Looking for quiet/silent graphics card - no aftermarket cool

Ataulf · Post by **Ataulf** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 2:53 am

I am looking for a replacement for my current 3870 passively cooled card.

Any recommendations for a card that is quiet/silent - please no aftermarket cooling?

Thanks in advance,
Chris

My current setup:
Case: Antec Performance One P182
GPU: PowerColor Radeon HD 3870 "SCS3" 512MB - passively cooled
PSU: NorthQ NQ4350GP-FL 500W, Fanless PSU
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550, BOX
Motherboard: GigaByte GA-X48T-DQ6, Intel X48, LGA775
RAM (DDR3): Patriot PDC34G1333LLK, 2x2048MB
CPU cooler: Scythe Ninja 2, Multi Socket CPU Cooler
HD: 2 x Green RE Western Digital, 500 GB each
DVD: PATA DVD-RW

lm · Post by lm » Mon Jun 29, 2009 3:05 am

What other goals do you have besides quiet? Your current card fulfills all the goals you have listed??

quest_for_silence · Post by **quest_for_silence** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 3:53 am

Ataulf wrote:Any recommendations for a card that is quiet/silent - please no aftermarket cooling?

http://www.giga-byte.com/Products/VGA/P ... uctID=2900

Regards,
Luca

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 4:25 am

That card gets a *little* bit too hot. And considering he has a fanless PSU I don't know how wise that would be

HD4870 and GTX260 etc are pretty quiet (not silent) at idle, not so much during load though, but...

quest_for_silence · Post by **quest_for_silence** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 5:44 am

rpsgc wrote:That card gets a *little* bit too hot. And considering he has a fanless PSU I don't know how wise that would be

Well, I also have a fanless CPU, GPU and PS, so I know it can be done (to be honest, my humble opinion is that you couldn't go for a fanless videocard if it sucks more than 60-70w from its PCIE slot), but it's not the point.

The point is that he already has a passive HD 3870 in his rig: even if personally I would have never build up such a system, I don't think there's too much hassle for about 20w more in his situation (I also mean that any HD 4670 - HIS, Sapphire - or 9800GT - BFG, Gigabyte - will be sort of a downgrade as for performance).

Regards,
Luca

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 6:12 am

I'm not talking about power consumption. I'm saying the card is HOT. And in a semi-passive environment it might FAIL without proper airflow.

viewtopic.php?p=436966#436966
viewtopic.php?p=438167#438167

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/ ... html#sect0 (86Âº C load in a well [read: LOUD] ventilated case)

But if the OP is dead set on getting a passive card then he could that a look at this one instead. Has a much better cooler and much lower power consumption, he'll lose on performance though.

Or... he could wait until a passive HD4770 is released. Might take a while though

quest_for_silence · Post by **quest_for_silence** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 6:42 am

rpsgc wrote:I'm not talking about power consumption.

I am sorry: I always establish a connection between power consumption and heat dissipation, and so I did even this time.

rpsgc wrote:I'm saying the card is HOT.

Yes, but even that passive HD 3870 (which he said to own) is HOT: just as an example, Xbit Labs reported a temperature of around 92Â°C under 3D load for the quiet (or nearby) but fanned ASUS EAH3870 TOP.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/ ... html#sect0

rpsgc wrote:he could wait until a passive HD4770 is released. Might take a while though

Maybe it could turn out the wise choice.

Regards,
Luca

LodeHacker · Post by **LodeHacker** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 9:46 am

Cheap EVGA card + aftermarket cooler = Warranty not void.

K.Murx · Post by **K.Murx** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:04 am

Well, if the OP could enlighten us as to why he wants to replace his card?
That is kind of a rather important bit of informaton missing.

Out of the blue, the stock 4770 is pretty much silent, as the fan almost never ramps up (except if the room is at ~28 deg. C and you are playing modern games).

Ataulf · Post by **Ataulf** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:03 am

wow - thanks for all the replies!

The primary reason for getting a new card is solely for perfomance gains.

Passive cooling is nice to have; I can live with a quiet fan-cooled card, but not the jet-engine like noise from many cards.

I have on my previous 3 cards fitted after-market coolers, but I just don't want the hassle or the fear of losing the warranty.

Do I understand it correctly from many of you, that there has been no significant performance gains on the GPU market since I got my 3870 last Spring?

quest_for_silence · Post by **quest_for_silence** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:21 am

Ataulf wrote:Do I understand it correctly from many of you, that there has been no significant performance gains on the GPU market since I got my 3870 last Spring?

No, you have not understood correctly: 9800GT, HD 4850 and HD 4770 are (now) midrange GPUs, and high end ones are far better, but they cannot be passively cooled in an almost fanless rig.

If you won't stuck on a passive card, you may gain a significant performance improvement (at least in gaming and folding).

Regards,
Luca

LodeHacker · Post by **LodeHacker** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 12:19 pm

Ataulf wrote:I just don't want the hassle or the fear of losing the warranty.

What part of this didn't you understand

LodeHacker wrote:Cheap EVGA card + aftermarket cooler = Warranty not void.

K.Murx · Post by **K.Murx** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 3:55 pm

Well, there have been considerable performance gains, especially in the midrange section. The 4850 is ~1.5-2 times as fast as a 3870, a 4670 is slightly slower than your 3870 (included thus as reference).

Just a quick overview on ATI's side, information included is:
Card name -> power draw idle/load (from SPCR); 3DMark Vantage Score Performance/High (HardwareCanucks); lowest price (newegg, MIR -> Mail-in-rebate)

Code: Select all

4870 -> 67/121     ; 10491/6330; $130(MIR)-$140
4850 -> 50/101     ; 8369 /4900; $85(MIR)-$100
4770 -> 30/60      ; 8115 /4761; $120
4830 -> 18/80      ; 6851 /3957; $80(MIR)-$90 
4670 -> ~10/40 (*) ; 3568 /(--); $60 (MIR)-$68

(*): SPCR has a card with supposedly 3W power draw in idle. This was subject to extensive debate in the forum, and AFAIK most people report ~10W instead.
For a rather more in-depth review, you might want to look here:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/ ... dup-2.html
(--): No data found

The fans of 4870 & 4850 are usually not silent, with the exception of the passive Gigabyte 4850 (which runs hot and is rather expensive). The 4770 and 4670 fan is very quiet, I do not know about the 4830.

From a pure price/performance ratio, the 4850 is probably best, but personally I got a 4770 because it is much quieter and draws less power.

Looking for quiet/silent graphics card - no aftermarket cool

Looking for quiet/silent graphics card - no aftermarket cool

Re: Looking for quiet/silent graphics card - no aftermarket