Noise And Fan RPM
Noise
We measure the Radeon R9 280X’s noise level in different usage scenarios, for which we use a studio microphone with the same calibration found in our PC audio reviews. The mic is positioned perpendicular to the middle of the graphics card at a distance of 50 cm.
Model | Idle | Moderate Load | Full Load |
---|---|---|---|
Asus R9 280X DirectCU II OC | 30.4 dB(A) | 36.8 dB(A) | 40.8 dB(A) |
Club3D R9 280X royalKing OC | 30.4 dB(A) | 42.3 dB(A) | 47.4 dB(A) |
Gigabyte R9 280X WindForce 3X | 31.4 dB(A) | 42.8 dB(A)38.3 dB(A) Modified | 47.9 dB(A)42.7 dB(A) Modified |
HIS R9 280X IceQ X² | 30.5 dB(A) | 37.2 dB(A) | 41.7 dBA |
MSI R9 280X Gaming OC | 30.8 dB(A)30.8 dB(A) | 35.2 dB(A)41.5 dB(A) New BIOS | 39.2 dB(A) Throttling52.9 dB(A) New BIOS |
Sapphire R9 280X Toxic OC | 32.2 dB(A) | 43.4 dB(A) | 48.8 dB(A) |
Sapphire R9 280X Vapor-X OC | 32.7 dB(A) | 46.1 dB(A) | 56.8 dB(A) |
Fan RPM
The number of fans, fan diameter, and fan rotational speed all play big roles in determining each card’s noise level. We’re showing the curve for every board separately to keep things from getting cluttered. Diagrams for cards that have received a BIOS update sport more than one curve.