Discussion Which is quieter - one fan or two?

[Harry_Wild]

I been researching buy a new Nvidia low profile GeForce GTX GDRR5 4GB 1050 TI card. I am going to be using it as a graphic accelerator card, to speed up my web surfing, video streaming, etc... No gaming. I have a Intel 4790 with 16GB DDR3 @2100, 1TB Samsung 860 EVO SATA3 SSD in a Lenovo Thinkstation P300 SFF PC.

It has come down to two cards:

1.
Gigabyte


2.
MSI

Which of these two would be quieter at idle and under some load like webpage browsing with photos embedded?

 

[UsandThem]

Generally two fans will always be quieter, but it comes down to other things like what the heatsink is like under the fans. Some are very thin and only have a single heat pipe. In cases like that, the fans have to spin at higher RPMs to keep temps down.

That said, a 1050ti is not a hot GPU, so a large heatsink is not needed like on hotter cards. Many cards also have the fans stop when the GPU is under 60 degrees, so they would likely only come on during gaming sessions. That's probably the feature you want whatever card you end up buying to have.

 

[Harry_Wild]

Generally two fans will always be quieter, but it comes down to other things like what the heatsink is like under the fans. Some are very thin and only have a single heat pipe. In cases like that, the fans have to spin at higher RPMs to keep temps down.

That said, a 1050ti is not a hot GPU, so a large heatsink is not needed like on hotter cards. Many cards also have the fans stop when the GPU is under 60 degrees, so they would likely only come on during gaming sessions. That's probably the feature you want whatever card you end up buying to have.

Thanks for the reply. Nvidia decide to take out the no fan at idle feature found in standard size cards.☹️

I did read the the Gigabyte LP has a massive heat sink over it single fan.

All of the LP models, the fan is continuous running.

My thought was to buy the two fan version but two fans in generally speaking produce two times the sound. But then two fans cool more then one fan, so when it needs cooling, two fans cool more and need to run less on high then a single fan.

More opinions please! LOL!

 

[Harry_Wild]

Link->Study found one fan is superior in being quiet!

Interesting!

 

[UsandThem]

Study found one fan is superior in being quiet!

Interesting!

The quietest is when the fans don't spin at all.

And I would point out if one fan GPUs were the coolest/quietest, people would only buy the blower style. Since you say you don't game at all, it really makes sense for you to buy a model that doesn't need its fan to run all the time.

I've had many different cards though, and it comes down to what I mentioned in my first response. For example, EVGA makes a couple single fan GTX 1060 cards. You have to look at them close, but the cheaper of the two has less metal and heat pipes, so its single fan has to work harder and faster to cool the card. The step-up model has a much better heatsink, and lower temps with a fan that doesn't have to work as hard.

 

[Harry_Wild]

The quietest is when the fans don't spin at all.

And I would point out if one fan GPUs were the coolest/quietest, people would only buy the blower style. Since you say you don't game at all, it really makes sense for you to buy a model that doesn't need its fan to run all the time.

I've had many different cards though, and it comes down to what I mentioned in my first response. For example, EVGA makes a couple single fan GTX 1060 cards. You have to look at them close, but the cheaper of the two has less metal and heat pipes, so its single fan has to work harder and faster to cool the card. The step-up model has a much better heatsink, and lower temps with a fan that doesn't have to work as hard.

Nvidia did not want the LP 1050s to have the same capabilities of the regular size models to turn of the fan if not needed. The fan on the LP are always running!

I was going to upgrade to a GT 1030 fan less card, but most people here felt it was not a good move. It is 2.5 X faster the the Intel HD4600 IGP.

 

[UsandThem]

Nvidia did not want the LP 1050s to have the same capabilities of the regular size models to turn of the fan if not needed. The fan on the LP are always running!

I was going to upgrade to a GT 1030 fan less card, but most people here felt it was not a good move. It is 2.5 X faster the the Intel HD4600 IGP.

Maybe it's just the low-profile cards that don't have that feature, as all the companies offer the "fan stop" feature on many of their normal profile cards:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814137060&ignorebbr=1

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125915&ignorebbr=1

 

[Harry_Wild]

Maybe it's just the low-profile cards that don't have that feature, as all the companies offer the "fan stop" feature on many of their normal profile cards:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814137060&ignorebbr=1

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125915&ignorebbr=1

Yeah, it really sucks too, since the low profile models sell at a $25-$40 premium over the normal profile cards with the same memories on board.

