Anybody knows what's the quietest GTX 650 Ti (Boost or not) on the market?

I only trust SPCR for real noise measurements in computer components, but there is a decent review that might be worth looking, TechPowerUp Review ASUS GeForce GTX 650 Ti Direct Cu II 1 GB, page 27 has the fan noise and came as the lowest db card both in idle n load of all the cards they tested, and SPCR did reviewed its bigger brothers (GTX680 DCUII and GTX670 DCUII) and both came with editors choice, so i think its will be a good bet into the 650TI,

ASUS GTX650TI-O-1GD5 - This seems like the one on the review
ASUS GTX650TI-OC-2GD5 - Seems like the same as the above just with 2gb memory
ASUS GTX650TIB-DC2OC-2GD5 - And this seems like the Boost version of the above.

On the past there were a lot of people here in SPCR forums that liked a lot the MSI Cyclone Cooler (i never really tested it), the MSI GTX650Ti seems to use the same cooler, MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti. Going by the same line of the reviews, TechPowerup MSI GeForce GTX 650 Ti Power Edition 1 GB has almost the same db as the ASUS DCUII that its the lowest in noise levels, so seems like good bet also.
You can also check Hardware.info Gigabyte vs MSI vs Zotac: Temperature, noise and energy consumption



You should check also CA_Steve thread on the reviews of 650TIs, maybe you will find more info there to help your decision, Good luck.

as an owner of one of MSI's gtx 650 TI's with the cyclone II cooler, i can tell you that it's quiet but far from silent. I have 2 scythe PWM fans that typically run in the 600-800 range, and the cyclone II is definitely the dominant sound source here.

still, as a gamer, i am happy to strike the balance at this point. i am not bothered by my cyclone II.

Thank you both. So it's Asus or MSI (damn if this MSI is ugly!).
I think I'll wait and see if the 750 Ti is going to show up in July with a similar price.

Here's another thread where member gandrusz notices clicking noise of the MSI GTX 650 Ti Power Edition with the Cyclone 2:
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=65331

July would be nice...but, if Nvidia plays this rollout like last year, we'll see the 760 Ti and then the 760 before the 750 Ti.

One thing to take into account is that this gen aside from GTX Titan / 780, there is no new gpus, just tweak to the clocks. But they will probably rebadge toward higher gpu on lower names. Like GTX680 = GTX770, probably the GTX760 will be GTX670, but unsure what is toing to happen with all the TI/Boost names, imo they should just drop them and just release a GTX 765 / 760 / 755 / 750 / 745 / 740.

I think they'll tweak number of stream processors/texture units/rops as well as clocks.

Seems we will see the release of the next card in a couple weeks, with the GTX 760 & 760Ti

NVIDIA Possibly Launching GeForce GTX 760 on June 25th – Spec’d Similar to a GTX 670

Maybe in a month or two we might see the GTX750Ti

Silent_Meerkat, don't know if you're still looking but MSI has a 650 Ti Boost version that is only 25 dBA (TechPowerUp numbers) and draws only 5 W at idle.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/ ... TF_Gaming/

I'm about get this one - Gigabyte GTX 650 Ti Boost Windforce 2X OC, 1GB (GV-N65TBOC-1GD). Due to it's 1GB it's priced really much better than any competitor, not to mention 660 models. And for 1600x1200 I certainly don't need the extra RAM. Asus and MSI are both recommended here, I know, but as I'm on a budget, every penny matters here...

As far as I learned, the cooler is the same as on 660 Windforce and it's pretty quiet. In idle both fans spin at around 1100 RPM. At least, that's what Xbit says in their roundup. Also, all reviews seem to identify the fans as PWM controlled. Methinks they're just voltage controlled as they only sport 3 wires.

Has anyone here tried slowing the fans down? Anyone played with the card's bios settings? Any thoughts of this one?

It is possible to edit the BIOS to lower the minimum % setting for the fans. GPU-Z has an option to save the BIOS to a file. Using Kepler Bios Tweaker 1.25 the saved BIOS file can be modified for a variety of settings, including minimum fan speed. It might be worth lowering this to 20% in the first instance. Just using Kepler Bios Tweaker and modifying a saved BIOS file won't actually change anything. The modified BIOS file needs to be flashed to the card using NVFlash either the Windows version or the Command Box (DOS) release.

