ASUS Turbo GTX970 OC very noisy?

[azrael-]

Hi there,

I'm turning to you, the community, to help me solve a conundrum. Namely, whether or not I should open and install that ASUS Turbo GTX970 OC I've had lying around for some months now. I picked it up cheap(ishly?) last Black Friday in a sale, but I've since hesitated installing it because I've found out that it supposedly may be quite noisy. Because of that I've thought of selling it on, but I probably won't get such a great deal again. Better try to gather some hard intel then...

As per my signature I'm currently using an eVGA GTX 670 card (eVGA is currently down for maintenance but it's this exact model) and I'm quite content with the level of noise coming from the card, both when idling and when gaming, although my Corsair Obsidian 550D probably gets rid of quite a bit of the noise.

Since both cards are blower-style cards and have roughly the same power envelope I would expect the noise level to be similar, but that's only a guess. If any of you have some real world information on the comparative noise levels of both cards, then please let me know and help me make my mind up. Please refrain from posting mere conjecture as that won't help me at all and just make things harder than they already are.

With that said, thanks in advance for your input!

[kalniel]

I really don't like the design of that asus 970 - they've taken the smaller form of the card and added a horrible cooler to it - it wouldn't surprise me if it was a bit noisy, but only way is to test!

On the other hand the 670 looks like it's pretty much a reference model, so not as quiet as more clever designs, but not enormously bad going by the review.

You didn't want conjecture, but tough. You've got both cards in front of you so try them. Opening the 970 to test it isn't going to lower it's resale value much, it's second hand either way - non-original purchaser doesn't get the same warranty or regulatory protection most likely.

[Jasp]

The 970 runs a lot cooler then the 670 so overall the blower style cooler should be quieter as its got less work to do.

[MrRockliffe]

Could try undervolting it and running a custom fan profile so that it runs a little hotter. But generally, it's relative. Loud compared to custom 970's, but still quiet compared to say, a reference AMD 290(x).

[jim]

I can't give comparatives but I have one, and can't say I notice the fan noise at all.

[azrael-]

Thanks for the input, guys. Every bit helps. Especially the bit by jim... Still, thanks all around.

I read over on NewEgg, that some of the noise might be down to the shroud not properly screwed to the PCB.

As for the card as such it's pretty much comparable to the GTX 670 in many ways. That card often also has a short PCB (I know mine does, as does the reference model) with a large cooler mounted on top.

Also, considering that all I've done with the card so far is buy it, I expect the warranty to be the same as it would for me for whomever I would sell the card on to, sans the elapsed couple of months. After all, it's still sealed.

[kalniel]

Also, considering that all I've done with the card so far is buy it, I expect the warranty to be the same as it would for me for whomever I would sell the card on to, sans the elapsed couple of months. After all, it's still sealed.

Why would you expect that? Customer protection regulation is only for the original buyer, and warranties are often non-transferable. If it *is* a transferable warranty then that's good and it'd be as you describe, but you still lose the statutory customer protections which are often a reason people like to buy something new from a retailer rather than second hand.

[azrael-]

Why would you expect that? Customer protection regulation is only for the original buyer, and warranties are often non-transferable. If it *is* a transferable warranty then that's good and it'd be as you describe, but you still lose the statutory customer protections which are often a reason people like to buy something new from a retailer rather than second hand.

You *did* notice I'm not from the UK, right?

[kalniel]

You *did* notice I'm not from the UK, right?

Indeed, but that doesn't stop you buying/selling in the UK, and these being UK forums I defaulted to the UK situation for the lack of anything saying otherwise

[Hoonigan]

Get the GTX970 stuck in there, after reading lots of reviews when purchasing my Twin Frozr edition, there wasn't a great deal in it.
It seems that this card is pretty efficient and only really gets noisy under heavy load. (This isn't a problem for me, due to using headphones and playing games loud)

[MrRockliffe]

Just as a last bit of info, I run my 970 overclocked as well as my 4670K, and the H80i cooling the CPU is significantly louder than the GPU at any given load.

[satrow]

I use that ASUS, the fan can be somewhat intrusive when gaming but with a custom fan profile, that's the only time, I use a headset when gaming so it's easy to ignore.

[azrael-]

Another round of thanks is in order here.

You guys have given me the necessary push to try out the card. The actual deed has to wait for the weekend though. Not much time during the week.