Quietest 260 GTX?

JamieT · Post by **JamieT** » Sat Jun 20, 2009 2:43 am

Hi All,

I've just finished my new build, I'm temporarily using a passive 8400 until I decide which graphics card to get. At the moment I'm very happy with the level of noise the complete system makes, so I really don't want to ruin it, but I need to get a decent graphics card.

I want nVidia for CUDA support, and the 260 GTX is the best nVidia card in my budget, there are 3 different ones in my budget:

896MB Asus GTX 260, 55nm
896MB XFX GTX 260 XT 55nm, PCI-E 2.0(x16), 2000 MHz GDDR3, GPU 621 MHz, 216 Cores
896MB Gainward GTX 260 GS

The Gainward uses a different cooler but it looks like the Asus/XFX use the same one.

If I wasn't happy with the noise from the Asus/XFX I think I can fit a 3rd party cooler whereas the Gainward uses a modified PCB so if it's not quiet I'm stuck with their cooler.

Do you think the Gainward would be quieter by default? Or should I just go with the cheapest (Asus) and if it isn't quiet enough fit a 3rd party cooler (Artic Cooling Accelero Xtreme)?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

LodeHacker · Post by **LodeHacker** » Sat Jun 20, 2009 3:00 am

I think you should settle with an aftermarket cooler in the first place. So find the cheapest GTX 260 and combine it with any aftermarket cooler you like (make sure about compatibility too!). You'll definitely not regret it because you can from the start choose something quiet.

EDIT: When you get your new graphics card, are you willing to donate your 8400? I can pay shipment costs

Thanks in advance!

JamieT · Post by **JamieT** » Sat Jun 20, 2009 4:48 am

Thanks for the reply, I think I'll go with the Asus then since it's the cheapest, and I just read the Gainward is slightly noisier than the reference cooler.

Do you know if the Asus card (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/896MB-As ... L-DVI-HDTV) definitely uses the reference cooler, and is compatible with the Arctic-Cooling-Accelero-Xtreme cooler?

Temporarily stole the 8400 from the wife's computer, I don't think she'd like it if I gave it away

LodeHacker · Post by **LodeHacker** » Sat Jun 20, 2009 7:32 am

Hi again,

I made some research and came up with these images: the other shows the reference design with the cooler and the other without. The ASUS variant is identical to the reference cooler design with different graphic on the plastic part; nothing to worry about

By the way, don't believe in (or take with a grain of salt) what people say outside of SPCR regarding noise. If the Gainward is anything like its "Golden Sample" predecessors, then expect both fans on the cooler to kick in loud even with moderate load, earplugs recommended.

Ahhh, too bad about the 8400GS, but thank you anyway

JamieT · Post by **JamieT** » Sat Jun 20, 2009 8:02 am

Thanks again.

Just ordered the Asus! I'll try it with the stock cooler to start off with, but no doubt I'll end up ordering the Arctic-Cooling-Accelero-Xtreme cooler next week.

LodeHacker · Post by **LodeHacker** » Sat Jun 20, 2009 8:19 am

JamieT wrote:Thanks again.

Just ordered the Asus! I'll try it with the stock cooler to start off with, but no doubt I'll end up ordering the Arctic-Cooling-Accelero-Xtreme cooler next week.

Great, please do report how you like it and how bad the noise level really is!

JamieT · Post by **JamieT** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 4:07 pm

Received/fit it today, I found the fan noise surprisingly good - by default it spins at 40% which I couldn't hear over a Noctua NF-S12 120mm @ 1200RPM, it remained on 40% after a 2 hour gaming session, so pretty good - by no means silent, but I wouldn't call it noisy either

.

Unfortunately, it also has an unbearable coil whine, so I'm probably going to end up sending it back.

edan · Post by **edan** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 12:59 pm

JamieT wrote:Received/fit it today, I found the fan noise surprisingly good - by default it spins at 40% which I couldn't hear over a Noctua NF-S12 120mm @ 1200RPM, it remained on 40% after a 2 hour gaming session, so pretty good - by no means silent, but I wouldn't call it noisy either .

I bought a EVGA GTX 260 (55nm, 216 cores) based on the idea it would be relatively quiet and that all the stock coolers were basically the same. I've seen the same thing as you: the stock fan seems to always run at 40%, even when I'm logged into Dark Fall all day. It's not silent, but I couldn't hear it over an EarthWatts 650 I used temporarily, and I can't hear it if my S-Flex "mediums" are at 12V.
Unfortunately...

Unfortunately, it also has an unbearable coil whine, so I'm probably going to end up sending it back.

Yeah! When you say "unbearable coil whine" ... do you mean a fairly faint, but nonetheless distinct high pitched whine that's basically omnipresent? I couldn't hear it when I had the EarthWatts 650, but it's fan was noisier. I thought it might have been one of the hard drives I was testing, but I ran it without any HDs and the noise was still there.

