Is it a noisy card in general or is the case the real culprit?

cachcoco

Honorable
Sep 26, 2012
23
0
10,510
Hello,

I have a gaming pc build and the XFX 7950 Double D has always had very loud fans when it kicks up over 50%. Not gaming, the card is very quiet but once under load the fans kick up so much guildies can hear it over vent.

At idle, just on the web and stuff, the temps are in the low 30's and you cant hear the pc at all (fans are below 30%). Gaming, the gpu temps get up to 76-78 C and the fans are at 60% or higher.

I used a Lian-Li PC-Q108 for my build, and I love the case, but cant stand the noise of the gpu fans. I wear headphones, have the case under my desk by my feet, on a box (so its off the floor), and it is still very loud.

I think there are several possibilities:
- the case is not allowing for enough air flow and needs to be changed to allow more airflow
- the card will be loud no matter what because its just the way XFX 7950 DD is.
- the card needs to be RMA'd because it is not behaving properly

What are your thoughts?

Thank you for your time and guidance!

i5-3350p, ASUS P8H77-I mobo, XFX 7950 Double D, 8 gigs ram, Samsung 840 500g ssd, WD 500g for storage, 8 gigs ram, Lian-Li PC-Q108, Windows 8.1.
 
Solution
Had the same card.
Changed the cooler for this: http://www.quietpc.com/gel-icy-vision-amd
Noise problems solved.
If you don't want to mess up the warranty you can try adding some high flow intake fans to the case front, the extra volume of airflow should help but that cooler is known for being a noisy...Part.
Corsair, Phanteks and Noctua seem to make the best fans, get one/s with 3 pin connectors, that way you can run them off the motherboard headers and control the speed through the BIOS.
That Gelid cooler may not be available or hard to source in your country but be careful if you select another, the GPU die on the DD card is set a millimetre below the leval of the surround, a cooler with a flat cold plate will NOT work unless you're...
Had the same card.
Changed the cooler for this: http://www.quietpc.com/gel-icy-vision-amd
Noise problems solved.
If you don't want to mess up the warranty you can try adding some high flow intake fans to the case front, the extra volume of airflow should help but that cooler is known for being a noisy...Part.
Corsair, Phanteks and Noctua seem to make the best fans, get one/s with 3 pin connectors, that way you can run them off the motherboard headers and control the speed through the BIOS.
That Gelid cooler may not be available or hard to source in your country but be careful if you select another, the GPU die on the DD card is set a millimetre below the leval of the surround, a cooler with a flat cold plate will NOT work unless you're prepared to make a copper shim for it.
 
Solution
Coozie7. The gel-icy is the way I'm going to go. With it taking up three card slots, with the gpu, I'll have to get a new case as well (at least I'm not getting a new case in the hopes of fixing the noise issue; that would have been a bummer). Many thanks for the guidance!