- Review -

20.10.2021 techPowerUp.com

ASUS GeForce RTX 3070 Noctua Edition graphics card

Noise levels of the RTX 3070 Noctua are so impressive I had to double check that the fans were really spinning because I couldn't hear the graphics card at all even while running heavy gaming workloads at 4K. With 23.1 dBA, the card is truly whisper-quiet, and has set a new record. I've reviewed over 700 graphics cards in the last 15 years, and none was as quiet as the RTX 3070 Noctua. You could argue that the few passively cooled cards on the market are quieter, but these play in a completely different league performance-wise. While low noise levels usually mean high temperatures, this is not the case with the RTX 3070 Noctua. Thanks to a huge quad-slot cooling design, the heatsink can easily handle the heat output of the RTX 3070 GPU—temperatures are as low as 66°C while fully loaded, and almost inaudible. These results are with the "quiet" BIOS, which is the default setting, unlike all other ASUS graphics cards using the "Performance" setting by default. Personally, I feel like making the "quiet" BIOS the default is the better choice, as the thermal and performance differences are negligible on most cards. It's similar here. With the "Performance" BIOS activated, the card reached 60°C instead of 66°C—besides the number, there is no difference. Noise levels go up a bit, to 26 dBA, which is still very quiet. As expected, idle-fan stop is supported by the ASUS RTX 3070 Noctua. The fans will stop in idle, light gaming, productivity and Internet browsing for the perfect noise-free experience.

"Unbelievably quiet—quietest graphics card we ever tested" (techPowerUp.com)