quietest card for 1440p gaming?

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Thuleman

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There are a lot of reviews about high-end cards out there that are perceived as "quiet", but they are really not. Between fan noise, fan rattle, and coil whine noise pollution is all over the place. Some review sites are better than others in that they actually measure dB with an appropriate instrument rather than just saying that it sounds quiet.

I'd be OK with paying for GTX 780 or R9 290, but all I need is decent 1440p performance. I really don't care whether it's 60 fps or 90 fps, especially if the 60 fps card is a lot quieter.

Only looking for air cooled cards. From what I have read the Gigabyte Windforce cards are overall quiet but some users have reported an annoying whine and sent the cards back. Asus DCU2 got decent reviews, as did MSI Lightning/Gaming, though there were a lot of reports about the MSI Gaming being terrible recently in that it's leak fan lubricant all over the place.

I am OK with buying a less powerful card (or maybe SLI/XF of two quiet cards?) just as long as it can do 60 FPS and is quieter.
 
Honestly, I never find even 'quiet' GPU's to be quiet when they're being stressed.

I think if you really want a nearly silent gaming system, you'll have to go water cooled. Pretty much any decent card is still going to have to work hard to render @ 1440p, which in turn will cause the temps to rise and fan speed to increase.

Perhaps looking into some sort of sound deadening for the case could help and I'm sure you can also get some aftermarket replacement fans that run quieter than stock as well (or the entire cooler for that matter).
 
I have a 780 GHZ Edition that recently replaced a 6970. It was a pretty remarkable improvement in case noise. I can not answer whether it would be acceptable to you or not however.

The card will whine when running Ice Storm, but I have not noticed it during normal gaming.

The card did tend to rattle under heavy load. I added a door fan to give the card better cooling, and it eliminated the rattling issue for me.
 
I find that making a custom fan profile in MSI Afterburner helps tremendously with this, if you are comfortable with letting your card run up to 80-82 °C. Once you play with your card it is pretty easy to figure out the fan speed % where the noise starts to become audible. My Gigabyte 780 Ti OC (Windforce cooler) is quiet for the most part with a custom fan profile; I think around 55% fan speed is when I note the fan noise as starting to be loud "enough". The only time I get coil whine is folding@home with core15 work units. Graphics cards with larger fans might help this as well.

But yeah... for a guarantee in silence you will have to go with watercooling in some manner. If you can ever find one the NZXT Kraken G10 + AIO cooler would be a good compromise for most people.

https://www.nzxt.com/product/detail/138-kraken-g10-gpu-bracket.html
 
what about xfire 270Xs?

They only draw about 150W each, there are versions out there with 3GB of ram.

60fps at 1440p is a tall order. I have crossfire 290's and there are still some scenes in bf4 I fall under 60 in just due to the complexity of the game.

That, or spend the money for an arctic accelero aftermarket cooler for a 290X or something.
 
Since I own a tri-x oc 290x I can wholeheartedly recommend a 780ti that I had before I got this (I insisted on testing Mantle).

The 780 ti was miles quieter.
290x is too loud but Mantle is nice :p
 
Liquid or hybrid cooling isn't an option at this point.

As I am looking into this further it seems like a dual 760 will outperform a single 780, dual 760 4GB is just as much as a higher end 780, but may run quieter?

Here are some fps comparisons between dual 760s and other cards: http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_760_sli_review,16.html

Dual 760s would likely require me to buy a new PSU though, I only have 850W (~720W effective) right now.

Probably want to avoid Crossfire, there's a lot of content out there reporting all kinds of problems with it whereas SLI seems to "just work" for gaming.
 
I have a Asus R9 290 DirectCU II and am running 1440p. IMO it runs rather quiet and my computer is on top of my desk next to my monitor.
 
My cards are not extremely top of the line, but when I used aftermarket cooling on my 6950 it was much quieter, probably close to silent in a quiet case. I think I was using the Arctic Cooling Twin Turbo, but they have more effective cooling for more $$$. I would think it would be sufficient for "quiet" gaming. Most people wear headphones when gaming, so a little noise is not noticeable.
 
Asus GTX 780 or 780 Ti DirectCU II is the way to go. I also have a GBT WF 680 that is pretty quiet so I'm sure their 780 and 780 Ti models are fine too.
 
I totally agree with this:

dr.stevil said:
Honestly, I never find even 'quiet' GPU's to be quiet when they're being stressed.
Click to expand...

When you stress a card the fans will spin up, so if i benchmark a game and get 75fps minimum fps i lock it at 60fps, if i got 60fps minimum i lock it at 40 etc. FPS lock which ever card you get to stop it from getting loud.
 
Simple.. run dual 780s and power limit them to 75%. They'll be quiet since neither of them will really get hot, and it'll still be fast.

Dual 760s will likely be louder than a single 780, you still have to dissipate a BUNCH of heat, and they're not as efficient as a 780 @ 75%. Their heatsinks also aren't as good as the Titan style. The reference 760s run the same as the 680, which is a good but not great heatsink.

