Quote Originally Posted by Manicdan View Post
the size of the PCB can tell you about how big the heatsink is. the thermal efficiency is not increasing much for gpus with a given size since they are already using heat pipes and copper fins. if this gpu is just like a 5850 (150W draw in games, and the same size) we can be pretty sure its going to be about the same noise. then look at the 5870, a little bigger, and draws 221W peak (still has only 6+6 pin) and is much louder.

so if this new card is smaller than a 5870, but draws more than a 5870, then it will be loud as hell. and when i refer to the PCB, i dont care about layers, i care about length.
There is much more to thermal efficiency than heatpipes and copper fins. Radial fan blade orientation and bending alone will have big impact on noise levels and maximum pressure generated by the fan, fin density and thickness, exhaust holes in the backplate, vapour chamber base in the heatsink etc. They all play a role, one could argue that they play a small role. But what I've understood AMD has been using the cheapest possible cooling solution, the fan dating back to HD2900 series, no more than 4 years old and far from the most efficient blade design. It's not like they're at limits in this regard, they can improve the noise levels and cooling efficiency if they want to, but it isn't as cheap then.