SPCR

Could you check what is the "tacho" speed (in RPM) of the reference cooler in idle? (EVGA Precision can do that). This supposedly superquiet Gigabyte has around 1500 rpm. I know you cant directly compare rpms of different fans, but at least it would give me the idea of the speed of the reference cooler.

Ironically, same thing happened to me when I was buying 5850 - the store where I bought it had no cards with reference cooler.

defaultluser wrote:

Cerb wrote:Hmm. Combined with the mini-HDMI->DVI adapter (who has spare mini-HDMI->HDMI cables hanging around?), and the same price as reference ones...at worst, it looks like a good choice to wait for aftermarket coolers with.

Well now, do you seriously think they would leave you hanging like that? My Sparkle GTX 460 came in a very spare container with no frills, but they still provided a mini-HDMI to HDMI cable. Also included were two molex to PCIe power adapters.

I was speaking of the MSI. No picture sets from etailers, nor reviews that I've seen, have shown any cable with it

defaultluser wrote:In fact, one reviewer was amazed that so many companies were going with 3rd-party fans, because the stock cooler was so impressive.

They're probably going with less expensive alternatives. They might consider the stock cooling overkill, and are installing heat sinks with less metal and higher fan speeds instead. Or maybe they just want their heatsink to look better than the standard one, even if it isn't. Selling their card for slightly less than the competition, or making it look better in some way, can help them move more units and ultimately make more money.

I just received a response from Gigabyte on the length of their GIGABYTE GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 card. I could see from the Guru3D review that it was longer than the other cards and I have limited room in my case.

It is 238mm or 9.37". All the other 460 1GB cards are 8.25". The Gigabyte might be out for me to replace my fanless Gigabyte 9600 GT. Darn.

I bought that 1GB OC GTX460 Gigabyte card. I must admit, not only it is quiet, it also has so nice default profile, that under load the fanspeed does not rise immediately.

Looks like this is not just a marketing bullsh*t:

SimplexPL wrote:I bought that 1GB OC GTX460 Gigabyte card. I must admit, not only it is quiet, it also has so nice default profile, that under load the fanspeed does not rise immediately.

Looks like this is not just a marketing bullsh*t:

Yeah, my GTX 460 with stock HSF remains at 40% fan speed even during load, and stays at just 60C.

I believe the profile is the same regardless of the fan attached - the numbers I've seen everywhere have been 40% minimum fan speed, with a very high temperature range before the fan ramps.

I'm still waiting for a silent option, even if it takes up three whole slots. They say it's "quiet", but that's extremely relative given that most systems run a 120mm exhaust fan that by itself is noisier than my entire system(three fans hard-wired at roughly 500-700rpm - the rest is passive)

I have 2 intake and 2 exhausts fan (80mm) connected through molex set on 7v. They are the "noisiest" (relatively speaking) part of my computer, apart from that I have Enermax 525W Modu82+ which is also very quiet, and I have SilentiumPC Spartan cooler (obscure Polish brand, but quiet: http://beta.silentiumpc.com/?p=35&lang=en ) with the quietest PMW profile set in BIOS.
Right now my cpu fan is 1000rpm and psu fan is 500rpm. In this environment the gigabyte card (1600 rpm) is not audible above the rest of the fans, which for me makes it quiet in my book, but of course everyone has his own noise tolerance levels.

If you are skeptical about gigabyte, then maybe this will interest you:
http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Produc ... 25&LanID=9

Don't know anything about the card, but from what I do know, Arctic Cooling is all for low noise.

Also, supposedly all GTX460 with reference cooling are also quiet.

I just changed my old ATI 4670 with Accelero S1 for this GainWard GTX 460, the 1GB version. And I am very happy about it. I was expecting to have to change the cooler, but it won't be the case since it's very quiet.

I also took a look at the Watts, and the wattage I use to measure the whole computer (with peripherals) went from 294 to 330 after the change, so that's 36W increase for the graphics card. I wasn't playing when took the numbers. I guess the increase could be lower... but, oh well...

The ATI 4670 was hitting 60ºC sometimes, while the Nvidia 460 doesn't.

I made two photos, to compare those cards.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mai9/4851984079/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mai9/4852606918/

SimplexPL wrote:I bought that 1GB OC GTX460 Gigabyte card. I must admit, not only it is quiet, it also has so nice default profile, that under load the fanspeed does not rise immediately.

Looks like this is not just a marketing bullsh*t:

Question, how does the noise level compare to a HDD (WD Green for example)?

I have a 5850 with an accelero S1 + a voltmodded 12cm fan, and the card is silent and never reaches 70c unless I use Furmark or there's a huge heat wave which raises my room temp by +10c. In fact, the loudest components in my computer are the HDDs, otherwise it's perfectly noiseless.

