MSI Zero Frozr And Noise
MSI Zero Frozr
One feature that makes MSI’s new graphics cards unique is Zero Frozr, which turns off the fan during idle or low loads. This is a capability that we know from Nvidia’s three newest graphics card and it’s balanced well; there are no wild fan speed fluctuations.
We already talked about the underlying RPM curves and their corresponding thermal readings on the previous page. These fan speeds are ultimately responsible for the actual noise levels of all three graphics cards in this test.
The following graphs show how the fans rev up smoothly. They’re given a big push via extra voltage to make sure that they get going in the beginning. The underlying rationale for this is that fans do have production tolerances, which is to say that they don’t all function equally well. Of course, they get older as well. The initial bump is a pure safety feature. It’s not really audible, so you won’t find yourself annoyed by it.
Noise
We measure each graphics card's noise levels with a calibrated high-quality studio microphone 50cm away from a position perpendicular to the middle of the board. This distance, as well as the strong cardioid microphone characteristic, represents a compromise between avoiding noise generated by the fan’s airflow and ambient noise that can never be completely eliminated. Our noise-dampening efforts certainly help, but they'll never be 100 percent successful.
| Room22°C | Open BenchtableGaming Loop | Open BenchtableTorture | Closed CaseGaming Loop | Closed CaseTorture | Idle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSI R7 370 Gaming 2G: | 32.5 dB(A) | 33.6 dB(A) | 32.4 (*) | 33.2 dB(A) | 0 dB(A) |
| MSI R9 380Gaming 2G: | 37.4 dB(A) | 38.8 dB(A) | 35.3 dB(A) | 36.3 dB(A) | 0 dB(A) |
| MSI R9 390XGaming 8G: | 38.4 dB(A) | 40.1 dB(A) | 37.2 dB(A) | 38.5 dB(A) | 0 dB(A) |
(*) Noise level of the test system was higher than that of the graphics card. It was impossible to separate the two.