Noise measurement
We want to shed some analytical light on the system noise levels generated when high-end cards are installed. To this end, we're using a PCE-318 noise meter placed at the front of a Corsair Obsidian 700D chassis that has the side panel on and card(s) screwed in. Only the test system is running in a quiet room with a sound floor of 28dB. Decibel readings are noted for idle, load (COD: Black Ops) and super-load (FurMark) after 10 minutes have elapsed.
You can't hear either Cayman card over the quiet system fans.
As we mentioned on page 17, AMD has tuned the Radeon HD 6970/6950 fans to keep noise at a minimum, at the direct expense of GPU heat. We can manually increase the fan speed to 100 per cent, translating to a Delta fan-like 62.2dB rating.
Again, the fans' profile is set to keep noise to a minimum. Whatever else we say about Cayman, the cooler's damn good.
