Queit GTS 250 or better...

lockdown24 · Post by **lockdown24** » Fri Jul 16, 2010 2:15 am

Hi, i'm looking for an nvidia based card that's a GTS 250 or better and is extremely quiet. I'm not really interested in a fanless solution. Does anybody have any recommendations?

lodestar · Post by **lodestar** » Fri Jul 16, 2010 10:00 am

The only really quiet GTS 250 models were the ones fitted with an equivalent of the Arctic Twin Turbo cooler. An example is the MSI 250 GTS Twin Frozr 1GB. There is a product web page here http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=newsdesc&news_no=837 from which I note that MSI have taken some care to avoid the all too common problem of coil whine, and also claim some additional power saving measures.

There is a deal available on this card on Newegg at the moment http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814127478.

Edit: The size of this card is reported as 9.4 inches (239mm) long x 4.57 inches (116mm) tall x 1.3 inches (33 mm) thick.

lockdown24 · Post by **lockdown24** » Fri Jul 16, 2010 3:34 pm

That MSI card does look pretty nice.

I was also considering this ATI:

HIS IceQ H567Q1GD Radeon HD 5670 1GB

seems like it runs cool and quiet. anybody know what it would be equivalent to performance wise on the nvidia side?

Post by **CA_Steve** » Fri Jul 16, 2010 4:46 pm

For games, the 5750 is comparable to a GTS250. The 5670 is below the 250.

lodestar · Post by **lodestar** » Fri Jul 16, 2010 11:37 pm

Yes, the alternative to the MSI GTS 250 Twin Frozr if the priority is quiet would be the MSI Hawk 5770 which has a similar cooling system. It is a somewhat better performer but is significantly more expensive, for example from here http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... awk%205770.

kater · Post by **kater** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:24 pm

Definitely not Asus Dark Knight - the cooler is simply way too loud. Been there, done that.*

GTS250 would also be comparable to 4770. And 4770 is much easier too keep cool and quiet. And cheaper to run. Even a stock fan keeps the 4770 very cool and emits v little noise. Also, you can easily slow it down even further in BIOS. Radeons are much easier to play with, in terms of BIOS. Also, a 5750 is a nice option - same as 4770 cloutwise, better 2D clock management. HIS should have some quiet coolers on such cards.

If you really want to stick to Nvidia then perhaps a generic GTS250 + Accelero S1 + 500 RPM 12 cm fan is the way to go.

* wanted Nvida for F@H but decided "meeeeh" anyway.

ntavlas · Post by **ntavlas** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 4:11 pm

The gts250 tends to sell for the same price as the 5750, at least over here. The nvidia card seems to be a little faster but less power efficient at load. The 5770 is faster still but also more expensive.

I would say all those cards are relatively easy to cool. A bios tweak, or in the worst case, a fan swap should guarantee inaudible operation when idle. In the case of the 5750 probably at load too.

There`s also the matter of drivers. While statistically insignificant, my personal experience favors nvidia drivers slightly in windows, more so in linux. In fact, it would be hard for me to recommend an ati card to a linux user.

Erelyes · Post by **Erelyes** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 4:52 pm

To be honest I think the fact that the GTS250 is 55nm, compared with the ATI 57xx's 40nm, means you're always going to fight harder to cool the card quietly.

GTS250 is quoted at 145w TDP, according to Wikipedia.
5750 quoted at 16w/86w TDP (idle/load)
5770 quoted at 18/108w

57xx has GDDR5, GTS250 has GDDR3

5750 *and* 5770 quoted at higher GFLOPS than the GTS250, more transistors

The GTS250 has it in some regards (texture fillrate being the main one), giving it the advantage in a few games.... but I'm looking the same price point, have always been a Nvidia fanboy, and am looking at getting my first ATI card.

My 2c

sakraycore · Post by **sakraycore** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 2:30 pm

i have a a vapor-x 5750 and with a custom fan curve, it can be near silent if not silent even at load. overclocks very well as well even though all 5750 tend to be good at overclocking.