yes, its loud, yes the stock cooler is horrible, get over it... most "gamers" run so many crappy led fans you probably couldn't hear the card over them. Most guys really concerned with quiet will run aftermarket cooling anyways... With water the card hits around 50c in furmark with a low end water setup and using artic ceramique (dangerden videos) so i'm not so concerned, just very curious about the 200.xx drivers and if they will bring anything worthwhile to the table