6600GT, 6800GT: noise levels and performance

[Tremor]

Hi there.

I've been heavily engrossed in reading reviews for all sorts of computer compoents over the past few days, as I'm looking to perform a complete overall, having been out of the country for a year. My current system is an Athlon XP 2000+, Geforce 4 AGP. Since I'm upgrading to PCIe and an Athlon 64 3500+ Venice, I decided to put some money into buying a decent graphics card as well (previously I've never spent more than £40.00).

Quietening my PC is high on my list of priorities, as you might have guessed. Despite my best efforts, I haven't been able to find a conclusive answer to the issue of noise on graphics cards. I am anxious about passively cooled ones due to the huge temperatures I've seen quoted on various sites. I have an older Zalamn 7000A AlCu that I plan to use on my new CPU (that should be fine, right? With the 3500+ clockspeed..?) I've read you can also buy a similar design for graphics cards, although I'm already spending a fortune on everything else, I'd like to avoid having to modify the graphic card's cooler as well... (Currently my overhaul is about £700.00)

So my questions: Can anyone tell me just how intrusive the 6600GT or 6800GT are (are they about the same in terms of noise levels?) Is there any difference in brand designs for noise level; Leadtek, XFX (etc)?

I'm a 'casual gamer', but I want my new card to be strong enough to last for a while and be able to cope with future 3D games that may be released (I want at least a year's worth of unhindered performance on the latest 3D games - is this unreasonable?) Bearing that in mind, and that I'm not a hardcore overclocker or overly concerned with 'perfect' visuals, so long as the games run smoothly and look acceptable, which would be my better option; 6600GT or 6800GT?

I'm open to other card suggestions, but I had the impression these 2 cards are highly regarded for the price, and that the nvidia cards would be more compatible with my proposed new rig. Check below:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice (Socket 939) - £139.99
Motherboard: Asus A8N SLI Premium - £119.95
Graphics card: Leadtek Geforce 6800 GT 256 DDR3 - £179.95
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint SP2004C SATA2 (200Gig) - £76.50
RAM: GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 Value CAS2.5 - £64.95
DVD Writer: Pioneer DVR A09XL - £39.95
DVD ROM: Asus E616P1 - £14.20
Case: Antec SLK3000B Midi Tower Case - £29.00

All prices from overclockers.co.uk, without VAT, mind.

I have the Zalman cooler as I said, another HDD and a Silenx 14dB PSU (I know the issues some people here have with SilenX; it's unfortunate )


So, I await your feedback. Forgive me if I've missed a simple answer, as I know this topic has been discussed a lot. Any thoughts on the system (especially memory choice - is it a good one?) and any incompatibility issues you can see, please say so ^_^.

[JazzJackRabbit]

Never owned 6600GT so I can't comment on the noise level, but I would imagine it is almost as loud as 6800GT which I own.

The stock 6800 heatsink is extremely loud. Once the drivers load they do drop RPM somewhat, but the noise is still louder than anything in my case. Aftermarket heatsink is a must. From what I heard Leadtek 6800GT is quiter, but still not as quiet as it could have been. So if you don't want to change GPU heatsink leadtek is your best option. If you choose to change heatsink than any card will be alright, you can use either nvsilencer or zalman gpu heatsinks.

Performance wise 6600GT is a very decent performer, in current games with no AA or AF involved it is almost as fast as 6800GT, but if you turn on AA and AF the performance level drops drastically. So it's all about how AA and AF are important to you. However if you want a year of perfect gaming I would suggest going for 6800GT because even on my relatively powerful config 3.0>3.4Ghz P4 and 6800GT>ULTRA FarCry manages to cripple my rig down to 13-15fps on open ground. Really sucks. Also newer games like soon to come out F.E.A.R. average 30fps on 6800ULTRA in 1024/1280 and with no AA and AF involved. So once again the gaming industry has caught up with graphics card manufacturers.