I may end up switching this card to the Gigabyte gtx 460 1gb OC model, because I just can't stand the ridiculous driver support Ati puts out. It isn't that bad on x86, but now after moving to x64 I sadly found that the x64 Catalysts are equal to rubbish.

It would be nice if the Geforce card would be equally silent. I'm kind of worried if 3rd party heatsinks are not applicable to the card. But the double fan on the Gigabyte model looks like it doesn't need to spin too fast to keep the card cool, as long as there's a software fan option, I should be set.

mai9 wrote:I just changed my old ATI 4670 with Accelero S1 for this GainWard GTX 460, the 1GB version (...) and the wattage I use to measure the whole computer (with peripherals) went from 294 to 330 after the change, so that's 36W increase for the graphics card.

Whoa.
What were you doing when you were measuring wattage if your weren't gaming?

tim851 wrote:Whoa.
What were you doing when you were measuring wattage if your weren't gaming?

I'm guessing Furmark or 3DMark.

I ended up getting the GB 1GB OC. While there's hasn't been a really quiet time to check things out (if it's not AC units, it's insects chirping), it's nearly inaudible from where I sit (see bottom).

SC2, at highly playable settings (medium overall, high texture, 4xMSAA), can only get it to report a peak of 52C and 50% fan speed (40% is idle/minimum), even w/ the factory OC. I haven't tried benchmarks, yet (I'm sure they'll get it hotter, of course).

* NeoPower 650 as a temporary PSU (not loud, by any means, but also not quiet, once it gets a decent load)

P.S. finally got a little quiet, and with the case open, it's got some fan noise; but closed (so plenty gets blocked), or with anything else around going, it's well masked (FI, A/C just kicked in, and I can barely hear it, once again). As such, I've removed any quiet statements--even inches away, there was much more noise coming from it, but it was at just the right frequencies to not be heard, at the time. I'll be awaiting aftermarket cooling, but it's still not bad.

Overall, however, I wish there were more pure reference 1GB implementations to choose from, more than anything else, as that more of a known quantity. FI, Sparkle was the only one I could find, and it was sold out.

Cerb wrote:I ended up getting the GB 1GB OC. While there's hasn't been a really quiet time to check things out (if it's not AC units, it's insects chirping), it's nearly inaudible from where I sit (see bottom).

SC2, at highly playable settings (medium overall, high texture, 4xMSAA), can only get it to report a peak of 52C and 50% fan speed (40% is idle/minimum), even w/ the factory OC. I haven't tried benchmarks, yet (I'm sure they'll get it hotter, of course).

Thanks for the feedback.

What temps do you get in SC2 if you fix the fan at 40%?

CA_Steve wrote:

Cerb wrote:I ended up getting the GB 1GB OC. While there's hasn't been a really quiet time to check things out (if it's not AC units, it's insects chirping), it's nearly inaudible from where I sit (see bottom).

SC2, at highly playable settings (medium overall, high texture, 4xMSAA), can only get it to report a peak of 52C and 50% fan speed (40% is idle/minimum), even w/ the factory OC. I haven't tried benchmarks, yet (I'm sure they'll get it hotter, of course).

Thanks for the feedback.

What temps do you get in SC2 if you fix the fan at 40%?

I haven't tried that, but as it has ramped so far, it doesn't get much louder, if any. You did read the P.S., too, right (that non-computer ambient noises were masking the fan noise, for almost the whole first day of use, rather than it not making much)?

It seemed to me from googling around that the MSI cyclone is the quietest (one review had it quieter at idle than the gigabyte twin-fan card) and they are about to release a "Hawk" version which should be quieter still if the 5770 Hawk was anything to go by.

Cerb wrote:I haven't tried that, but as it has ramped so far, it doesn't get much louder, if any. You did read the P.S., too, right (that non-computer ambient noises were masking the fan noise, for almost the whole first day of use, rather than it not making much)?

I sure did. Just like to gather more points of data. No review sites have bothered to mess with the fan speed, yet. So, still curious as to temp rise during gaming if the fan is fixed at 40%.

Does anyone with a MSI Cyclone know if you can reduce the fan speed with Afterburner below the "Auto" idle level?

Apparently this card is pretty quiet but Ill probably hear anything over 800-1000rpm

Going back to GB Windfart - SimplexPL, could say whether the fans ever change RPM? Or do they just rotate @ constant speed? (like in many other GB non-ref coolers...). How about GB's software - can it control the fans?

