Best brand for cooling-low noise for 6850?

[TheWizard]

I just looked over what few benchmarks there are floating on the web but I can't seem to discern graphics cards in terms of their sonic quality. I read that the XFX can be loud in one review whilst another review states the opposite and the same applied for Asus and Sapphire as well as HIS.

Can someone with 6850 by any of the above manufacturer throw some light on the matter? I really want a gpu thats as silent as can be although my eyes were set on XFX.

Many thanks.

[Queelis]

Currently there aren't many non-reference 6850 cards, except for Sapphire, which is said to be quiet, but in the Hexus review as well as in others it's said that 6850 cards are quiet at load but compromise a bit on the temperatures.

Just how silent do you want the card to be?

[TheWizard]

Currently there aren't many non-reference 6850 cards, except for Sapphire, which is said to be quiet, but in the Hexus review as well as in others it's said that 6850 cards are quiet at load but compromise a bit on the temperatures.

Just how silent do you want the card to be?

I would like it to be as silent if not more silent than my previous Sapphire 5770; which I found to be great on the temperatures too. I could play hours on that card and it wouldn't go above 70 at 40% fan speed, so I am really looking for something that can match it.

[Trickle]

The Asus comes out average (for this TDP class card) in this review. The 260 it gets the same score as was always quieter than you'd have expected from its power use. But in no way silent.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/A...ect_Cu/27.html

The HIS gets a pretty dire score. The 4850/4870 it scores equal too are presumably their reference designs, and these were pretty terrible in terms of noise.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/H...D_6850/27.html

[TheWizard]

The Asus comes out average (for this TDP class card) in this review. The 260 it gets the same score as was always quieter than you'd have expected from its power use. But in no way silent.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/A...ect_Cu/27.html

The HIS gets a pretty dire score. The 4850/4870 it scores equal too are presumably their reference designs, and these were pretty terrible in terms of noise.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/H...D_6850/27.html

The Asus figures look really great. I cannot believe that the noise levels 28db on idle and 38db on load. That is immense although insignificant compard to the GTS250. I read somewhere (I forget where exactly) that noise levels can be fixed with driver/bios patches and that some cards which were excessively loud can be easily fixed this way... anyone know for certain?