Galax RTX 5070 Ti HoF (Hall of Fame) review – To the top with a monster board?

1 - Introduction, overview and technical specifications 2 - Test system and equipment 3 - Teardown: PCB and components 4 - Teardown: Cooling system 5 - Teardown: Material analysis and TIM 6 - Benchmarks: gaming performance 7 - Power consumption, transients, PSU recommendation 8 - Clock rates and overclocking 9 - Temperatures and thermal imaging 10 - Fan curves and noise with audio samples 11 - Summary and conclusion

Fan speeds

The two diagrams show very clearly how the fan control of the Galax RTX 5070 Ti HoF works in gaming and OC mode and what role the different fan sizes play in this. There are two 100 mm fans and a central 90 mm fan on the card. The smaller fan naturally achieves a higher speed because it has to rotate faster with the same air flow rate and offers a higher maximum final speed, but has the same percentage PWM control. In gaming mode, the 90 mm fan stabilizes at around 1680 rpm, while the 100 mm fans operate at around 1430 to 1450 rpm. This difference is typical, as the controller balances the air flow rate and thermal effect rather than the speed.

In OC mode, the picture is almost identical, although the speeds are slightly higher and stabilize somewhat differently. The 90 mm fan continues to operate in the range of 1650 to 1670 rpm, while the 100 mm fan stabilizes at just over 1450 rpm. The difference is small, but reproducible.

It can be explained by the higher clock stability in OC mode, which leads to a more even, albeit slightly warmer, development of waste heat. As the GPU runs at a higher offset in OC mode and the load peaks therefore fluctuate less strongly, the fan control also runs less aggressively, but counteracts this with a small increase in speed.

It can therefore be seen that the fan control reacts somewhat more variably in gaming mode, while OC mode produces slightly higher but more stable speeds. The combination of 90 mm and 100 mm fans ensures that the entire cooler surface is evenly supplied with air, with the smaller fan specifically covering the middle area with the GPU socket and hotspot. This concept can also be seen in the previously considered temperature measurements: the Galax card remains comparatively evenly tempered even under high load, which in turn has a positive effect on the clock rates and the noise characteristics.

Operating noise (“volume”)

The measurements in the acoustic chamber show that the noise development depends significantly on the fan speed. Let us now take a look at the two individual measurements. The two spectra below come from the acoustic measurements with Smaart and each show the noise profile of the Galax RTX 5070 Ti HoF in gaming and OC mode. In gaming mode, the overall level is around 36.5 dBA. The spectral distribution shows a fairly broad plateau between around 250 Hz and 2 kHz, which is typical for the air turbulence of the two axial fans of different sizes. A small peak can also be clearly seen in the range around 250 Hz, which indicates a slight resonance in the flow behavior. The spectrogram below shows a largely uniform picture, which means that the noise remains broadband but without any strongly prominent individual noises. Accordingly, the card sounds rather inconspicuous in gaming mode and is not perceived as annoyingly shrill or whistling, but instead produces a uniform noise.

The accompanying MP3 recording confirms this impression: the sound is broadband and relatively pleasant, you can hear the card, but it remains acoustically neutral.

In OC mode, the sound pressure level remains at a similar level of around 36.4 dBA, but the spectrum changes slightly. Between 500 Hz and 2 kHz there are stronger increases, which indicate a higher fan speed. At the same time, several narrow-band peaks are visible in the upper spectrum range above 4 kHz. These can typically be attributed to bearing noise or interference in the fan drive. The spectrogram shows that these tones do not occur continuously, but intermittently, which subjectively makes the sound somewhat less smooth.

The MP3 recording also confirms this impression: while the background noise remains similar, quiet but perceptible tonal components are occasionally mixed in, making the overall sound spectrum appear somewhat rougher.

The conclusion is that the Galax HoF is relatively pleasant acoustically in gaming mode despite its high performance and only produces a broadband noise. In OC mode, the sound pattern shifts due to the slightly different speeds and the additional tonal components, making the noise spectrum more restless and slightly more stressful. For continuous operation, the gaming mode should therefore be the acoustically more pleasant choice, even if the differences in the sound pressure level are nominally barely measurable.

The only thing that is always annoying is the coil noise, but this is only noticeable because it is not completely covered by the fans. Unfortunately, there are no completely noiseless coils, especially as certain manufacturing tolerances cannot be ruled out even with these higher-quality components. A bit of lottery is also involved, unfortunately.