Gigabyte GeForce GTX 590 review, with a twist

Noise level

And another obvious downside in clocking the board up is a louder fan, whose decibel rating approaches the HD 6990's.

Though the figures are similar, we'd choose the GTX 590 every time if noise was an important criterion in your decision-making process. The GTX 590's fan emits a 'whooshing' sound, whereas the Radeon's is shriller.