Aftermarket cards; One fan or two fans, which is quieter

[Deleted]

Hey,
So i was today in a hardware shop, i got the following answer from a owner of the shop who is selling stuff for years.
"One fan produce less noise then 2 fans" is that really accurate ?
Two fans that work with around 1000 rpm = 2x 1000rpm = 2000 rpm overall.
One fan that work with 1400 rpm = 1400 rpm overall
When i look this sheet it really makes sense, but is it really true ?
The card i am considering buying are Gigabyte 1050ti single fan or G1 Gaming 1050ti.
Is that really true or am i getting it wrong ?
Thanks for the info,
Cheers,

[Deleted]

My 1080 from MSI is double fan and you can't even hear it with the case opened on the side. You run double fan incase of overheating and better airflow (If your case is decently decked with fans).
If both fans run at 1kRPM then they would still be more silent than one running at 1.4kRPM, it would be way more noticeable when you run games that requires a lot of GPU power which powers up your single fan to extreme RPM's, but on a card with 2 fans you'd experience way less noise since they don't need to spin at such high RPM's.

More fans also gives you more headroom for overclocking and less heat at idle levels, at the cost of a little more watt going out.

[Fascinate]

^what he said, its all about the RPM. Generally anything 1k or lower is inaudible, if you are curious check out techpowerup they do detailed noise reviews on cards. If its too loud you can always set custom fan curves with software (msi afterburner, evga precision etc).

[Deleted]

My 1080 from MSI is double fan and you can't even hear it with the case opened on the side. You run double fan incase of overheating and better airflow (If your case is decently decked with fans).
If both fans run at 1kRPM then they would still be more silent than one running at 1.4kRPM, it would be way more noticeable when you run games that requires a lot of GPU power which powers up your single fan to extreme RPM's, but on a card with 2 fans you'd experience way less noise since they don't need to spin at such high RPM's.

More fans also gives you more headroom for overclocking and less heat at idle levels, at the cost of a little more watt going out.

Yes but doesn't rpm combine, i mean one fan works with 1000 rpm another works with 1000 rpm so that is 2000 rpm in total.

[Fascinate]

Yes but doesn't rpm combine, i mean one fan works with 1000 rpm another works with 1000 rpm so that is 2000 rpm in total.

Nope you are thinking about it the wrong way, the noise mostly comes from the bearings.

[Deleted]

Yes but doesn't rpm combine, i mean one fan works with 1000 rpm another works with 1000 rpm so that is 2000 rpm in total.

Nope, read Fascinate's reply.

[Deleted]

Nope you are thinking about it the wrong way, the noise mostly comes from the bearings.

So the noise comes mostly from physical "damage" from the fans, and not how many rpm you have.

[Fascinate]

Well i guess lol. There are two kinds of noise a fan can make one is from the physical connection the bearings have when rubbing against each other, and the other is far less noticeable wind noise. The wind noise can get worse or have a different pitch depending on the material that is in front of or behind the fans but that has to do more with case fans or heatsink fans.

There is no review of the single fan card but the dual fan card is very quiet, only 27db under load:
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/...Gaming/28.html

[Deleted]

So the noise comes mostly from physical "damage" from the fans, and not how many rpm you have.

Depending on the fan, the motor and the bearings. My GPU can be sitting at 100% and ofcourse you can hear when it spins up, but the only audible noise is the increased airflow it's cycling through.

Aslong as the fans on the double GPU haven't been downscaled in size to fit on the card, then you'd always favor 2 fans over 1.

[Deleted]

Well i guess lol. There are two kinds of noise a fan can make one is from the physical connection the bearings have when rubbing against each other, and the other is far less noticeable wind noise. The wind noise can get worse or have a different pitch depending on the material that is in front of or behind the fans but that has to do more with case fans or heatsink fans.

There is no review of the single fan card but the dual fan card is very quiet, only 27db under load:
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/...Gaming/28.html

It is very hard to belive that is has only 27 db because on 1060 gigabyte gaming/windforce is around 37 db.

[Deleted]

Wow. Gratz OP for sounding as thick as pig shit! Go team you lol....

Infracted - Mythbredor

[Arbiter]

Yes but doesn't rpm combine, i mean one fan works with 1000 rpm another works with 1000 rpm so that is 2000 rpm in total.

That's not how noise works. It doesn't necessarily multiply linearly. If you have one source of noise at a level of 30dB and then add another source of noise next to it equivalent to 30dB, it doesn't mean you're going to hear twice as much noise. It's louder, but not necessarily double the noise.

Now as far as determining the noise of a fan, it's based on a few factors. Bearings, fan speed, and fan size for example. A 180mm fan at 1000RPM isn't the same as a 120mm fan running at the same RPMs. Of course the type of bearings matters as well. You have to also consider that 1 fan is going to be working harder to cool a piece of hardware down as much as 2 fans a lower rpm would. This is one reason why reference coolers are typically louder.