If you want to do this it is at your own risk, so proceed accordingly. For example save a copy of the unmodified BIOS and also a separate copy for modification. NVFlash has a test mode, you could try this first before actually flashing the card.

Thanks, lodestar, for your explanations and links.

So, the new card has arrived. First thing to clarify - the cooler on the 1GB version is not the same as in 660 or in 650 Ti Boost 2GB. These have in fact 4 heatpipes, while mine has only 1. It's beefy and touches the chip directly, but it's only one. Other than that (and the lack of some plastic shroud at the PCI-E end of the card) the coolers seem the same.

Both fans run at 1100-1140 RPM in idle, in auto mode. This is reported as 35%. They cannot go any lower in manual mode. Still, for now I find them quiet enough. Well, this time of year I keep my windows open, or at least tilted, so even under load the PC stays inaudible. This might change in autumn and later on, however.

Given that the card idles at 30 C deg, 1100 RPM seems awfully high. OTOH, this is very low, given that my ambient is now around 23-24 C. And that I only have one exhaust 120mm fan @ 600 RPM. Still, the card's idle power draw is paltry - my PC idles at 65W. This is the same value as when I use 8400 GS. I bet GB would be perfectly safe to use barely spinning fans with this one. Or even stop them altogether when in 2D.

Just for kicks, I used the Kepler tweaker and NVflash to mod the bios and flash it, and brought down the fan control to 20%. It wouldn't go any lower in the tweaker. Alas, I couldn't hear any change in noise. I did that around midnight, but the ambient was still too loud. I don't really have the time now to rearrange the PC and put it on the desk to actually try and watch if the blades spin any slower.
A nasty side effect of the mod - the fans' RPM readout went crazy. On default bios they would stay pretty much tame, slowly shifting from 1100 to 1200, but after modding the bios they would show values from 1080 up to 1800, changing every few seconds, never settling. I definitely didn't hear these changes (and I certainly would - 1800 is pretty fast), so I gather it's just a quirk. The GB OC Guru showed 30% at the lowest, instead of the original 35% (with 20% being the modded value). Edit - same story when I brought the fan down to 0% in the tweaker. The bios loaded ok, but it still shows 30% and the RPM range goes up / down like stupid. I also observed the temperature of the GPU and it stays 30 C deg, no matter if I use the original bios or the "modded" one.
All in all, I went back to the original bios. Perhaps (despite the crazy fan readings) the change was there but I just simply couldn't hear it in this setup. But i will definitely want to mess with it again

For me personally (and for now) this card rocks - I can't hear it in idle, it's powerful enough for gaming in 1600x1200, and it was v cheap. Some will argue that a 2GB version would perform in FHD better. That's true, but only for some games, in some scenarios and only with really maxed eye candy.

Users report that MSI Twin Frozr cards idle with fans @ around 900 RPM, so I guess for truly hardcore silencers such MSIs would be a better choice.

I am interested in buying the Asus GTX 650 Ti Boost, GTX650TiB-DC2-2GD5. This is basically the regular clock ver. of the GTX 650 Ti Boost.

what I am hoping for, is have some of you test the Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 Plus on it.

http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/cooling/vga/4 ... tml?c=2182

now I know the Accelero S1 Plus is only tested and guarantee up to GTX 650 Ti. (Without the Boost)

So I am wondering can we tweak it or simply just install it and still get it to work on the GTX 650 Ti BOost? in other words, how much difference is there btwn. Ti vs. Ti boost?

Or in another way to look at it, since Arctic Cooling guarantee their Accelero S1 Plus works on GTX 650 Ti, shouldn't the GTX 650 Ti Boost = GTX 650 Ti Overclock version?

In summary, is it okay to install the Accelero S1 Plus on a GTX 650 Ti Boost?

Alternatively, is there any other Passive VGA cooler for this GTX 650 Ti?

It should work - the only difference between the cards is the slight overclock on the "boost" version. Otherwise they have the same TDP. You may have to lower the overclock to reference if the card gets too hot.

It is possible to have an effectively silent solution, at least under idle and low system stress conditions, without going passive. The Artic Cooling Accelero Mono Plus featuring a 120mm fan is an example. Modifying the BIOS of the card to set the minimum fan duty cycle to 20% will reduce the speed of the Mono Plus 120mm fan to around 450 to 500 rpm at idle. The Mono Plus is good value for what it is, costing around $40 from sources such as Newegg.

