Not sure what does reference card means. My computer case is large and especially made for gaming 2+ card setup has many vents and is very cooled down. Well it does come down to fan profile if you look it from that angle. If i had set fan to operate on 60% from 0-60 degrees obviously this problem would be very limited then, BUT those fans on card are so loud, i mean it annoys me out even if i am using headphones, so for that i use 40% fan rate on 0-60 degrees. Its like sitting inside factory if its on 60+%.