According to this review, MSI Cyclone is quieter than reference design (remove spaces in link):

www. kitguru. net/components/graphic-cards/zardon/msi-n460gtx-1gd5-cyclone-1gb-review/17/

Still I hope to see 460 GTX noise shootout in SPCR in near future

Alright, I give my input on this: I installed yesterday eVga GTX 460 768M;B 192-bit Super Clocked version. Its with stock cooler and I opted this for silent purpouses. I heard 1 GB 256-bit version of eVga with rear exhaust was louder.

Alright my old 1680x1050 did not need upgrade from pimped HD 4850 512mb (+ AC Accelero S1 + 800 RPM S-flex) but I also picked up for Acer 23" Full HD monitor and that requires bit more horse power...

Anyway: My Modded Antec 300 game rig is not quietest rig I have its. 3rd quietest of my 3 computers and only thing you hear is soft woosh. I expected huge noise increase when I changed my HD 4850 into GTX 460. However in idle, I could not tell difference between HD 4850 modded and GTX 460.

In gaming GTX 460 ramped up cooler but its still quietest active stock cooling graphics adapter I have ever had. And it idles just 3-6 degree's hotter than pimped HD 4850 around 38 to 39 degree's C.

I'm impressed by this. Alright, nVidia has done some bad mistakes and screwed up alot and made shady moves. GTX 480 and 470 were not something as they expected. However GTX 460 is completely different beast. This is very good card and it is very quiet. Quietest stcok cooling card I've had so far... yes I already pointed out it earlier but this is silent pc review, so noise has alot meaning. Well done nVidia.

lutel wrote:According to this review, MSI Cyclone is quieter than reference design (remove spaces in link):

www. kitguru. net/components/graphic-cards/zardon/msi-n460gtx-1gd5-cyclone-1gb-review/17/

Still I hope to see 460 GTX noise shootout in SPCR in near future

I got my Cyclone 1gb a week ago for $215 and I've been very impressed with its acoustics. It idles at ~35C and loads at ~55C in an open case.

At idle the Cyclone's fan is significantly quieter than my Nexus 120mm @12v. I am only able to hear the fan if i put my ear within 6" of the card. The card does come with the MSI Afterburner software (based on Rivatuner) which allows you to set a custom fan speed curve. I have not experimented with this since the stock settings are so good.

I would give this GPU the highest recommendations for a quiet seeking user.

billdcat4 wrote:The card does come with the MSI Afterburner software (based on Rivatuner) which allows you to set a custom fan speed curve. I have not experimented with this since the stock settings are so good.

Would you mind giving it a quick go and test if you can lower the fan's speed below 40% as this seems to be impossible on a lot of the GTX460s.

billdcat4 wrote:I got my Cyclone 1gb a week ago for $215 and I've been very impressed with its acoustics. It idles at ~35C and loads at ~55C in an open case.

At idle the Cyclone's fan is significantly quieter than my Nexus 120mm @12v. I am only able to hear the fan if i put my ear within 6" of the card. The card does come with the MSI Afterburner software (based on Rivatuner) which allows you to set a custom fan speed curve. I have not experimented with this since the stock settings are so good.

I would give this GPU the highest recommendations for a quiet seeking user.

I'm looking at this GFX atm but its a good 40-50$ more then the other 460's and I'm just not sure its worth it. I love looking for new computer parts and I hate it at the same time... decisions decisions!

I really don't get the love for these cards' acoustics. I've tried two samples of the EVGA basic 768 MB model and one of the 768 MB MSI Cyclone, and the MSI is much worse. Both the EVGA and MSI cards have a minimum fan speed of 40%, which for EVGA, translates to 1500 or 1650 RPM. There was that much difference between my two samples. The 1500 RPM one had a bad whine at 40%, and the 1650 RPM one is just plain loud. The MSI card actually idles much higher at > 50% to get similar temps, 45C or so (I run dual monitors), translating to 1900 RPM. It's much louder than the EVGAs and is clearly audible in a quiet computer (Acoustipacked P182 in my case). Both the 75mm reference fan and 90mm MSI fan have really nasty tonal characteristics at various speeds. The MSI one is not pleasant at any speed, not even when forced to 40% with Afterburner. I don't know what gives with all these glowing reviews. IMO, these cards are just as bad as the ones I gave up on two years ago for a fanless 9600GT. I'm going to return the MSI and keep the EVGA, as I can't return the second one I got, but I've reinstalled my fanless 9600GT until the Accelero Twin Turbo Pro cooler comes out for the GTX460. There is a card from ECS coming out soon with the Accelero, and hopefully AC will be selling the cooler separately RSN.

Thanks for the warning.

I don't believe any review (and even take SPCR's with a spoon of salt) when they judge noise. I prefer to come to places where silent fanatics gather and get a good first hand impression.

