will help resolve what gfx card you might need:
- What games?
- Do you plan to play at 1080p or some other resolution?
- Do you want to maximize the eye candy or are you willing to turn down graphics quality in order to sustain fps?
- When you say tri-monitor..do you mean you plan to play on all three at once, or do you mean to play on one monitor and use the other two for other purposes?

[Macky]

Hi CA_Steve ... Thank you for the reply. Please refer to the following:
- What games? ... [Macky] no specific hardcore games at the moment, most likely, novice to intermediate online games
- Do you plan to play at 1080p or some other resolution? ... [Macky] yes, 1080p for Home Theater application
- Do you want to maximize the eye candy or are you willing to turn down graphics quality in order to sustain fps? ... [Macky] yes, if it requires in the future
- When you say tri-monitor..do you mean you plan to play on all three at once, or do you mean to play on one monitor and use the other two for other purposes? ... [Macky] most likely, play on one monitor and then use the other 2 monitors for other applications such as virtual PCs, work related stuff and internet browsing (multi-tasking)

[CA_Steve]

The GTX 750 Ti can handle 1080p games, but you'd have to dial down the image quality to get decent frame rates - unless it's a very low intensity game. I have a GTX 760 and it's great for 1080p play - however, it's been obsoleted and the remaining inventory is dwindling. The good news is the recently released GTX 960 is awesome. Performance is between the GTX 760 and 770 and the power use is much less than the GTX 760 (max 125W vs 160W). Street price is in the $200-210 range, vs the Asus Strix version of the GTX 750 Ti (~$155). Check out the review compilation thread. Passive fans at idle/low use have become the norm rather than just the STRIX. Lots of decent cards. Make sure they have the video outputs you need for your three monitors (or at least can get there with an adapter).

What's the rest of your build?

[Macky]

Hi CA_Steve ... good day and thank you again for the inputs/feedback. I'm currently using the Intel i7-3770K processor, ASUS P8H77-M_LE motherboard, Cougar GX 1050W 80 Plus Gold PSU, Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3, Corsair Force Series 3 120GB SSD for my Windows 7 OS/office application stuff, Seagate 1TB Barracuda for my file system, Thermaltake Level 10 GT for the casing with Thermaltake Bigwater LC System. I had this build about more than 5 years already. For video output, I'm just utilizing the onboard video controller of the motherboard and display to my dual LED monitors via HDMI and DVI ports. Since I bought an LG 42" 3D Smart LED TV last year, I'm planning to use it as my Media Center Server, on top of how I'm using it nowadays, plus additional LED monitor to complete the triple output display for gaming use. Appreciate if you can provide additional feedback about this build or perhaps improvement needed to have a much more cooler & silent PC build.

[CA_Steve]

Adding a GTX 960 won't affect the noise level of this system. I guess it all boils down to this: Is the current setup quiet enough for you?

My guess on the relative noise of the components, from loudest to quietest:

-water cooler.
- HDD
- case fans. Set low, I hope.
- PSU. Your stressed load without a discrete gfx card is ~145W. With a GTX 960, stressed load is ~265W, with gaming load around 230W. In any event, no PSU fan ramp here.

You can muck around and check for yourself.

Are you overclocking/overvolting the CPU? If not, consider replacing the water cooler with a Scythe Kotetsu. It's thin enough to where it shouldn't interefere with those tall heatspreader RAM sticks.

[Macky]

Good day CA_Steve ... thank you again for the feedback. So far, it's relatively quiet for me, though I'm open for feedbacks to a better silent system level or much lower noise.

Yeah, I think the highest contributor of noise is the Thermaltake Bigwater Cooling System <http://thermaltake.com.au/products-mode ... C_00001791> although the noise level is not that bad.

I'm currently not overclocking the CPU since I have no requirements to do it at the moment.

I'll consider Scythe Kotetsu as an option though. Alternatively, can the Big Quiet CPU Coolers <http://www.bequiet.com/en/cpucooler/479> and <http://www.bequiet.com/en/cpucooler/287> be an option, as well? Any testing you had done for these new product line from Germany, in terms of noise level?

Or is it better to just change the radiator fan of the Thermaltake Bigwater Cooling System <http://www.thermaltake.com.au/products- ... C_00001791> to a much quiet fan, which I think a much lesser cost to achieved. Any recommendation for this item?

[CA_Steve]

You can change the radiator fan, but then you still have pump noise. Water coolers are a waste of space unless you are trying to cool 150W or more.

The Be Quiet! coolers are ok, but not excellent. Fans are great but the cooler base and installation fit aren't as good as others. Besides, you can get the Kotetsu via Amazon.de for ~ 35 euros and it'll outperform most other solutions. (I'm assuming you are in the eurozone..)

[Macky]

Good day CA_Steve ... I'm currently here in Asia (Manila, Philippines).

Btw, considering another video controller brand, MSI GTX-960-2GD5T-OC <http://www.msi.com/product/vga/GTX-960- ... o-overview>, any feedback/input and testing you have? Are the performance and resolution better than ASUS GTX760-DC2OC-2GD5 <http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/GTX760DC2OC2GD5/> ?

[CA_Steve]

MSI's GTX 960 Gaming has a passive fan mode for idle/low power use. I can't tell if the one you listed has this feature or not - I'd lean toward not based on the PR. No reviews of it out there. Better off with the Gaming version, I think. Or, the STRIX version of the Asus cards.

[Macky]

Hi CA_Steve ... thank you for all the inputs and feedbacks you had provided, much appreciated for your kind support. Cheers!