When looking at the noise profile and cooling performance of the GTX 1060 Founders Edition, NVIDIA went with a design that is 50% larger than the one used on the GTX 960. This increase in size helps keep the temperatures to a reasonable level on the GTX 1060 Founders Edition. When not set to 100% of the fan speed profile, the GTX 1060 is dead silent while operating. Cranking up the fan speed increases the noise level some, but not to a level that is objectionable. The one gripe I have about the cooling solution is the lack of a window over the cooling solution to maximize the efficiency. My sample did suffer from some blow by, reducing overall thermal performance somewhat.