It really annoys me when people say "What do you want to turn the fan down for? It's absolutely inaudible at stock speed!" and then you look at their sig and they have two Caviar Blacks in their system and you think: of course it's inaudible if you have two of the loudest HDDs you can buy in there.

I could also hire Gunnery Sergeant Hartman to shout in my ear all day so I don't hear my 10 delta fans...

I absolutly agree with Tima. I've had both MSI and Gigabyte GTX 460 1GB cards and I kept the Gigabyte for myself. The MSI is a little louder in idle (because the fan is @50% as opposed to 40% on the Gigabyte) and a LOT louder in games... you can clearly hear the difference. The Gigabyte is not silent in gaming but has more than adequate noise levels even for a silent PC freak like me.

The reviews on the net point this out.

The best noise comparison among GTX 460 cards can be found here: http://ht4u.net/reviews/2010/gigabyte_g ... ndex10.php

Results from Techreport show the same thing: http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/19404/10

The Gigabyte card is much BETTER in load when it comes to noise than MSI. In idle the difference is smaller but the Gigabyte again holds the upper hand.

tim851 wrote:
Would you mind giving it a quick go and test if you can lower the fan's speed below 40% as this seems to be impossible on a lot of the GTX460s.

You're right, you do not seem to be allowed to set fan speeds lower than 40% in MSI Afterburner. Maybe its possible using Rivatuner, I'm going to check.

Either way, you are still able to lower fan speeds at load, so the card doesn't have to ramp up as much.

With the fan set to 42%, the GPU is hitting load temps of around 66C while using the included stress test program. This is in an open case with no other fans near the GPU.

In a more realistic load situation, playing COD4MW with maxed settings and the GPU fan set to 40% and some case fans on, temps hit ~58C.

With the fan still set to 40%, but without case fans, the GPU peaked at 48C while playing F.E.A.R.

It seems that unless you need to overclock, you shouldn't have to worry about the fan needing to significantly ramp up its speed under load.

Since it is unlikely that the fans starting voltage is this high, it should be possible to mod/hack the software/hardware to allow for lower fan speeds. It would probably also be possible to swap the stock fan for a quieter one.

tima wrote:I really don't get the love for these cards' acoustics. I've tried two samples of the EVGA basic 768 MB model and one of the 768 MB MSI Cyclone, and the MSI is much worse. Both the EVGA and MSI cards have a minimum fan speed of 40%, which for EVGA, translates to 1500 or 1650 RPM. There was that much difference between my two samples. The 1500 RPM one had a bad whine at 40%, and the 1650 RPM one is just plain loud. The MSI card actually idles much higher at > 50% to get similar temps, 45C or so (I run dual monitors), translating to 1900 RPM. It's much louder than the EVGAs and is clearly audible in a quiet computer (Acoustipacked P182 in my case). Both the 75mm reference fan and 90mm MSI fan have really nasty tonal characteristics at various speeds. The MSI one is not pleasant at any speed, not even when forced to 40% with Afterburner.

I should have stressed that the card is relatively quiet.. for a GPU. I'm used to seeing GPUs with small whiny fans that make a racket at idle. I set my previous GPU (XFX4850) fan to run at 45% idle using Rivatuner which resulted in 52C idle temps.

This may not be a card for the silent-seeking user, but a more casual quiet-seeking user may find it to be a good balance of price, cooling performance, and acoustics.

tim851 wrote:Thanks for the warning.

I don't believe any review (and even take SPCR's with a spoon of salt) when they judge noise. I prefer to come to places where silent fanatics gather and get a good first hand impression.

It really annoys me when people say "What do you want to turn the fan down for? It's absolutely inaudible at stock speed!" and then you look at their sig and they have two Caviar Blacks in their system and you think: of course it's inaudible if you have two of the loudest HDDs you can buy in there.

I could also hire Gunnery Sergeant Hartman to shout in my ear all day so I don't hear my 10 delta fans...

I was comparing the fan to a Nexus 12v. No proper silent enthusiast would run their fan at 12v :p

billdcat4 wrote:

tim851 wrote:It really annoys me when people say...

I was comparing the fan to a Nexus 12v. No proper silent enthusiast would run their fan at 12v :p

I didn't mean you with "people say". I was actually thinking about some discussions on [H]. Just for the record

billdcat4 wrote:You're right, you do not seem to be allowed to set fan speeds lower than 40% in MSI Afterburner. Maybe its possible using Rivatuner, I'm going to check.

I couldn't get Rivatuner to work with the 258.96 drivers.

The 40% minimum fan speed is hard-wired into the BIOS, AFAIK. IIRC, the beta Afterburner lets you set a fan speed < 40%, but when I activated it, it went to 40%.