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Most quiet GPU in idle.

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 6:35 am
by Ribozyme
Helloeveryone, this is my first postlet me introduce myself. I'm from europe, 20 years old and in college and have built my first pc in april 2013 with the focus on silence but also beastly for gaming.

I think I achieved this goal pretty well this being my first build so no prior knowledge of components. I went with the Node 304 and use the asus Z77 deluxe board because it was the only board at the time that could accommodate a big ass cooler like the noctua nh-D14. I use it with one 120mm PWM fan in the middle slot at 300rpm and it is silent. It cools a stock 3770k.

I initally bought 2x92mm noctuas to replace the stock fans of the node, but after trying both, it seems that the stock fans are quieter. At 5V with the built in fan controller they are also inaudible.

I used the 140mm fan that came with the noctua as exhaust after a friend wrecked the stock fan
by putting my headphones in the fan grill whilst searching for the audio plug on the back of the case :p At 5V however I found that the noctua was still too loud so I added an aditional resistor that came with the 92mm noctuas that I don't use. This makes the fans run at 3V maybe? They are finally silent but I need not to forget to put the switch to 7V at startup or the fan won't start. And I often forget but in idle it doesn't matter.

My PSU is the be quiet straight power e9 400watt and it is very quiet but not silent. I can hear it if I put my ear close.

My first GPU was the asus 670 dc2, after reading about it here and various other forums/reviews.
I was quite satisfied with the idle noise but one time I got my finger in the fans while it was running and since then it made an oscillating sound instead of a quiet hum which I did not like. Sold it. But I cannot remember if the idle noise was good enough before the finger accident.

Then later I got the msi 760 after hearing raving reviews about the fan noise and cooling. Yes the thing is very quiet under load, but it is about equally quiet in idle, which is too loud. Also had some coil whine so RMAd it.

Then got a nice deal on a 680 twin frozr 236 euro. Great performance and overclocked but idle noise was very loud.



So here I am with you guys, my last hope. I want aninaudible system when doing browsing/office schoolwork. When doing schoolwork in my silent room all the GPUs got on my nerves with their fannoise in idle.if I removed the GPU from my system it was finally silent.

So why can'tGPU manufacturers make it so that the fansstop in idle?I don't care for idle temps.heck I could care less if it idled at40-50-60 degrees. But with those big ass heatsinks nowadays it is perfectly possible to run them passive in idle. And then I found this on this forum: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=65146.

I jumped for joy as I read that thread. Inside is a testimony of owners who claim that their fans stop spinning if they set it at0% in MSI afterburner. There is a 7870 windforce owner who confirmed and a 7850 club 3D owner. But then suddenly the thread died and no one tested it further :(? I am active at overclock.net and made a thread about it there but no one was willing to test it for me and it seemedlike no one cared. i got replies like: "I cannot here my GPU over my case fans" and " just get a noise damped case" or "What turning the fans off in idle?? My card will heat up and explode!". So not much help came from there.

So I ask the community here, in pursuit of real silence and not just quiet enough, will the owners of the 7000 series, 600 series and 700 series test out the theory linked in the thread?

Use MSI afterburner and put thefan rpm to zero 0% and check if it stops the fans and report back. Thanks a lot in advance! Waiting eagerly for resulsts.

Re: Most quiet GPU in idle.

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 9:59 am
by Pappnaas
You could google around how to patch the idle rpm in the card's BIOS, making it spin slower in idle mode. I have read about people doing it, but never tried my self, because i work and game mostly on laptops.

PS: Welcome to SPCR

Re: Most quiet GPU in idle.

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 10:44 am
by Abula
Well you have tested what i read was the most quiet GPUs on the market for GTX 7 series, MSI seems like the quietest of all, but if you find them still too loud, imo the the route you should take is aftermarket cooler, Prolimatech MK-26 Multi-VGA Cooler, its by far the biggest and most effective GPU cooler on the market, you could just place some 120mm fan on it or what i was planning was to use some Prolimatech Vortex 140 (15mm to avoid extra weight), but you can practically run any fan you want that fits what you like in terms of sound cooling.

I didnt go the prolimatech route simply cause the reference GTX780 has issues with the pwm splitter, i tested 4 pwm fan with it and my gtx780 and i couldnt control either with EVGA precision nor MSI afterburner, but if you are fine running your own fans you chose undervolted, i think you can achive what you want. I have a threory that im not sure, and that aftermarket cooler like the twin frowz or dircectuii should have different pwm settings and design that might allow the use of the splitter, but im not sure until someone with a card like your tries it.

If yuo want to go the route of flashing the vbios, check this thread, How to get cooler below 30%