Not quite, the 650 Ti has a 128 bit memory bus, on the Boost it is 192 bit in common with the 660 range. The slight overclock is the inclusion of a turbo mode as well as a higher base clock. Combined with the wider memory bus this gives the Boost a much bigger performance differential than might be expect. On most gaming benchmarks the Boost would be faster than the vanilla 650 Ti by around 40 to 50%. This would I suspect put passive cooling of the Boost out of reach, at least not without a supplementary 120mm fan or additional case airflow which would defeat the object somewhat.

The Boost has a 134W TDP. The practical limit to passive cooling (with decent case airflow) seems to be in the 100W range...maybe 75W without airflow. Beyond that, you'd probably need to strap a fan onto the cooler to keep temps reasonable/not throttling. YMMV.

Hi,

I second CA_Steve regarding the rule-of-thumb limitation of passive cooling of video/graphic cards. My Accelero S1 Plus (with some decent case airflow, i.e., 120mm rear-case fan at 500 rpm) was capable of cooling GTX 650 without a fan yet it was rather worrying that the load temperature sometimes reaches close to 70 celcius degree. From my experience, GTX 650 is the highest gear suitable for passive cooling with Accelero S1 Plus. If you attach the supplementary fan, called Turbo Module fan (120mm), I can ensure that you can cool up to GTX 650 Ti (TDP of which is 110W), perhaps even up to GTX 650 Ti Boost (134W).

As a matter of fact, on Arctic.ac website, the claimed maximum TDP of graphic card suggested to be used with Accelero S1 Plus along with Turbo Module fan (120mm) is 120W which is actually considerably lower than that of GTX 650 Ti Boost. However, I highly suspect the official figure, 120W, must be a conservative one, in consideration of their product-quality to which I can firmly attest. Hence, I believe Accelero S1 Plus with the Turbo Module should suffice for GTX 650 Ti Boost. My hunch is that the Turbo Module fan should rotate at around 800~1000 rpm (virtually inaudible unless you are fastidious) to cool GTX 650 Ti Boost at load state in order to maintain its temperature below 70 celcius degree. Stock fans rotate at around 2500~3000 rpm, which is incredibly much noisier and clearly unbearable.

In case you opt for GTX 660 or higher, I strongly recommend that you should go for Accelero Twin Turbo II or Accelero Xtreme III (they have better heatsinks and heatpipes).

which turbo module are you referring to? The 1 w/ 1 fan or the 1 w/ 3 fans?

And doesn't this defeat the purpose of passive cooler? If we add a Accelero S1, then 1 or 3 fans. Wel then we might as well use the original stock fan. Why would any1 buy a accelero, then either 1 or 3 turbo fan to replace the original fan?

For the same reason you buy non-reference cards. For one, the heatsinks themselves are different - a better heatsink will dissipate more heat from the GPU core, requiring lower fan speed/pressure/airflow to keep the GPU core cool. Also, the fans will be different and, hopefully, quieter and more effective (and sometimes even replaceable with even quieter fans) than those that ship with your card.

No, as (with 50% more ROPS and 50% larger memory bus width, not to mention the 1Gb GDDR5 more memory which is usually packaged with) it's a rather different card from regular GTX 650 Ti.

And generally speaking, in my experience, pairing an S1 with any load higher than 100W it turns out to be an unsafe bet, 'cause you're relying too much onto the case airflow (which is also ambient dependant).



If you are looking for a regular Ti (it mostly depends on video resolution), I guess you don't need to go fanless: I can tell you that the MSI 1Gb Power Edition (the one with the Cyclone II cooler) is practically inaudible, even in the most quiet systems (I've just tested it into an NSK3480 with two Slipstream running at around 300rpm, and I can hear it - one foot from my nose - just in the middle of the night as a gentle hum).

Again, generally speaking, I won't focuse on a fanless card, as when you're gaming usually you won't hear at your card (but, alternatively, either at your gaming headphones, or at your speakers). If there are other people who may hear your rig, I will focuse more on obtaining a constant, benign sound signature (it's often very less annoying than either a rapidly changing sound, or electical noise).

my experience w/ stock fan VGA card, is that sometimes, the dust can block the turning of the fan.