Dual 770s with reference 780 style coolers might not be too bad, but still not as quiet as the 780s.

A single 780 is not really enough for 60 FPS at 1440p anyway. Dual/triple 670s don't even give me great framerates at 1440p, although it hurts even more now that I hopped up to a 4k display..
 
The ASUS GTX 780Ti DCUII http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HSY1RVC. Is definitely going to be your best option.

Any time you go with a multiple GPU setup you over double the noise produced because of all the added heat. The DCUII cooler is the quietest and most efficient and the 780Ti will be able to perform without being completely stressed at 1440p.
 
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id recommend going with a GTX 780ti if you are air cooling, if not get a cheap r9 290(x) and put a waterblock on it. R9 290 is going for about 300-350 on ebay.
 
Got a pair of evga 780 dual classifieds and are leaps and bounds quieter than the crossfire 7970's I had before:eek:
 
Thuleman said:
There are a lot of reviews about high-end cards out there that are perceived as "quiet", but they are really not. Between fan noise, fan rattle, and coil whine noise pollution is all over the place. Some review sites are better than others in that they actually measure dB with an appropriate instrument rather than just saying that it sounds quiet.

I'd be OK with paying for GTX 780 or R9 290, but all I need is decent 1440p performance. I really don't care whether it's 60 fps or 90 fps, especially if the 60 fps card is a lot quieter.

Only looking for air cooled cards. From what I have read the Gigabyte Windforce cards are overall quiet but some users have reported an annoying whine and sent the cards back. Asus DCU2 got decent reviews, as did MSI Lightning/Gaming, though there were a lot of reports about the MSI Gaming being terrible recently in that it's leak fan lubricant all over the place.

I am OK with buying a less powerful card (or maybe SLI/XF of two quiet cards?) just as long as it can do 60 FPS and is quieter.
Click to expand...

If 1440P@60fps is your minimum target, you need to look for multiple GPU solutions. Any of the single GPU's cannot do this in newer games with full eyecandy. That said, I can recommend the MSI GTX 780 Gaming edition OC as a quiet highend gaming card. My computers are build with the thought of silence over performance and I buy components based upon measurements from SPCR and the likes, so my baseline noise for the system is low to begin with. On idle, its very quiet and the fan profile is so well done that I (for the first time in years) chose not to use custom fan profile in MSI Afterburner to lower it further. During gaming, I haven't heard the fan over the game sound even with speakers at low volume. Here is a measurement of the card from a review. The boost clock in the OC app is 1097mhz today, so you can expect a bit higher performance then in that review:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_780_TF_Gaming/25.html

I haven't had any oil coming from the fans (its actually gel though), but some users have. MSI have changed the design a bit on cards produced this year to fix this. MSI accepts this as an RMA should you have that issue or have a card produced before the change and are worried about it (the gel is non-conductive and won't damage components). Here's from MSI about this:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=25969091&postcount=29

Since you will be using DL-DVI on your monitor, it might not be an issue for you, but be aware that Nvidia have poor color support over HDMI in their drivers (and DP it seems) and many are getting limited RGB over those connections. There are reg fixes and other methods you can apply every time you change drivers to regain full RGB support, so its not a totally lost cause should you want to connect a secondary HDMI screen and encounter poor colors. Just a FYI, so you are aware should you encounter it. :)
 
Thuleman said:
There are a lot of reviews about high-end cards out there that are perceived as "quiet", but they are really not. Between fan noise, fan rattle, and coil whine noise pollution is all over the place. Some review sites are better than others in that they actually measure dB with an appropriate instrument rather than just saying that it sounds quiet.
Click to expand...

IMHO you've got to look at GPU noise as part of the whole. My system (see sig) is completely silent apart from the GPU. I specifically chose the MSI 780 Ti over one with a blower fan because of its improved acoustics, and Geforce over Radeon because of the noise. My 4K monitor arrives next month and thanks to [H] and other sites I know I'll get decent gaming performance from it.
 
Tamlin_WSGF said:
Since you will be using DL-DVI on your monitor, it might not be an issue for you, but be aware that Nvidia have poor color support over HDMI in their drivers (and DP it seems) and many are getting limited RGB over those connections.
Click to expand...

Can you elaborate? I have a monitor connected by DP and am not seeing any colour issues.
 
Quartz-1 said:
Can you elaborate? I have a monitor connected by DP and am not seeing any colour issues.
Click to expand...

Its an ongoing issue that has been for years, where you get 16-235 shades per RGB (limited RGB) instead of 0-255 shades per RGB (full RGB) over some HDMI connections and also been reported on displayport connections (both for TV's and monitors). Nvidia have support to choose between limited RGB and full RGB for video over those connections, but not for desktop in their drivers. Here's the [H] thread about this:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1729604

Here's a thread on Geforce forums with fixes that I also have partisipated in. If you encounter the issue, I would appreciate that you fill out the feedback form to Nvidia. I've PM'd them and they are tracking the issue internally, but cannot state anything yet about it weirdly enough, considering how it can be fixed. :cool:

https://forums.geforce.com/default/...-broken-for-use-with-hdtv-over-hdmi-/#4160509
 
Skripka said:
The only quiet gpus are watercooled gpus.
Click to expand...

