Quiet GTX 560 Ti

[bystanderg]

I'm looking at getting a GTX 560 Ti for gaming and some CUDA work and wonder if people have much experience with any of the following cards in terms of their noise output?

Inno3d GTX 560Ti http://www.ebuyer.com/product/253896
Gainward GTX 560 Ti http://www.ebuyer.com/product/254371
PNY GTX 560 Ti http://www.dabs.com/products/pny-geforc ... =464600000
EVGA GTX 560 Ti http://www.scan.co.uk/Shop/Computer-Har ... 384-Cores)

From what I've been reading the original Nvidia reference design is fairly good noise wise, but very few manufacturers seem to be using the reference design as far as I can tell.

[Samriel]

I am in the same spot as you, looking for a quiet GFX 560 Ti. I have tested none, so can't really help you out much there, but you might want to take a look at this card as well.

Gainward GTX 560 Ti Phantom 1G (there is also a 2G version)
http://www.gainward.com/main/vgapro.php?id=457

Reviews are scarce, but I found two. However, as none of the sites really focuses on noise, it remains uncertain how quiet the card actually is. The first one does have a video and sound clip, but you cannot hear the card from all the other components...

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1 ... ction.html
http://www.fudzilla.com/reviews/item/21 ... 1gb-tested

Hope it helps.

[quest_for_silence]

If we're talking about idle noise, the MSI GTX 560Ti Twin Frozr should stand (a bit) over the current competition.
However, it isn't really better than the older GTX 470 (even the reference design).

At load, it's a wholly different thing: about on par with the worst GTX 460s around (as the 768Mb Cyclone), the MSI GTX 560Ti Twin Frozr is indeed fairly loud due to its aggressive cooler (even if noticeably quieter than the same model sported by the somewhat comparable 6950), far more than Nvidia 560 reference design, about on par with the current midrange champion, the 6850 (reference or not), which is way worse than my all time favourites (for noise), the MSI R5770 Hawk and the MSI N450GTS OC Cyclone (two cards which dissipate however half the power of a GTX 560 Ti: it's still there the real trade off, the more the heat, the higher the temperature, the noisier it will be the cooler).

Eventually I think a reference design (EVGA? Sparkle?) currently is a thoroughly quieter product than not-standard ones.
I don't know the Gainward Phantom, but the cooler design might be risky: the somehow similar cooler Scythe "Setsugen I" simply sucked when SPCR tested it.

[bystanderg]

Thanks for your input. I'll probably get a Sparkle or a EVGA GTX 560 in the next few weeks and post my impressions here.

[swaaye]

I've been having good luck with using MSI Afterburner to keep my MSI 560 Twin Frozr quiet. They just tuned their default fan profile in a way to keep the card quite cool. Note how they advertise 20C cooler than the competition.

[Zoide]

I've been having good luck with using MSI Afterburner to keep my MSI 560 Twin Frozr quiet. They just tuned their default fan profile in a way to keep the card quite cool. Note how they advertise 20C cooler than the competition.

Would you say it can be made 100% silent when idle? (e.g. while casually browsing websites and watching some YouTube videos on Windows 7 with Aero enabled)

Thanks

[swaaye]

At the 40% min fan speed it is inaudible in my machine. Unless you run your system fanless I'm not sure you'd be able to hear it. It's much quieter than my annoying Radeon 6950 and its bearing noise / air turbulence.

I setup a fan profile in Afterburner that keeps it at 40% until 75C at which point it works slowly up to 60%/100C. In most games the fan doesn't seem to change speed at all this way.

[Zoide]

At the 40% min fan speed it is inaudible in my machine. Unless you run your system fanless I'm not sure you'd be able to hear it. It's much quieter than my annoying Radeon 6950 and its bearing noise / air turbulence.

I setup a fan profile in Afterburner that keeps it at 40% until 75C at which point it works slowly up to 60%/100C. In most games the fan doesn't seem to change speed at all this way.

That's very promising, thanks!

[Moo]

I'm looking at http://www.dabs.com/products/best-value ... -7BJY.html or http://www.dabs.com/products/kfa2-gefor ... -7BLY.html
Never heard of these manufacturers before now. Presumably these two-fan designs will be similar to the MSI twin frozr?

[bystanderg]

Recently bought the EVGA 560Ti from Scan, and first impressions are good. As far as I can tell it uses the reference design and it doesn't sound any noiser than my PowerColor 5850 card at idle. At load I believe it's marginally louder than the 5850 but still quiet enough for me.

[Jipa]

Currently testing the Gainward GTX 560Ti Phantom, and I must say I'm really impressed by the cooler. I haven't had a stock cooler GTX 560 (or recent Nvidia card for that matter) around, so I can't compare, but overall it seems like an excellent cooler. Under load the fans ramp up to 1800 RPM, which sounds high but the noise is still absolutely drowned by the Thermalright CPU-cooler next to it.

[vitaminc]

have gtx 560ti from sparkle. not sure how it compares to others but its certainly lounder than my fanless hd4850. looking for quite/silent solutions as well. maybe some aftermarket hsf?

[Orient]

I'm looking at http://www.dabs.com/products/best-value ... -7BJY.html or http://www.dabs.com/products/kfa2-gefor ... -7BLY.html
Never heard of these manufacturers before now. Presumably these two-fan designs will be similar to the MSI twin frozr?

http://www.guru3d.com/article/palit-gef ... c-review/1

http://www.guru3d.com/article/kfa2-gefo ... y-review/1 (The Anarchy i think)

Both cards are a little quieter than the Twin Frozr II but do not offer quite as much cooling performance, although the anarchy card is very similar.
I was looking at putting in a Twin frozr but i'm now reconsidering given this is about £15 cheaper and about the same.

[vitaminc]

I'm looking at http://www.dabs.com/products/best-value ... -7BJY.html or http://www.dabs.com/products/kfa2-gefor ... -7BLY.html
Never heard of these manufacturers before now. Presumably these two-fan designs will be similar to the MSI twin frozr?

http://www.guru3d.com/article/palit-gef ... c-review/1

http://www.guru3d.com/article/kfa2-gefo ... y-review/1 (The Anarchy i think)

Both cards are a little quieter than the Twin Frozr II but do not offer quite as much cooling performance, although the anarchy card is very similar.
I was looking at putting in a Twin frozr but i'm now reconsidering given this is about £15 cheaper and about the same.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gef ... 58-20.html

I have the Sparkle SX560T1024D5MH, which is supposedly to idle at 32dB according to Tom's. And it is LOUD.