ASUS RTX 3070 Noctua Edition: ugly, huge but extremely quiet

ASUS and Noctua they unveiled the ASUS GeForce RTX 3070 Noctua Edition, the first video card equipped with Noctua fans (two 120 mm NF-A12x25 instead of three 92 mm) and a heatsink that the Taiwanese company has engineered together with the Austrian company. All together occupa ben 4,3 slot on the motherboard.

According to the two companies, the Noctua Edition’s heatsink allows you to reduce noise by up to 15 dB (A) with fans spinning at medium speed and up to 9 db (A) with fans at maximum rpm compared to a “standard” RTX 3070 that Noctua identifies, in a press release, such as ASUS ‘TUF Gaming model.

“When used in homes with good ventilation and moderate ambient temperatures of 24 ° C or lower, the card keeps its fans at very low speeds even with the GPU under 100% load. In that typical configuration, the Noctua Edition reduces noise by 5.7 dB (A) compared to the standard version with a 4 ° C reduction in GPU temperature. At just 12.6 dB (A), it’s not only quiet but almost inaudible“says Noctua.

As also reported in one of the graphs you see below, the Noctua Edition is over 9 db (A) quieter than TUF Gaming while maintaining a 1 ° C lower GPU temperature.

The ASUS RTX 3070 Noctua Edition is equipped with dual BIOS which allows you to switch from a profile with fans that spin faster to reduce GPU temperatures (at the expense of the acoustic profile) to a quieter one (which trades a few more degrees on the GPU for less noise). The latter is the default profile.

Like other ASUS video cards, the RTX 3070 Noctua Edition also has semi-passive fans with 0dB technology that keeps them steady below 50 ° C. To complete everything we find the ASUS GPU Tweak III software which, in a future beta version, will allow you to act on the fan curve and even practice the undervolt, thus allowing the card to operate even more silently thanks to the reduction in temperatures.

Of this card there is a version with reference frequencies (Boost Clock a 1725 MHz in Gaming mode e 1755 MHz in OC mode) ma anche una OC Edition which operates in Gaming mode at 1815 MHz (Boost Clock) and at 1845 MHz in OC mode (always Boost Clock). Neither Noctua nor ASUS have communicated the price of the two cards.