5xx0 quiteness - Should I beleive other website reviews ?

[DarkKnight]

Hi,

I'm a newbie here - My story's the same as many of the others here... I've been reading alot, but finally decided to sign up.

I'm in the process of building my new i7 rig and looking at Quiet but powerful GPU options for my HTPC. My requirements are :

• - HD playback
  - occasional transcoding
  - occasional game playing
  - future proof the above as much as possible, for the next 2 years
  - Case compatibility with my Silverstone GD01 (for size and airflow)

I'm concious SPCR has not yet reviewed the Vapor-X range of the 5xx0 cards, however a few other websites have. (This isn't a criticism - I can appreciate they must have a backlog of reviews to get through!). Some of these websites quote the noise levels, but from my regular reading of SPCR, I'm sure that the measurements will not way compare to SPCR testing rigour.

For example, I'm not convinced the ambient noise levels and measurement methodology are as thorough or as detailed as SPCR's methods.

In absence of these reviewed, I wanted to get your opinion on the Vapor-X range... Are they considered quiet for HTPC use ?

I've also, come to learn about the forthcoming Powercolor Passively Cooled HD 5750. As I'm a newbie on these forums, I'm unable to post a link but take a look at tinyurl / ygkf8g8

So it's a way up of a Vapor-X mildly Overclocked 5870 VS. a stock speed Passively cooled 5750....


Your thoughts ?

[40974111]

5870 would be overkill for an HTPC.
5750 is probably more what you need. Saphire have made a Vapor-X 5750, which would probably be more suitable to your needs than a Vapor-X 5870, and would almost certainly run cooler and quieter.

[_MarcoM_]

- HD playback -------> 5750
- occasional transcoding ------> 5750
- occasional game playing ------> 5750
- future proof the above as much as possible, for the next 2 years ---> don't worry, 5750 is here
- Case compatibility with my Silverstone GD01 (for size and airflow) ----> i don't know, but 5750 is shorter than Radeon 3850, if this will help

I agree with 40974111, 5750 would be nice on your system.
It remains to be seen whether the cards are quiet as they say.

5750 Vapor-X is a nice piece of hardware, but it will be more (or equally) quiet than my radeon 3850@stock cooler? Any opinion about Vapor-X by VapX-owners would be helpful for your (and mine) quest.

[Kyocera]

I really love that PC case!!!

The most important thing in a silent PC is the PSU-power supply.
GPU-graphic card makes a lot of noise when you're playing games, but that is not something that would bother that much.
I must say however, that one thing is how loud, another is when the sound emitted is unpleasant.
ATI has a record of unpleasant sounding noises, even if quieter than Nvidia.

The maximum budget? (before we make a proposed configuration).

What GPU goes, I would certainly buy the GT300 from Nvidia with maybe an aftermarket cooling solution; however the price of that beast is going to be some 400GBP.

[DarkKnight]

So... it sounds like the majority of you are recommending I head down the 5750 path.

So again, this will boil down to :
- Vapor X Factory Overclocked 5750
vs
- Powercolor Stock speed Passive 5750

Again, my priority is silence. If the performance gain with the vapor-x is possible in reasonable silence, then it becomes a viable option.

Vapor X owners speak up! Just how noisy / quiet is it ?!

Is there any SPCR review of of any Vapor-X GPU ?

Thanks

[trueg]

I would also be interested in a SPCR review of the PowerColor SCS3 HD5750. Twice the performance (at twice the cost) with only a slight increase in power (compared to a 4670 that is).