9 replies to this topic

[razor]

hey guys,

ccokeman's just had the Sapphire HD4850 Toxic Edition video card up on the test bench - check it out!

this looks like an awesome price/performance card, plus it comes with a Zalman cooler!

[Bosco]

Its about time the aftermarket coolers finally made it on the cards.

Nice temps much better

[Angry_Games]

ever since I put an Accelero S1 rev2 on mine (and got the %#@$@#$ voltage regulator heatsinks to stay on properly lol) I idle at about 35-ish and load with F@H at about 55-65...before that with stock cooler, I was idling at 75-80...and ANY 3d app would crash almost instantly as the gpu hit 95+ lol

[InCrYsIs]

ever since I put an Accelero S1 rev2 on mine (and got the %#@$@#$ voltage regulator heatsinks to stay on properly lol) I idle at about 35-ish and load with F@H at about 55-65...before that with stock cooler, I was idling at 75-80...and ANY 3d app would crash almost instantly as the gpu hit 95+ lol

I have 2 ASUS 4850's with the fans at 50% and 2 vantec slot coolers. Idle 49C and load 72C. Not the quietest setup but it works with having to MOD.

[ccokeman]

This card requires no mod and is dead silent. I had to take the side panel off to make sure the fan was indeed spinning.

[InCrYsIs]

This card requires no mod and is dead silent. I had to take the side panel off to make sure the fan was indeed spinning.

I was just talking about my setup. I got the temps down without having to go aftermarket.

[W1zzard]

I suggest you clarify "with zero noise". Maybe buy a cheap sound level meter for your testing.

in idle the toxic fan is much much much much louder than the stock 4850 fan. 20.0 dbA vs. 36.4 dbA (thats about 40x the sound pressure)
in load: toxic: 36.4 dbA vs. stock: 27.3 dbA. yes the fan is NOT temperature controlled.

[jammin]

I suggest you clarify "with zero noise". Maybe buy a cheap sound level meter for your testing.

in idle the toxic fan is much much much much louder than the stock 4850 fan. 20.0 dbA vs. 36.4 dbA (thats about 40x the sound pressure)
in load: toxic: 36.4 dbA vs. stock: 27.3 dbA. yes the fan is NOT temperature controlled.

Are those numbers independently recorded results or just what the manufacturers quote?
If they are quoted numbers they may not be comparable.

I agree with you that it would be nice to able to record sound levels for the cards we test, but to do it accurately would certainly require more than a cheap sound level meter.

[ccokeman]

I suggest you clarify "with zero noise". Maybe buy a cheap sound level meter for your testing.

in idle the toxic fan is much much much much louder than the stock 4850 fan. 20.0 dbA vs. 36.4 dbA (thats about 40x the sound pressure)
in load: toxic: 36.4 dbA vs. stock: 27.3 dbA. yes the fan is NOT temperature controlled.

By Zero noise I mean that. With the card hidden inside the case with the side panels on and the system in operation I cannot hear the card running. In fact I had to pull the side panel off to verify that the fan was indeed running. If I can hear the hard drive and not the card it carries zero noise penalty for the cooling that it delivers. The reference cooler on the hd4850 is much louder when the fan speed is ramped up via any of the "fixes". I have 2 HD3850s as well and each is louder than the Zalman cooler when the fan speed is manually increased.

[W1zzard]

Are those numbers independently recorded results or just what the manufacturers quote?
If they are quoted numbers they may not be comparable.

I agree with you that it would be nice to able to record sound levels for the cards we test, but to do it accurately would certainly require more than a cheap sound level meter.

independently recorded (i run www.techpowerup.com). never ever trust what the manufacturers tell you.

yes, accurately = expensive

getting some usable numbers that are better than a wild and usually inaccurate guess:
- sound level meter that goes down to 30 dbA
- 4 gb cf card
- cf to pata adapter
- lowest end system that is just fast enough to properly stress the card

load the graphics card, when you see max. temp reached, jam the cpu and psu fan - poof you got a passive system where only the vga card emits noise.
now measure from 10-20 cm distance and you got your numbers.

drop me a line on instant messenger if you have additional questions.

"zero noise" means there is no noise (unrealistic, your breathing and heart beat is already noisier than zero). maybe rewrite to "no additional noise from the case that i can hear" or "whole system is subjetively not louder than ..."

Edited by W1zzard, 05 August 2008 - 02:21 AM.