recommended quiet GPU for Dragon Age: Origins?

norman-ramsey · Post by **norman-ramsey** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:45 pm

My wife wants Dragon Age: Origins, and even if she takes my fanless GeForce 9600 GT, that probably won't cut it. The ASUS ENGTX260 card that was well reviewed here seems no longer to be offered for sale, at least not at reputable web sites.

Can anyone recommend a suitably quiet GPU? Bioware recommends 8800GTS 512MB or better. With all the rebadging going on at Nvidia, I'm not sure what that's equivalent to in today's models, but it's a GPU with 128 processors.

Any recommendations? Triple bonus points if there's no fan.

sNNooPY · Post by **sNNooPY** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 1:30 am

8800GTS 512 (that's the G92 512MB version, not the crappy 320 or 640MB) is an awesome card. I'm really happy with it and have enjoyed Mass Effect, The Witcher, Fallout 3, etc. with it on 1680x1050 with almost everything on the max (see sys specs in the sig).
If you're budget is tight, then getting that card is an awesome deal. If you can stretch it some more, get a Radeon 4870. It's even better than 8800GTS 512.
On top of that, if you want peace and quiet, get an Accelero cooler for it and you got yourself a powerful and QUIET card.

DaveLessnau · Post by **DaveLessnau** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 5:01 am

Before you buy anything new, try that old GeForce 9600 GT. I'm running Dragon Age on one without problem at 1680x1050. Outside of the resolution (which didn't default right), I've left all the settings at their defaults:

Graphics Detail: Medium
Anti-Aliasing: Off
Texture Detail: High
Play in Full-Screen Mode
Vertical Sync
Frame-Buffer Effects.

I guess I should up the Graphics Detail to see if it makes a difference. But, right now, I'm happy and the game plays fine.

DaveLessnau · Post by **DaveLessnau** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 10:06 am

Just an update: I raised the Graphics Detail from Medium to High and the game still runs fine (looks a bit better, too). Definitely try the 9600GT. I can't image there'd be a problem with it.

norman-ramsey · Post by **norman-ramsey** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 5:30 pm

David,

Thanks so much for your info. That's just what we'll do!

Norman

shleepy · Post by **shleepy** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 6:18 pm

Upgrading from 9600GT to an 8800-series card, nowadays, is really not worth it. But AMD's HD4850 (which should be getting very cheap right around now and exists in a fanless version or two) or better, or Nvidia's GTX260/216 or better will probably be worthy upgrades, if you find that you need more GPU power. That said, the 9600GT should be just fine.

rhys j · Post by **rhys j** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:23 pm

You can get the Asus card for about Â£145 including shipping via Amazon marketplace, or something very similar by Zotac on ebuyer for Â£125. Weird how it's suddenly so expensive though... I paid Â£113 including Batman Arkham Asylum (8 GB download meh) 5 weeks ago.

Your current card should be plenty though.

EDIT: just realised you're in the US so ignore this.

ascl · Post by **ascl** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 6:11 am

FWIW I am playing with a gtx 260 at 1920x1200 with everything at max. Its fine.... CPU usage is pretty heavy across all 4 cores of my Q6600@3600, but in game it plays very well.

So, I don't think its particularly demanding on a graphics card, depending on resolution. Your 9600 gt might work with it... I'll leave actual card recommendations to people that know quiet cards (water cooling helps heaps here!), but just wanted to second that you should try with what you have.

DaveLessnau · Post by **DaveLessnau** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 1:34 pm

Another update: Previously I had increased Graphics Detail from Medium to High in the game without problem (9600 GT). I've now moved it from High to Very High (the highest setting) and still have no problem (I don't know why it defaulted to Medium -- I assumed that running its Configuration utility would have set it properly given that it scans the system).