Now to answer you're question, the single fan card is likely just a shorter version. Probably cheaper and slightly lower clock speeds. The two fan version is likely the better model and is also likely going to cool the card down better which in turn leads to lower RPMs which leads to lower noise output. I don't know which exact cards you're referring to so I'm just assuming, but my assumption is typically the case with cards. The 1050ti is also a pretty low powered card so it's not going to be particularly difficult to cool anyways so either one is probably going to be fairly quiet.

- - - Updated - - -

It is very hard to belive that is has only 27 db because on 1060 gigabyte gaming/windforce is around 37 db.

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/...Gaming/25.html

You're probably looking at a measurement taken from the closest distance to the card. Useless measurement considering no one has their inside their case when sitting at the desk. The measurements from that site are taken from a typical distance one might be from the PC during use. That or you're looking at max fan speed dB, but a GPU's default fan curve wouldn't put the fans at max RPMs during full load.

[Deleted]

That's not how noise works. It doesn't necessarily multiply linearly. If you have one source of noise at a level of 30dB and then add another source of noise next to it equivalent to 30dB, it doesn't mean you're going to hear twice as much noise. It's louder, but not necessarily double the noise.

Now as far as determining the noise of a fan, it's based on a few factors. Bearings, fan speed, and fan size for example. A 180mm fan at 1000RPM isn't the same as a 120mm fan running at the same RPMs. Of course the type of bearings matters as well. You have to also consider that 1 fan is going to be working harder to cool a piece of hardware down as much as 2 fans a lower rpm would. This is one reason why reference coolers are typically louder.

Now to answer you're question, the single fan card is likely just a shorter version. Probably cheaper and slightly lower clock speeds. The two fan version is likely the better model and is also likely going to cool the card down better which in turn leads to lower RPMs which leads to lower noise output. I don't know which exact cards you're referring to so I'm just assuming, but my assumption is typically the case with cards. The 1050ti is also a pretty low powered card so it's not going to be particularly difficult to cool anyways so either one is probably going to be fairly quiet.

- - - Updated - - -



https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/...Gaming/25.html

You're probably looking at a measurement taken from the closest distance to the card. Useless measurement considering no one has their inside their case when sitting at the desk. The measurements from that site are taken from a typical distance one might be from the PC during use. That or you're looking at max fan speed dB, but a GPU's default fan curve wouldn't put the fans at max RPMs during full load.

1st it makes sense , thanks.

2nd I know this video isn't in english https://youtu.be/3tOTOyqLsig?t=8m18s , but you can clearly see the noise of g1/windforce it isn't in the 20's.

[Fascinate]

1st it makes sense , thanks.

2nd I know this video isn't in english https://youtu.be/3tOTOyqLsig?t=8m18s , but you can clearly see the noise of g1/windforce it isn't in the 20's.

That's a 1060 bro....

A 1050ti has only a 75w tdp compared to 120w for the 1060, thus the fans have to spin faster for the 1060. Gonna have to agree with someone else in this thread, you are pretty dense.

[Alantor]

Yes but doesn't rpm combine, i mean one fan works with 1000 rpm another works with 1000 rpm so that is 2000 rpm in total.

Sound is measured in decibel (dB), that is, a logarithmic scale. So you can't say that the noise of a 1000 rpm fan plus the noise of another 1000 rpm fan is equal to the noise of a 2000 rpm fan, in fact is much less. To add several sound sources it would something like 10xLog(10^(S1/10)+10^(S2/10)+...)

ie: S1=120 dB, S2=120dB, ST=10*Log(10^12+10^12)=123dB

[Arbiter]

1st it makes sense , thanks.

2nd I know this video isn't in english https://youtu.be/3tOTOyqLsig?t=8m18s , but you can clearly see the noise of g1/windforce it isn't in the 20's.

It's sitting out in the open with a mic sitting extremely close. That isn't a typical set up. The average consumer will have the card in a closed case sitting at least a few feet away.

Not sure why you're even trying to disagree and make debates on facts. You asked for help and people are trying to give it to you. I even specifically stated where the dB in the 20's was probably coming from. Linking a video of the complete opposite situation isn't proving anything.

Do you intend on having a your card on a bench setup sitting less than a foot from your ear?

Not that the 1060 is even relevant to your question as you're talking about a much more power efficient 1050ti, but either way unless you plan on having that kind of set up next to your ear then what you're trying to prove is completely irrelevant. Also, I don't speak that language but it almost seems like he's testing the fans at 100% speed. I already mentioned that default fan curves don't typically use 100% fan speeds.

[ldev]

Yes but doesn't rpm combine, i mean one fan works with 1000 rpm another works with 1000 rpm so that is 2000 rpm in total.

Invest in some books instead of computer, you really need some smarts...

Infracted - Mythbredor

[Mythbredor]

Let's please keep the discussion civil and avoid flaming other users.

[apepi]

Rule of thumb is two small fans are quieter than one large fan going fast.

[Nasukkin]

"which is quieter"

1. Depends on the brands involved.

2. Brand aside, 1 fan will always be quieter than 2. That's basic physics for you. Adding a fan won't ever make it quieter.