BTW, PCIe 6800GT is relatively expensive, you could do better with PCIe ATI x800XL. I don't know about pricing in the UK, but here in the US pcie x800XL is much cheaper than pcie 6800gt and is almost as good as the latter.

[m0biusAce]

ALL stock coolers on the 6600gt and 6800 are extremely LOUD. And I mean spin at 6000rpm loud. And judging by the fact that you want future-proofing, a 16 pipe card that supports Shader Model 3 is what you need. I was going to reccommend an ATi X800XL but it only supports shader model 2.0.

Anyway, Gigabyte sells these cards with a passive heatpipe cooler.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814125185

Just make sure that you have adaquate airflow around your case with this card, and you should be fine.




And about your RAM, its fine. I have the same RAM . It overclocks to about 224mhz for me. Allows my Athlon64 3000+ to run at 3200+ speeds.

[Varun]

Looks like you have done your research! Nice system you have pieced together.

I'd go with the Gigabyte passive video card (actually I did just this week). I have the 6600GT, it gets warm but nothing too crazy. Several people have had some high temperatures, however if they take apart the heatsink and put some artic silver 5 on the contact areas of the heatsinks and heatpipes, it seems to fix it right up. As the above poster noted you just need some airflow in your case which I am sure you will have.

If you don't like the Gigabyte, get something like an MSI or Leadtek and put the Zalman ZM80D-HP cooler on it. The reason I didn't do this was I figured there was no point voiding my warranty the first day I own a new card.

[bredbored]

All prices from overclockers.co.uk, without VAT, mind.

Reasonable kit.

Have a look around before giving overclockers your money.

I agree it's great to buy the core items from a single supplier. I have bought from them before, but I wouldn't do so now - they have acquired a dismal reputation for customer service should anything go wrong.

http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=4644

[cwl999]

I've just replaced my gigabyte passive 6600gt with the same leaktek 6800gt.

Obviously the 6600gt was silent. I didn't have any heat issue that others have spoken about. My system is a DFI NF4 SLI with a AMD64 3.5, CPU cooled by the big alcu Zalman, NB replace with a purple zalman hedgehog. All stuck in a Sonata with the exhaust stuck at 5V.

The 6800gt's stock cooler is loud (spcr loud) and I've modded with a vf700-alcu. It's now unnoticable.

[Tremor]

Thanks for all the replies so far! I decided to go with the Leadtek 6800GT and rest of the specs I listed, from overclockers.co.uk. Unfortunately, I only read the post about them having a mixed reputation after I had ordered. It's supposed to be next day delivery, so we'll see if that holds true, and hopefully everything will arrive safely. I'll write back on how it goes.

I'll wait and see, but it's likely I'll have to fix that graphics card with the Zalman VF700 Alcu, and I'll probably want another 120mm fan for the front. Can anyone recommend a UK site that sells *both* the Nexus 120mm and VF700 Alcu? Currently I'm stuck on having to order from both quietpc.com and kustompcs.co.uk (they don't stock the Alcu version; at least I couldn't see it...) I've also just realised I probably don't have any thermal compound, at least not brand stuff. Is this a really important area? I know some people swear by the brand compounds for lower temperatures...

Another small question: I assume the Nexus's 37CFM will be adequate for this rig (3500+ under a low RPM Zalman 7000A, which will be pushed hard by games?)

I fiddled with my old system today to see if I couldn't discover why it roared. The Zalman 7000A turned fully down and the SilenX14dB 400W PSU were great after I unplugged two roaring 80mm Coolmaster case fans, claiming each to be 26dB... The HDD was noisier than I expected as well, although I was probably within a metre's distance...

Certainly not cheap to silence a PC is it..? :/


(Since the conversation's diverging, let me know if you'd rather I split this off into new topics. I just figured it convenient to continue here rather than re-introduce the situation.)

[bredbored]

It's supposed to be next day delivery, so we'll see if that holds true, and hopefully everything will arrive safely. I'll write back on how it goes.

The usual complaint is with their treatment of faulty items, not in delivering gear in the first place. So, unless you're unlucky enough to get some dud kit, you should be OK.