I have a GT 440. For reason I can't understand, either last yr. or 2 yr. ago, I heard some strange noise from the PC. Turns out there is so much dust that blocks the stock fan from rotating. Now, the dust in this room is low, it's no difference than any average home. And I never have this problem before. And after I remove those dust, this situation hasn't happen since

Knowing that, I always have this concern that the dust can block a fan from rotating. So it's not just the desire of having a silent PC, but the concern that the video card can overheat due to a non-rotating fan

So at most you need some dust filters, certainly not a fanless cooler, which is a somehow misguided over-reacting measure (not to mention that a fanless videocard is always - to some degree - overheating). IMO, of course.

Or conversely, a positive pressure case.

I have an MSI TF 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 660 and have been extremely impressed thus far. It is silent when idle and during load. MSI makes a GTX 650 Ti Boost using the same cooler, which I suggest you take a look at:
Full review at techpowerup.com
Noise results


The card frequently goes on sale for ~$135 AR at Newegg. If you purchase it, please use one of SPCR's affiliate links.

Strange... I was just looking for the link to Techpowerup's review of my card to see how it compared and noticed a new review from yesterday (Sep 23) of newly released "GTX 660 GAMING" card by MSI. Seems like an odd time to release a new 660:
Full review at techpowerup.com
Noise results


That's the card I have: MSI GTX 660 Twin Frozr OC.

There's no 7xx equivalent released for the 660, so MSI brought out a new 660 variant using the same branding they did for the 760.

I never buy MSI before, as I'm not verse in this brand. I am quite verse in Asus, Gigabyte, etc., but I don't know MSI, I don't know its history or its quality so I'm not comfortable w/ this brand.

I'll look into it as the last course of action, but I rather get Asus and add the 3 x fan from arctic cooilng

Broadly speaking, I owned cards from all those three major player (ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI), and MSI has nothing less than its competitor, so I can just foster a purchase of selected cards of this brand.

Talking about the 650Ti, more probably that not currently MSI should be the best bet, noise-wise; on the contrary, with 660-series, currently the ASUS DC-II equipped cards would look like the most effective option.

In recent years, both brands turn out to make cards usually quieter than Gigabyte ones, and take note that often - with Nvidia cards - lowering the noise level at idle may require a BIOS modding.




The ASUS DC-II-equipped cards usually don't need any fan swap, as it's a rather quiet and effective cooler: however, there's no 3x fan option for the Accelero S1 plus, the only 3x fan is the Accelero Extreme, which - with reference to a 650Ti card - is clearly an overkill and it should cost as much as a the card itself. This latter cooler should be better suited for a 660Ti or a 760 card, but I don't think it would give any sensible advantage, noise-wise, with reference to the best ASUS or MSI cards.

very well said. My concept is, I don't really believe in over clocking. I have no choice but to pick the 650 GTX Ti boast because its rear support 1 x Display port, a few DVI and 1 x HDMI. And I have 3 monitors, 1 x HDMI, 2 x DVI or Display port. So that's the min. available port that suits my need

I always thought if you over clock your card, the card will eventually over heat, eventhough it's a manufacturer approve over clock. So even if you give me a free 660Ti or 760, I don't want it. It makes the inside of my PC hotter, and I don't need that much speed.-- I don't play PC games at all

For the price, I absolutely agree the Xtreme Accelero is an overkill for the 650Ti boost, but for the benefit of peace and quiet, it's priceless

Just to say: an MSI 650Ti 1GB Power Edition (with the Cyclone II cooler) sports two DVI and one mini-HDMI (all usable at the same time), while the MSI 650Ti Boost 2GB Twin Frozr (with the TwinFrozr III cooler) sports two DVI, one HDMI and one DP (all usable at the same time). I think the equivalent ASUS cards should sport similar outputs.



Well, just be careful: first of all, because (if we look at the SPCR relevant review), the Accelero Extreme could turn out to be slightly noisier than the above quoted MSI coolers (on those cards), and moreover because size matters, but not in such a linear way.
Any cooler doesn't work same way with any thermal load: there are coolers which work at their best at moderate or low thermal loads, other ones at higher loads. Given that the Accelero is aimed at a maximum 300W load, it might well be that it doesn't cope so well with thermal loads as low as a 650Ti has.
So, but it's only my not so educated guess, you could end up with a cooler/card combo which works slightly noisier and slightly hotter than the original one, and for what a price!