Power, Temperature and Noise
Logs do show a board power of around 240W, which is considered normal for an overclocked RTX 3070.
All the previous benchmarks merely serve as sanity checks. The difference between the fastest and slower RTX 3070 is likely to be no more than five per cent.
The Noctua-designed cooler destroys all other cards in this line-up. Oftentimes we say that manufacturers don't take adequate notice of the balance between form factor, noise and temperature, but here they do.
Question is: can it be ever so cool and oh so quiet?
Question answered.
Our logs show it takes a few minutes for the two large fans to actuate when gaming. Even then, they move up the rpm scale slowly and predictably. After 15 minutes of gaming load, with the card ensconced in a regular chassis, the maximum spin rate is just 800rpm, compared with 1,500-2,000rpm for rivals touting a trio of smaller fans.
We'd actually go further and optimise the fan curve to allow for another 5-10°C of temperature. Doing so means the spin-rate can be reduced to a near-inaudible 650-700rpm.
These Noctuas run so slowly, in fact, that you can just about make out the fan-blades when peering into the chassis. Put simply, this is the quietest high-end card we've tested.
