Asus Matrix HD7970 Platinum Graphics Card Review

We have changed our method of measuring noise levels. We have built a system inside a Lian Li chassis with no case fans and have used a fanless cooler on our CPU. The motherboard is also passively cooled. This gives us a build with almost completely passive cooling and it means we can measure noise of just the graphics card inside the system when we run looped 3dMark tests.

Ambient noise in the room is around 20-25dBa. We measure from a distance of around 1 meter from the closed chassis and 4 foot from the ground to mirror a real world situation.

Why do this? Well this means we can eliminate secondary noise pollution in the test room and concentrate on only the video card. It also brings us slightly closer to industry standards, such as DIN 45635.

KitGuru noise guide
10dBA – Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves
20-25dBA – Whisper
30dBA – High Quality Computer fan
40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refridgerator
50dBA – Normal Conversation
60dBA – Laughter
70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer
80dBA – City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal
90dBA – Motorcycle or Lawnmower
100dBA – MP3 player at maximum output
110dBA – Orchestra
120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine
130dBA – Threshold of Pain
140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range)
160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum

The Asus Matrix HD7970 Platinum is the quietest high performance HD7970 we have tested, claiming top spot in the noise test. When gaming it is noticeably quieter than the Sapphire HD7970 Toxic Edition and the HIS 7970 X Turbo IceQ X2. Fan speeds on this card shift between 1,000 rpm when idle, 1,800 rpm when gaming and 2,100 rpm under Furmark load.

We can see by cross referencing the results on this page and the last, that Asus are opted for slightly higher temperatures under load for reduced noise emissions. Its a great trade off.

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