Can anyone recommend a UK site that sells *both* the Nexus 120mm and VF700 Alcu? Currently I'm stuck on having to order from both quietpc.com and kustompcs.co.uk (they don't stock the Alcu version; at least I couldn't see it...)

Both those retailers are amenable on the phone. Call Graeme at Kustom on the VF700Alcu and see what he says, since QuietPC (whilst excellent in most areas) don't stock Nexus kit at all AFAIK.

[Ranulfo]

Let us know how noisy that leadtek is. I'm in a similar boat in that I want a card thats fairly future proof but I don't want a screamer loud fan. The albatron ti4800 in my current system is bad enough.

[nbac]

The Leadtek is about as noisy as the VF-700cu at 12V, but performs much worse.

I can only relate to Nvidias GF4x00ti reference cooler, (don't know anything about Albatron 4800)
which produce slightly less noise than Leadtek's HSF.

[Freelancer77]

The VF700-CU is the quietest GPU fan I've come across. At 5v it's exceptional.

As to the card, the performance gap between the 6600GT and 6800GT isn't enough to justify the price difference. Go big or stay home. I'm very happy with the 6600GT.

[merovingian]

Hi there.

I've been heavily engrossed in reading reviews for all sorts of computer compoents over the past few days, as I'm looking to perform a complete overall, having been out of the country for a year. My current system is an Athlon XP 2000+, Geforce 4 AGP. Since I'm upgrading to PCIe and an Athlon 64 3500+ Venice, I decided to put some money into buying a decent graphics card as well (previously I've never spent more than £40.00).

Quietening my PC is high on my list of priorities, as you might have guessed. Despite my best efforts, I haven't been able to find a conclusive answer to the issue of noise on graphics cards. I am anxious about passively cooled ones due to the huge temperatures I've seen quoted on various sites. I have an older Zalamn 7000A AlCu that I plan to use on my new CPU (that should be fine, right? With the 3500+ clockspeed..?) I've read you can also buy a similar design for graphics cards, although I'm already spending a fortune on everything else, I'd like to avoid having to modify the graphic card's cooler as well... (Currently my overhaul is about £700.00)

So my questions: Can anyone tell me just how intrusive the 6600GT or 6800GT are (are they about the same in terms of noise levels?) Is there any difference in brand designs for noise level; Leadtek, XFX (etc)?

I'm a 'casual gamer', but I want my new card to be strong enough to last for a while and be able to cope with future 3D games that may be released (I want at least a year's worth of unhindered performance on the latest 3D games - is this unreasonable?) Bearing that in mind, and that I'm not a hardcore overclocker or overly concerned with 'perfect' visuals, so long as the games run smoothly and look acceptable, which would be my better option; 6600GT or 6800GT?

I'm open to other card suggestions, but I had the impression these 2 cards are highly regarded for the price, and that the nvidia cards would be more compatible with my proposed new rig. Check below:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice (Socket 939) - £139.99
Motherboard: Asus A8N SLI Premium - £119.95
Graphics card: Leadtek Geforce 6800 GT 256 DDR3 - £179.95
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint SP2004C SATA2 (200Gig) - £76.50
RAM: GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 Value CAS2.5 - £64.95
DVD Writer: Pioneer DVR A09XL - £39.95
DVD ROM: Asus E616P1 - £14.20
Case: Antec SLK3000B Midi Tower Case - £29.00

All prices from overclockers.co.uk, without VAT, mind.

I have the Zalman cooler as I said, another HDD and a Silenx 14dB PSU (I know the issues some people here have with SilenX; it's unfortunate )


So, I await your feedback. Forgive me if I've missed a simple answer, as I know this topic has been discussed a lot. Any thoughts on the system (especially memory choice - is it a good one?) and any incompatibility issues you can see, please say so ^_^.

Nice setup, but you can save money on a processor, that board is easy to clock and that chip is the same as the 3000+ with a different multi. Get the 3000+ and you will see 2.65GHz+.