Quote Originally Posted by Sushi Warrior View Post
Look over at the EVGA forums, everyone who has one says it is quieter than a GTX280 and it also maxes out at ~85-90C furmark (retail cards have different fan curves in the BIOS).
This post pretty much covers the fan noise

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?&m=288625&mpage=1#

"See post 2"

"How this translates into real world differences, again, you'll end up seeing the GTX 480 fan spins at a higher RPM at a similar % fan duty cycle compared to the 280. Up to ~80% there is very little difference in fan noise, but compared at 100%, the 480 is without a doubt louder with a higher pitch than the 280 fan.

You can see the difference in RPM clearly set at the same fan duty cycle % both set at 70%
280 = 2266RPM
480 = 3003RPM "

Higher RPM means more vibz he does add that around 70%-80% the GTX 480 noise lvl is similar to GTX 280 but then again GTX 280 was loud. It was GTX 285 that was easier on the ears.
GTX480 already has much better minimum frame rates than 5870, I would love to see how it compares to CF'd 5770's.
In extrema tessellation bench 5770 CF min fps was better than 5870's just search my "Thread started"
Well then, if you use an open bench and don't own a 120mm fan (or any fans) then by all means go for a 5870. Yes, it is quieter and cooler but the GTX480 isn't starting forest fires and does not sound like a vaccum.
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Its very hard to say how it sounds like small fans are never a good idea, ATi did it with 2900 and it was bad... The need for higher RPM's is needed because GTX 480 is a hot card by nature "Nvidia said its meant to operate at high temps"