 

[ZGR]

Don't get a card with 1 fan unless it sips power. Even a 1060 needs a dual fan open air shroud to be near silent under heavy load.

For a 1050 ti, I'd go with the dual fan model as well unless space constrained.

For browsing the web, even a 1030 won't run past idle. Having a card that turns its fans off is really nice, especially in this use case. 1 fan or 2 fans doesn't matter in this scenario.

What really matters is the size of the fan. Having a tiny blower fan on a GPU is really loud.

 

[Harry_Wild]

Maybe it's just the low-profile cards that don't have that feature, as all the companies offer the "fan stop" feature on many of their normal profile cards:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814137060&ignorebbr=1

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125915&ignorebbr=1

Thanks, but I need a low profile size card for a Lenovo sff Thinkstation.

 

[Harry_Wild]

Don't get a card with 1 fan unless it sips power. Even a 1060 needs a dual fan open air shroud to be near silent under heavy load.

For a 1050 ti, I'd go with the dual fan model as well unless space constrained.

For browsing the web, even a 1030 won't run past idle. Having a card that turns its fans off is really nice, especially in this use case. 1 fan or 2 fans doesn't matter in this scenario.

What really matters is the size of the fan. Having a tiny blower fan on a GPU is really loud.

This article examine both conditions: https://us.hardware.info/reviews/73...d-up-htpc-cards-noise-levels-and-temperatures

 

[ZGR]

This article examine both conditions: https://us.hardware.info/reviews/73...d-up-htpc-cards-noise-levels-and-temperatures

The fastest card I have gotten to use for the 10 generation with 1 fan is an EVGA 1060 and it was painfully loud. The 1050 ti will use a lot less power, so I think the issue isn't something I'd worry about.

The last single fan card I purchased for myself was a GT 6800 from EVGA and it was the loudest part in my computer.

For what you plan on using a 1050 ti for, I would get whichever one can turn its fans off, as its fans should be off most of the time for what you plan on using it for.

The quietest GPU I have ever owned (when gaming) is actually the R9 290 Tri-X which ironically is the card that consumes the most amount of power by a significant amount. That is because it has 3 massive fans that spin at a low RPM.

 

[UsandThem]

Yeah, it really sucks too, since the low profile models sell at a $25-$40 premium over the normal profile cards with the same memories on board.

Thanks, but I need a low profile size card for a Lenovo sff Thinkstation.

I think we already talked about that a few posts back.

 

[amenx]

"Which is quieter - one fan or two?" - Too many variables, but its not the number of fans unless the fans were running at the same speed and were the same size. In that scenario, of course one fan will be quieter. But one fan, in order to achieve same cooling performance as 2 fans on same card & heat sink, MUST run faster, and therefore may tend to be louder. In difference scenarios, ie, case fans, one large fan will tend to be quieter than 2 smaller ones, because it can move more air at lower speeds. In GPUs, different heats sinks, ie, copper vs aluminum + heat pipes and/or other design variables basically makes the question of 1 fan vs 2 basically meaningless.

 

[Harry_Wild]

Quietness is a primary feature for me when I look at PC components. The fact that Nvidia did not include the fan stop feature as in the normal 1050 TI; kind of was a major deterrent in buying this low profile card.

 

[Jaskalas]

My Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 Mini ITX OC 6GB seems quiet enough for me. Obviously that is subjective.

It has a fan off feature, but I find there are too often moments on the edge of its on/off state where the software starts / stops the fan every single second. Making for one annoying click noise AND no doubt adding a lot of wear and tear to the hardware. So anytime I hear it start to kick on and off during light use, I enable a custom profile in the software to force the fan on.

 

[Harry_Wild]

My Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 Mini ITX OC 6GB seems quiet enough for me. Obviously that is subjective.

It has a fan off feature, but I find there are too often moments on the edge of its on/off state where the software starts / stops the fan every single second. Making for one annoying click noise AND no doubt adding a lot of wear and tear to the hardware. So anytime I hear it start to kick on and off during light use, I enable a custom profile in the software to force the fan on.

My case is a sff and needs not only low profile but short length card around 7" long. I am limited in my choices here.