To evaluate the noise level, we used an
electrical noise-measuring device, CENTER-32, in a closed and quiet 20m2
room. The noise-measuring method was conducted outside the system case, when
the only noise is from the cooler and its fans. The noise-measuring device was
put on a tripot at a distance of 15cm from the fan rotor of the cooler’s fan.
The mainboard with the graphics card was set on the edge of the table, on a
foam-rubber tray. The bottom limit of the device was 29.8dBA, whereas the
subjectively acceptable noise level (not too low, but confortable) in that
distance was approximately 36dBA. The speed of the graphics card’s fan was
changed with the assistance of a special controller supporting to adjust the
voltage of 0.5V.
To compare, we included noise level
measuring method of the reference AMD Radeon HD 7970 and one of the fastest
graphics card of this class - Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 OC Dual-X. The vertical
line of the graph indicates the range of the fan’s speed in the automatic mode
during our thermal test for the default cooler, before we replaced the thermal
interface with ARCTIC MX-a. Let’s see which graphics card is the quietest among
the three testing ones.
The
original coolers in this test are all quiet
First of all, it is important to note that
all cards with the original coolers in this test are all quieter than the
reference AMD Radeon HD 7970. That is good; we did not expect anything more
from IceQ X2 and IceQ. The fan of the top-end HIS card operates at
1620 RPM, even in the idle mode, which is the subjectively comfortable mode
mentioned above. Although HIS 7970 IceQ X2 GHz and HIS 7950 IceQ X2
Boost Clock barely create noise inside the system case in 2D mode, we cannot
state that they are quiet, and there are no completely quiet or comfortable
when these cards increase their fans’ speed to 2650 RPM in 3D mode.
AMD
Radeon HD 7970
The automatically regulated area of the
cooler installed in HIS 7850 IceQ Turbo X lays lower comparing to IceQ X2,
but that component is also not silent in 3D mode. Its fan shakes slightly even
when it is running with low speed, making them always audible. This problem is
observed in each of our two HIS 7850 IceQ Turbo X models, so they can be the
characteristics of the whole product series. Comparing to HIS cooler, the sound
of Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 OC Dual-X is quieter and creates more comfortable
sound. HIS has not found out any solution to balance the fan speed and
temperature or changing its fan’s providers.
Power consumption
We measured the power consumption level in
our test equipped with different graphics cards using a Zalman M-MFC3
multifunctional controller, which can report how much power a computer (without
the monitor) draws from an outlet. There are two checking mode: 2D (adjusting files
on Microsoft Word or surfing web) and 3D (experimentally operating Metro 2033:
The Last Refuge in 2560x1440 with the highest definition of images, but without
antialiasing.)
Beside the testing products and a two
graphics card interface, we also added the testing result for power consumption
for ASUS GeForce GTX 660 Ti DirectCU II TOP. Let’s see what we got:
Power
consumption testing
There is no miracle in these numbers. The
interface with one Radeon HD 7850 is the most economical, consuming less than
360W at the maximum load. The system with one overclocked GeForce GTX 680 is
the runner-up. The difference between two top-end cards from HIS is 20W.
CrossFireX configuration built on two HIS 7850 IceQ Turbo X cards is better
than the system with just one of this device. Each interface has the same power
demand in idle mode, so we want to separate the CrossFireX tandem into single
one, when the second single card is shut down in 2D mode. A high quality PSU
550W will be efficient for each PC’s configuration considered in this test.
