A local retailer finally got some of the EVGA GTX 460's in stock, so I picked up the vanilla 1GB EE version on the weekend. Mine runs quiet at 40% idle speed, however, if you juice up the fan to 60% or more using Precision, you can really hear it.
As a few others have posted, I kept my PC running and took the side panel off my case and placed my finger in different locations around the shroud when it was at 60% and 70% fan speed. The noise practically disappeared in a couple of those spots, and it seems like the noise is being generated by vibration or something against the shroud. With the card removed from the computer, you can give the blower fan a little flick with the finger and you can see some wobble in the fan as it spins, so it's definately not a great quality blower on this one.
Right now, I'm running
Folding@Home, GPU is at 100% load, and with the fan set to auto it is only at 46% fanspeed, with GPU temp at 67 degrees C. At 46% the fan is not noisy at all, and this is with the side panel of my case removed. My ambient room temp is 23 degrees C.
If you're going to run stock clocks, (or even the 720/1440 with FPB) with the fan on auto, then you're probably not going to notice the noise. It's only those wanting to overclock past 720 and ramp up the fan speed manually to 70% (or to 100% with FPB), that are going to be disappointed in the noise.
I have 3 computers in my house (me, my son, and one for my wife/daugther) and all have EVGA mobo's and video cards. Do I like the idea of External Exhaust, yes. Did I want an EVGA card, yes. Did I want the noise, no, but I had to check it out for myself. Should I have waited for the 1GB reference model? Probably (presuming that it is indeed coming).
I haven't applied the FPB yet, as I still have 3 days to decide if I want to keep this card or return it in exchange for a 1GB model with a quieter (but internally exhausting) fan system, like the Gigabyte. For now, I've jury-rigged a piece of cardboard and wedged it between the shroud and the floor of my case, and that helps a lot to quiet it down at 70% fan speed.
I hope EVGA takes some time to look at this issue, cuz if you peek at Newegg.ca's website, there's a lot more happy customers posting in the comments section of the Gigabyte 1GB model than any of the EVGA EE cards.
Just my 2 cents.