Good quiet GPU recommendation

speedlever · Post by **speedlever** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 9:07 am

It doesn't have to be silent... nor the best performer for my planned limited game Conroe build. I prefer quiet, cool performance, if such a thing exists.

I've considered the Gigabyte 7600GT... but don't want to lose any slots. Will this GPU make me lose a PCI slot on an Asus P5B-E board?

Maybe a 7600GS would work just fine for me (mainly Google Earth, digital images, some Photoshop work). How about this one?

Of these three, any reason to choose one over another? (assuming the GT won't cause me to lose a slot). Price is not a factor, but neither do I want to buy an 8800 card just to have the latest when I probably won't use it to its potential.

Proposed build:
Antec Solo case
Corsair 520HX PSU (already bought)
Asus P5B-E
Intel e6600
CPU cooler to be determined
GPU - ??
RAM - ??
HD - Seagate 7200.10 or Samsung T series
DVD/RW - ?

I still have lots of holes in my build to determine. Only the first 4 components are decided with only one piece bought.

But let's limit this thread to my GPU choice please!

Edited for spelling.

rei · Post by **rei** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 10:52 am

already coverd here

speedlever · Post by **speedlever** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 2:37 pm

Thanks.

But that thread doesn't tell me if the 7600GT takes 2 slots in the Asus P5B-E board. If it doesn't, I'm tempted to go that route. If it does, I'd like to know what the practical difference is between the 256mb 7600GS and the 512 mb 7600GS.

rei · Post by **rei** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 3:33 pm

I've looked at the Asus silent one firsthand and it appears that it does not take a 2nd slot. It might obstruct a tall CPU cooler or northbridge heatsink though, or it might stick out too much on some SFF cases.

rei · Post by **rei** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 3:35 pm

512MB is pointless on the 7600GS chip, so don't pay more for it.

speedlever · Post by **speedlever** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 5:33 am

Thanks, rei.

This is the Gigabyte 7600GT I was referring to. Sure looks like a 2-slotter to me.

Pricewise, I could reasonably do a 7900GS, if there'a quiet cool one. I see them for about $150-$175. But haven't seen any fanless ones. But again, no point is spending money unless there's performance benefit I can use.

I notice that MikeC used the XFX GeForce 7600GS video card in his spcr quiet PC build.

nick705 · Post by **nick705** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 6:52 am

XFX have just brought out a passive 7600GT, available for around 117GBP in the UK (not sure about the US, but probably cheaper in real terms as usual) - it's one of their go-faster jobbies, and it's claimed to be the fastest 7600 on the market. The heatsink seems to be the same as the more powerful XFX 7950GT, but the card's PCB is shorter and exposes more of the fins, so it's probably more effective all round in this usage.

The downside is of course the cringe-inducing "Fatal1ty" branding, but if you can stomach that it seems to tick your boxes (1-slot solution).

I'm not really sure what XFX were thinking of with this one - I doubt if the Fatal1ty admirers will be tempted by a mere 7600GT, even a hotted-up and silent one. It seems more suited to HTPC use, as apparently PureVideo likes high core clock speeds but doesn't seem particularly dependant on the extra pipelines and so on that you'd get from a no-holds-barred gaming card.

Obviously it's a bit expensive for a 7600GT, but might be worth checking out...

Stereodude · Post by **Stereodude** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 7:45 am

nick705 wrote:I'm not really sure what XFX were thinking of with this one - I doubt if the Fatal1ty admirers will be tempted by a mere 7600GT, even a hotted-up and silent one. It seems more suited to HTPC use, as apparently PureVideo likes high core clock speeds but doesn't seem particularly dependant on the extra pipelines and so on that you'd get from a no-holds-barred gaming card.

Obviously it's a bit expensive for a 7600GT, but might be worth checking out...

Of course it's missing HDCP too.

Stereodude · Post by **Stereodude** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 7:47 am

speedlever wrote:Thanks, rei.

This is the Gigabyte 7600GT I was referring to. Sure looks like a 2-slotter to me.

Pricewise, I could reasonably do a 7900GS, if there'a quiet cool one. I see them for about $150-$175. But haven't seen any fanless ones. But again, no point is spending money unless there's performance benefit I can use.

I notice that MikeC used the XFX GeForce 7600GS video card in his spcr quiet PC build.

I ended up with a HDCP equipped MSI 7900GS and I'm going to put a Zalman VF900-Cu on it for quiet cooling.

However, given your usage list, the fanless 7600GS cards should be fine.

rei · Post by **rei** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 1:35 pm

i don't think the silent 7600gt asus one has hdcp.

rei · Post by **rei** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 1:36 pm

so what i'd recommend is buy a cheap 7600gt with hdcp and swap the cooler out for vf700/900.

http://www.htpcnews.com/forums/index.ph ... opic=23416

rei · Post by **rei** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 1:38 pm

After checking all that's available, the Gigabyte GV-NX76G256HI-RH is probably the sweet-spot for silent, single-slot low power-consumption HDCP/HDMI-outputting HTPC SFF computer that occasionally plays games. It's even bundled with Civ4. It's just missing support for "Inverse Telecine" and "Bad Edit Correction." Doh.

Higher end passive with HDCP is the XFX 7950XT but it doesn't have HDMI out if you ever want to output to a 1080p LCD TV.

I believe the lack of a HDMI output can be overcome with an inexpensive DVI to HDMI cable.

nick705 · Post by **nick705** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 2:49 pm

rei wrote:It's just missing support for "Inverse Telecine" and "Bad Edit Correction." Doh.

I'm not sure if the OP even needs or wants HTPC features including HDCP or a HDMI socket, but if so, inverse telecine and bad edit correction can make a big difference with interlaced broadcast material that originally had a progressive source (eg 24fps movies). The 7600GS doesn't have the horsepower to do this with HD content using PureVideo, but the 7600GT does, hence why it has the extra support.

rei · Post by **rei** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 6:20 pm

ah, i see now. that's just something stereodude introduced.

speedlever · Post by **speedlever** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 5:34 am

No HTPC application here.

Has anyone put the Gigabyte 7600GT silent pipe II on a P5B-E mobo? Can you confirm that it fits ok? Do I lose only one PCI slot?

I don't think there's another silent card out there that will beat this card for the cool quiet performance that I'm looking for. If there is, please link it.

I may be willing to compromise on the lost PCI slot.

Edit to add:

That XFX 7600GS runs hotter than I'd prefer, based on this link.
Idle - 66*C
Load - 85*C

In comparison, the 7600GT SPII runs cooler than my current 6600GT (idles at 54*C), based on what I've seen reported.

Stereodude · Post by **Stereodude** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 7:43 am

rei wrote:ah, i see now. that's just something stereodude introduced.

I only mentioned that because Nick705 mentioned it being a good HTPC card. I think the 7600GS will work fine give the OP's target uses.