I disagree. Watercooling still requires plenty of fans for the radiators. I moved from using watercooling for years back to air when I moved to Ivy Bridge because I would've had to upgrade so many blocks and components to keep it running on water.

Current air coolers are very quiet. I have a bigass Phanteks for the CPU and the GPU is cooled by a Asus DirectCu II. The DirectCu II is really quiet, in fact I was very surprised how quiet it was.
 
kasakka said:
I disagree. Watercooling still requires plenty of fans for the radiators. I moved from using watercooling for years back to air when I moved to Ivy Bridge because I would've had to upgrade so many blocks and components to keep it running on water.

Current air coolers are very quiet. I have a bigass Phanteks for the CPU and the GPU is cooled by a Asus DirectCu II. The DirectCu II is really quiet, in fact I was very surprised how quiet it was.
Click to expand...

Doesn't matter. 120mm fans are quieter than 80mm fans on GPUs every day of the week for the same amount of airflow
 
Tamlin_WSGF said:
Its an ongoing issue that has been for years, where you get 16-235 shades per RGB (limited RGB) instead of 0-255 shades per RGB (full RGB) over some HDMI connections and also been reported on displayport connections (both for TV's and monitors).
Click to expand...

I have two identical monitors. One is connected via DVI and the other by DP. I'm using the 335.23 driver. I see no difference between the displays.
 
kasakka said:
I disagree. Watercooling still requires plenty of fans for the radiators. I moved from using watercooling for years back to air when I moved to Ivy Bridge because I would've had to upgrade so many blocks and components to keep it running on water.

Current air coolers are very quiet. I have a bigass Phanteks for the CPU and the GPU is cooled by a Asus DirectCu II. The DirectCu II is really quiet, in fact I was very surprised how quiet it was.
Click to expand...

2x140 and one 120 on uln adaptors with a D5 pump set to 1 speed on rubber mounts.

Tell me more about noisy watercooling.
 
Quartz-1 said:
I have two identical monitors. One is connected via DVI and the other by DP. I'm using the 335.23 driver. I see no difference between the displays.
Click to expand...

If you are not seeing it, I doubt you have that issue on your particular screen. Its very visible if you would have had the problem. There is a test image on second page of the [H] thread I linked earlier. Here's from a review of Dell U2414H:

An Nvidia GTX 780 was used on our test system and we tested both DisplayPort and HDMI – with interesting results. When using either DisplayPort or HDMI the GPU sent out the wrong colour signal (‘Limited Range RGB 16-235’ instead of ‘Full Range RGB 0-255’). This reduced gamma, skewed white point, hugely impacted contrast and simply gave everything a washed out look. We are quite used to seeing this with Nvidia GPUs connected via HDMI as that is their default behaviour – treat the connected device as an HDTV.
Click to expand...
http://pcmonitors.info/reviews/dell-u2414h#!prettyPhoto

I noticed it pretty quickly when I changed from an AMD HD 5870 to a GTX 780 on my HTPC connected with HDMI to my TV through a receiver (also occured with direct connection to TV). Didn't need a side by side comparison for this.
 
Tamlin_WSGF said:
If you are not seeing it, I doubt you have that issue on your particular screen. Its very visible if you would have had the problem. There is a test image on second page of the [H] thread I linked earlier.
Click to expand...

I've just checked that page and it looks fine.
 
Quartz-1 said:
I've just checked that page and it looks fine.
Click to expand...

Thats good. :) You would have seen it anyway if you had that issue, since its pretty hard to miss. Now you know at least, so should you connect your machine to a screen via DP or HDMI and colors are screwed, you know why and how to fix it. For HDMI at least. The color range toggle tool doesn't work on DP and if you use the custom resolution fix, some games revert to limited RGB since Nvidia have that as recommended resolution.

Should you encounter this issue via HDMI or DP, please fill out the nvidia driver feedback form, so they might prioritize it a bit higher to fix it.
 
great card. Love those coolers, had one on an 7970.

If you really want to make it quiet, look into adding a AiO cooler with Noctua fans and a kraken g10 (link for review). Together it will be around 20db or about half as loud as a dc2oc under load.

I value having a silent rig also (see my sig). Having high quality low noise fans goes a long way!
 
EVGA GTX680 2gb with reference cooler. I now have a 780 setup and although a bit faster, it is definitely louder.

Quietest GPU I ever owned, also still very powerful.
 
Good luck with the new card.

I went a simpler route, got a 7850 with an ok large cooler and strapped two slow noctua fans on it.
Works like a charm and looks horrible.
 
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