Are you one of those weird people who like their graphics cards with poop-colored fans? Noctua has some great news for you then, as the company has confirmed that its recent collaboration with ASUS, the GeForce RTX 3070 Noctua Edition, is unlikely to be its last.
Noctua was recently asked by a fan whether a GeForce RTX 3080 Ti with Noctua fans might be on the drawing board, and while the company declined to provide any specifics on that, it did confirm that it would be interested in creating more special-edition cards with ASUS in the future.
We do aim to create further cards in collaboration with @Asus, stay tuned! 😉
— Noctua (@Noctua_at) March 21, 2022
ASUS and Noctua announced their baby, the ASUS GeForce RTX 3070 Noctua Edition graphics card, in October 2021. According to a press release that Noctua had shared, this is one of the quietest GeForce RTX 3070 models on the market thanks to the Austrian cooling company’s NF-A12x25 fans, which enable operation as low as 12.6dB(A).
ASUS and Noctua announce ASUS GeForce RTX 3070 Noctua Edition graphics card (Noctua)
Measured side by side, the improvements of the Noctua Edition are substantial with a massive reduction in noise levels of 15dB(A) at medium fan speeds and 9dB(A) at maximum fan speeds. When used in cases with good ventilation and at moderate ambient temperatures of 24°C or lower, the card will keep its fans at very low speeds even at 100% GPU load. In such a typical setting, the Noctua Edition achieves a reduction in noise levels of 5.7dB(A) as compared to the standard version. Registering at only 12.6dB(A), it is not only quiet but near inaudible. This enables customers with well-ventilated cases and moderate ambient temperatures to play games or run other GPU intensive tasks in almost complete silence.
The GeForce RTX 3070 Noctua Edition features a semi-passive fan control setup (ASUS 0dB technology) that can switch the fans off completely whenever the GPU temperature goes below 50°C. This means that in typical configurations with low to moderate ambient temperatures and well-ventilated cases, the card can run entirely fanless at lower GPU loads such as during office productivity tasks, web browsing, or even light gaming. Even at high GPU loads such as during gaming or benchmarking, the fan speeds will stay extremely low as long as the ambient temperature inside the case isn’t excessive.
The combination of semi-passive functionality, extremely low noise levels even in GPU-intensive tasks and the possibility of setting custom fan curves via ASUS’ GPU Tweak software also makes the ASUS GeForce RTX 3070 Noctua Edition an ideal companion for Noctua’s NH-P1 passive cooler paired with the NF-A12x25 LS-PWM fan for semi-passive operation. Combining these products in a suitable case makes it easy to build a system that will run completely fanless in typical productivity tasks and only relies on ultra-quiet fans for situations when extra GPU or CPU power are required, such as gaming or video editing.
In sum, the ASUS GeForce GeForce RTX 3070 Noctua Edition is the ideal card for quiet cooling enthusiasts who demand serious GPU performance without sacrificing quietness of operation.