It also makes a REALLY nasty whining noise when the BIOS resets or the computer turns on. It's not a huge deal, and it goes away as soon as the "VGA BIOS" posts in the little LCD BIOS tool my Asus mobo came with. The EVGA manual says you might hear a whiny noise (and a black screen) if your power supply was insufficient. That makes me wonder if my replacement Seasonic M12-850W is to blame for the omnipresent whine... or if it's just that the M12 is quieter so now it's not masked

Did you end up sending it back? I can't send the EVGA back to Newegg because it's "replacement-only," but my friend said he would buy it if I didn't like it (because he couldn't care less about noise), so I'm still trying decide what to do.

halcyon · Post by **halcyon** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 10:56 pm

I know this is late for JamieT, but this GTX 260 216 sp looks fairly quiet - certainly much quieter than any of the stock or aftermarket coolers on GTX 200 series that I've seen measurements for:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Inno ... 60/28.html

edan · Post by **edan** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 7:28 pm

halcyon wrote:I know this is late for JamieT, but this GTX 260 216 sp looks fairly quiet - certainly much quieter than any of the stock or aftermarket coolers on GTX 200 series that I've seen measurements for:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Inno ... 60/28.html

That does seem like a very promising cooler ... I believe it's just the Artic Cooling Accellero XTREME. I swear that Galaxy had a GTX 275 for $299 on newegg a month or two ago, and I was very tempted by it (but I had never heard of Galaxy...) Also, I can't tell if JamieT already tried that cooler and was complaining of "coil whine" with it ...

For my part, I touched the fan hub briefly on my EVGA 260 and the faint high pitched noise went away. My machine was basically inaudible at that point (3 SFLEX E @ 70% and a WDC 640GB Caviar Blue). Soo, I guess I'll try to see if I can downclock it to 30 or 35% and see if that makes it less noticeable... otherwise, have to consider alternatives because I'm so picky atm

KansaKilla · Post by **KansaKilla** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:04 pm

LodeHacker wrote:I think you should settle with an aftermarket cooler in the first place. So find the cheapest GTX 260 and combine it with any aftermarket cooler you like (make sure about compatibility too!). You'll definitely not regret it because you can from the start choose something quiet.

I think this is the way with any of these 260's. Waiting for AC to release their aftermarket model. In the meantime, if you're feeling froggy, you could remove the plastic cowl and add a 92mm fan to make it quieter and cooler by 5-10 degrees.

John Peterson · Post by **John Peterson** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 10:08 am

halcyon wrote:I know this is late for JamieT, but this GTX 260 216 sp looks fairly quiet - certainly much quieter than any of the stock or aftermarket coolers on GTX 200 series that I've seen measurements for:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Inno ... 60/28.html

Too bad it can't be bought anymore. It's out of stock everywhere I looked. If you want that cooler you'll have to fit it yourself. Overall I can't find a satisfying stock cooler. In the review you mentioned it has listed two Radeon 4850 that was very silent (20 dbA) when idle. But it's uncertain if you can find that exact MSI or Powercolor model if you would buy it today. There is no way of knowing if they decided to replace the fan with a noisier one.

Besides the Inno3D iChill cards (that I can't find to buy now) I haven't seen any high-end pre-configured graphics cards that aim to be as silent as possible.

It seems kind of cumbersome to fit the heatsinks on a graphics card. But with the lack of pre-configured silent cards I may decide to fit my own heat sinks and fans after all.

rhys j · Post by **rhys j** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 10:47 am

I've got the Asus GTX 260 SP216 55mm card.

I use RivaTuner to change the fan profile, and for desktop work it's running at 22%, which is 750rpm, and almost inaudible - quieter than my hard drive. It's idling at 57 degrees C. You can slow the fans even further, at the cost of having the GPU running a bit hotter.

At 40%, which is the default, it's fairly quiet but too loud for my liking.

I can't find the page I used to set up RivaTuner but it's something like this quote I found on another site:

Download RivaTuner
Go to Power User->RivaTuner\Fan set Autofanspeedcontrol to 3
Go to Main,customize,low level system settings,Enable low level...
select Auto and type:
Duty Cycle min 30 - (the minimal %speed ur fan will be running at)
Duty Cycle max 100 - (the maximum speed of ur fan)
T min 50(the temperature at which ur fan will be at duty cycle min)
T range 30(the temperature at which ur fan will be at duty cycle max)
T operating 110
T low limit 0
T high limit 110
Save them,see how it is,then select to auto apply it at startup.

I set the Duty Cycle min to 18 and T min to 47, range 32.

John Peterson · Post by **John Peterson** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 11:48 am

rhys j wrote: I use RivaTuner to change the fan profile, and for desktop work it's running at 22%, which is 750rpm, and almost inaudible

I use the stock cooler too on my HIS Radeon 5770. The slowest speed is 900 rpm (20%) which is fairly silent. I use MSI Afterburner to calibrate the fan-speed ramp-up. I've also set a range of 45Â° to 80Â° between idle and full load which should be an acceptable range that won't damage the card.