ATI Radeon X800XL Help

brianss · Post by **brianss** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 6:20 am

Can anyone tell me the sound characteristics of the retail ATI Radeon X800XL video card and the PowerColor X800XL card? I'm looking for a video card that is not exceedingly loud and on the quiet side. I'm not sure if the fans are regulated or quiet. Thanks!

GrahamGarside · Post by **GrahamGarside** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 7:57 am

I do believe the fan speed varies, but the stock cooling on radeons is far from silent, though not as bad As an X850XT or 6800Ultra it will still be audible and prominant. HIS do a version with an Arctic Cooling ATI silencer, this will be quieter than a stock cooler, and also a better cooler.

Atragon · Post by **Atragon** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 1:39 pm

The X800XL is a good card, just get an aftermarket cooler and you should be laughing.

nici · Post by **nici** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 8:46 am

The reference cooler is loud, the fan is big enough so its a high volume woosh not a high-pithced whine that smaller fans generate but definately too loud anyway.

Swapping for a aftermarket cooler is honestly pretty easy, but if you really dont want to do that then HIS does a version with Silencer. as mentioned, and Sapphire makes a "Ultimate" version with a Zalman VF700 cooler.

Atragon · Post by **Atragon** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 12:21 pm

No, I have no issues swapping HSFs on a video card, just wanted some input as to which one to get, now that I've got my motherboard (a nice new Lanparty Ultra-D), and the HSF for the CPU (XP-120), I can definately see that the Aerocool wouldn't fit, but I believe that a Zalman ZM80-D may fit.

However, I'm not sure if the Zalman would be enough to cool an X800XL passively. Or if I should go for an ATI silencer or a VF700.

brianss · Post by **brianss** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 6:27 pm

Should I expect the same noise levels from the 3rd party cards, like PowerColor and Sapphire? I have had my eye on the PowerColor X800XL for some time now. Some reviewers said that the PowerColor card is not bad in regards to sound and is fairly quiet. Since I won't be gaming that much, more for graphic and video work, I'm hoping that the fan will be regulated and therefore, stay on a low sound level.

grahamstewart · Post by **grahamstewart** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 1:30 pm

You might also want to check out the SilentPipe X800XL from Gigabyte - mentioned in this thread.