8800GT v. 3870 Noise?

[nowayout99]

Has anybody had first-hand experience with both cards that can tell if one card is louder/quieter than the other?

There aren't a whole lot of noise comparisons out there that I trust. I am putting together a quiet-ish new build. All indications are that the 3870 is fairly quiet, but how does the GT directly compare? Is it slightly louder? A close call? Thanks.

 

[Martimus]

I have read about 6-8 reviews on the 3870 and all of them say that the 3870 is much quieter than the 8800GT. At least 3 say that they were amazed at how quiet it was. The 3850 is actually louder than the 3870. I heard that the 8800GT is a little loud and annoying, but not nearly as loud at the 2900XT was. I am sorry that I don't have first hand knowledge of both cards, but the people who do are writing the reviews.

I hope this helps. If I have some time, I will post a few of the reviews that give noise information.

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

Hopefully I will know firsthand tomorrow night, if not then, Wednesday at the latest!

 

[nowayout99]

Thanks. Anybody else with first-hand knowledge of both?

 

[John]

FWIW I own an 8800GT, and since the (stock) fan is stuck at 29% that should be <25dB and probably closer to 20dB. You can also use RivaTuner to customize the fan speeds, or pick up a more efficient aftermarket cooler if your temps climb above 90C under full gaming load for 15+ min. I am coming from an XFX 7950GT that is passive cooled so I am sort of a noise conscious.

 

[chizow]

I don't have a 3870, but its a dual-slot cooler similar to the cooler on my 8800GTS. I think there's some confusion with the 8800GT cooler; as John said it runs at stock at only 29% and as of the 169.09 drivers, the fan does not ramp up under load. At 29% the fan is quiet and shouldn't be audible over any existing fan in your system (CPU or even PSU fans).

Once you increase the fan speed manually via nTune or RT or whatever else to increase cooling, the fan does become audible. Anything over 50% results in the fan being audibly louder than any of the 120mm fans in my case. Its very high-pitched and can be annoying to those sensitive to noise. In comparison, the excellent dual-slot cooler on the GTS doesn't get louder than my case fans until 90% and based on relative temperatures, it does a much better job cooling as well. At 100% I'd say the GTS cooler is still more bearable than the GT cooler at 60-70% again because of the high-pitched whine of the GT compared to the GTS, which is more like a strong gush of air.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

the 3870 is definately quieter than the 8800gt @ the same % fan speeds. i currently have my 8800gt at 75% and its freaking loud.

 

[ManWithNoName]

Guru3D measured the noise output of these two cards as -

HD3870 - 40-41 dBA

8800GT - 44 dBA

I have my 8800GT set at 65% and don't find it bothersome at all. However, what's not loud to me may trouble others. Noise is definitely in the ear of the beholder.

Also read somewhere, and I can't find it at the moment there is also a Bug in the VGA-BIOS of the HD 3870 or HD 3850 which is preventing the fan from ramping up as it should. When I fiind I'll post it.

Found it: Guru3D identified a fan throttling issue with the 3850, not 3870.

http://guru3d.com/article/Videocards/472/8/

 

[nullpointerus]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
the 3870 is definately quieter than the 8800gt @ the same % fan speeds. i currently have my 8800gt at 75% and its freaking loud.

The 3870 has a better cooler, too, because it is a dual-slot design that exhausts heat.

Definitely go with the 3870. The 2900 also had a good cooler, but it was loud under load because it was made on a larger process that caused the GPU to produce a lot of heat.

 

[ManWithNoName]

Originally posted by: nullpointerus

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
the 3870 is definately quieter than the 8800gt @ the same % fan speeds. i currently have my 8800gt at 75% and its freaking loud.

The 3870 has a better cooler, too, because it is a dual-slot design that exhausts heat.

Definitely go with the 3870. The 2900 also had a good cooler, but it was loud under load because it was made on a larger process that caused the GPU to produce a lot of heat.

Before I bought the GT, I was quite concerned regarding the single-slot cooling design. So, yes I totally agree with you that a cooler which exhausts the hot air outside of the case would have been desirable. Infact the new G92 GTS has one of these. However, what they say is true though, as long as you have adequate airflow, the impact of a single slot cooler is little to none at all. My Case for example would definitely not win any awards for heat dissipation and just has adequate airflow, yet the 8800GT didn't raise my case temps or my overclocked CPU temps by even a single centigrade.

 

[nullpointerus]

Originally posted by: ManWithNoName

Originally posted by: nullpointerus

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
the 3870 is definately quieter than the 8800gt @ the same % fan speeds. i currently have my 8800gt at 75% and its freaking loud.

The 3870 has a better cooler, too, because it is a dual-slot design that exhausts heat.

Definitely go with the 3870. The 2900 also had a good cooler, but it was loud under load because it was made on a larger process that caused the GPU to produce a lot of heat.

Before I bought the GT, I was quite concerned regarding the single-slot cooling design. So, yes I totally agree with you that a cooler which exhausts the hot air outside of the case would have been desirable. Infact the new G92 GTS has one of these. However, what they say is true though, as long as you have adequate airflow, the impact of a single slot cooler is little to none at all. My Case for example would definitely not win any awards for heat dissipation and just has adequate airflow, yet the 8800GT didn't raise my case temps or my overclocked CPU temps by even a single centigrade.

I did not mean to imply that the 8800GT cooler was inferior due to some effect on case or CPU temperatures; I simply meant thata DHES cooler design is superior. This can be important in a quiet PC build for other reasons.

For example, the OP may decide to scale down the fan speed even though the environment is fairly warm. This will be more effective (i.e. the fan can run slower) on the 3870 because of the DHES cooler. Even if this is just a "fine point," it is still something to consider.

Price is another consideration. For the price difference, the OP may decide later on to replace the stock cooling on the 3870. In this case, performance will be lower than an 8800GT w/ stock cooling for the same price, but the 3870 will be virtually inaudible. (Note: I'm not sure exactly when third party coolers will be available for the 3870. Sometimes this takes a while.)

While I have not seen anything specifically stated as such, I assume the OP is placing a higher priority on noise reduction than the 10-15% performance difference in games between 3870 and 8800GT.

Then there's idle power draw, which affects the card's overall heat output and the speed at which the fan must run at idle. A minor point, but one that matters if you happen to keep your PC in your room and/or have your PC on your desk (I'm guilty on both counts). And I believe that ATI added some kind of dynamic power/clock management that also works much better than the traditional 2D/3D-clocks method.

3870 wins by slight margin in all quiet-PC-specific concerns, so no contest IMO.

Obviously, one's conclusion here depends entirely on one's priorities and circumstances...