I don't get it why people actually bother checking noise levels... once you're playing FPS games, turning volumes up, YOU WON'T HEAR ANYTHING FROM YOUR MACHINE. Do you really take time sticking your ear to the side panel and listen to your card???
LOL.
What I do watch out in cards is potential warping or bending (bowing down). Most aged ASUS cards with DirectCU system is that they warp or bow down due to the sheet weight of the heatsinks and perhaps some design flaw as well, something that is rare for evga's solid boxed type enclosures with support plates inside on their graphic cards.