Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti Founders Edition 11GB Review

Noise output of the graphics card is measured using the fan speed percentage associated with each of the temperature recordings displayed on the previous page.

In order to focus solely on the noise output by the graphics card in question, we disconnect all fans from the test system so that the only moving parts are the Corsair H110i GT's pump and any components relating to the graphics card.

The NZXT Phantom 630's side panel is removed in order for us to focus specifically on the graphics card's noise emissions. We also place the acoustic measurement equipment very close to the graphics card (around 10 cm away from it) in order to better detect noise differences between each graphics card. This is also a scenario that will be similar to a user who has their system sat on the desk directly next to where they are sitting.

The background noise level sits around 37-38 dBA without the test computer running.

With the same cooler as the Titan X Pascal being used on the GTX 1080 Ti FE, it is no surprise that their acoustic levels are very similar. At gaming load the GTX 1080 Ti is certainly audible but I wouldn't call it intrusive. At 49% fan speed in games that don't force the fans on an AIO liquid CPU cooler to ramp up too high, the GTX 1080 Ti FE is clearly the most audible component inside our test system.

Switching focus to idle, however, and the pump on our Corsair H110i GT AIO liquid cooler is louder than the GTX 1080 Ti FE that idles with 23% fan speed. There's no passive fan mode like you get on many board partner coolers, though.

On the topic of fan speed, don't be fooled by visual similarities between the Founder's Edition coolers. The unit installed on GTX 1080 Ti uses a higher-speed fan profile than the one found on GTX 1080. At 49% fan speed, the GTX 1080's fan operated at 1960 RPM whereas the GTX 1080 Ti's spun at 2353 RPM. This resulted in noticeably higher noise output from the card.

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