6870 Question: XFX Dual Fan or Gigabyte Windforce?

[tomhukk]

Hi Everyone,
I'm getting ready to purchase my first build ever. I'm really happy that there's a forum dedicated to getting the quietest components possible, since noise is something I'm really sensitive to. Anyway, I'd like to purchase a 6870, and I've narrowed my choices down to two possibilities:
1. XFX Black Edition HD-687A-ZDBC (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150520)
2. GIGABYTE GV-R687OC-1GD (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814125357)

I have a couple of questions:
1. Which cooler is quieter? The XFX dual fan and the Gigabyte windforce both get good reviews. Does anyone have a preference? With the gigabyte spin slower since there are three fans?

2. The Gigabyte is clocked a bit slower than the XFX black. However, XFX also makes a standard card with dual fans that isn't overclocked at all. Does factory overclocking really make a difference in the overall noise? I assume the higher the overclock the greater the heat and noise, but in reality, is this difference noticeable?

3. Is it really worth it to spend the extra money to go with an overclock? Noise aside, will I really notice a difference in performance? Is it worth the extra money and noise (if noise is an issue with overclocking)?

4. Which card do you recommend? Why? Is there another 6870 that beats these two in overall noise and performance?

Thanks!

[tanassi]

Or better yet, buy an MSI 6870 Hawk. The best mid end gaming card with a knack for being quiet (silent at idle, very gentle up til 39% fan speed). It oc's like a banshee, hit 1000mhz with no problem at all in Afterburner. The card is a beauty.

[tomhukk]

I see the Hawk has a switch on the card which toggles between silent and performance mode. I wonder if silent mode beats the two cards I listed in terms of quietness. Interesting. Any good reviews of this card which discuss the noise level? How are the reviews on this forum?

[tanassi]

I see the Hawk has a switch on the card which toggles between silent and performance mode. I wonder if silent mode beats the two cards I listed in terms of quietness. Interesting. Any good reviews of this card which discuss the noise level? How are the reviews on this forum?

I personally owned one. The switch sets a certain fan profile. Don't bother with it, just use Afterburner to set a fanspeed graph. You can set it as low as 10%, which is bliss.

It is totally silent at idle. The fans are audiable over 40%, but if you have a decent airflow you will never reach that.

When OC'ing you just have to add a tad more voltage and you can max out the clock speed in one go. This card could easily reach figures beyond the 1000mhz, hopefully MSI afterburner will allow that in a new version.

Check out this review:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-radeo ... -review/11
It's true, even when you hear the card it won't bother you because of the soundprofile: it's gentle.

[boost]

The Gigabyte Windforce is even quieter than the MSI Twin Frozr II According to Xbitlabs.
But in the review the Gigabyte failed the Furmark test. Not a lot of reviews out on this one. Maybe it's just their sample?

[tanassi]

The Gigabyte Windforce is even quieter than the MSI Twin Frozr II According to Xbitlabs.
But in the review the Gigabyte failed the Furmark test. Not a lot of reviews out on this one. Maybe it's just their sample?

The Hawk is a Twin Frozr III not II. And you are linking to a 560 review

[tomhukk]

The Gigabyte Windforce is even quieter than the MSI Twin Frozr II According to Xbitlabs.
But in the review the Gigabyte failed the Furmark test. Not a lot of reviews out on this one. Maybe it's just their sample?

Thanks for the link. These are not the cards I'm looking at, but it does give me some base for making a decision. It's strange though, because according to the graph in the article, isn't the windforce noisier than the other two cards on the basis of dbA? (http://www.xbitlabs.com/picture/?src=/i ... se-xbt.png). It could be that they messed up the graph, or that the card is objectively noisier, but the profile of the noise (frequency spectrum) is such that the human ear is not as sensitive to it.

Are there any reviews showing that the Frozr III is quieter than the Frozr II?

I found this article, showing that the Frozr II is only good at idle, but reaches reference noise levels at load (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/ ... II/27.html)

I also found this article stating that the XFX 6870 is the quietest mid-range card that they ever tested:
(http://www.anandtech.com/show/4137/amds ... ck-edition)

The XFX and the Twin Frozr look like very similar coolers (almost identical). I just wish there was a head-to-head test. And since there's hardly any reviews of the windforce cooler, but the user reviews look very promising in terms of noise, and since it has three fans, I wonder if it is the winner.

[tanassi]

Twin Frozr II is not the same as the Twin Frozr III. The Hawk is a Twin Frozr III.

[tomhukk]

Is the twin frozr III quieter than the twin frozr II? I've read some conflicting reports.

[tanassi]

I assumed so, but after Googling some I am not so sure. I guess we would have to assume they are about equal.

[tanassi]

This might help. It is in Dutch but you can read the graph:

http://nl.hardware.info/reviews/2244/11 ... sproductie

Seems like it is a toss up between the cards. Either should be great!

[PMcG]

I am doing a build for a friend and the Gigabyte is really discounted on NCIX right now. I was thinking of getting it did you end up buying it or had anyone now had any experience with it?

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=58226 ... omoid=1371

Funnily enough the XFX is also a similar price but is regularly much cheaper then the windforce, this leads me to believe that it is not as good?

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=58512 ... acture=XFX

Thanks all for your help, my friend is not super crazy about noise like I am (using a Accelero S1) but i still want to make him a quiet computer.