As we recorded on the last page the HIS HD 5870 iCooler V Turbo has a formidable cooling solution which offers huge reductions against the reference solution. We measure noise from a distance of around 30 inches – our Lian Li case is closed as this mirrors a real world situation.
At idle the HIS HD5870 fan is spinning faster than the reference design which helps to reduce temperatures but it also increases noise, it is noticeable under lab conditions. Back in the real world it really wouldn't be that obvious, especially if your computer room has other background noise. Personally in a high end gaming system I prefer to see slightly reduced temperatures so this trade off is acceptable to me. If I was building a media center however I wouldn't be happy … that said, I wouldn't be using a HD5870 for a media center anyway.