1) Gigabyte Windforce R9 280X
Great fans on those. TRIPLE FANS!!! That is THE bomb. I have pretty much always recommended this brand for GPUs and even regular motherboards. Less heat, but not sure if noise is the strongest compartment...
2) Asus DirectCU II R9 280X
Pretty good fans. I trust Asus well enough, since they have pretty good fans also. However, it has one less fan.
3) Sapphire R9 280X
Good enough, but not top notch like the other 2.