Advice on these quieter than stock 580 and 6970 cards please

[boe]

Hello,

I still haven't decided between the 580 and 6970. I may put one in each of my computers for different reasons. I currently have a 4870 in each with a nice cooling solution to keep them quiet but I have no experience whatsoever with water cooled solutions. I hear great things but because of price and perhaps being timid I've never tried one. I replace the CPU coolers all the time with no issue but have had a bad experience with the GPU coolers I've tried after the fact as I memory seems to overheat, the paste falls off or doesn't do a decent job of transferring the heat. However the powercolor 4870 units I bought work great and I didn't have to mess with replacing the stock cooler.

MSI is the first non stock cooler I read about -


Gigabyte seems to be working on a fan solution -


Asus seems to be working on a fan solution


Inno3d has a water cooling solution

http://www.inno3d.com/press/press_2010_ ... _24_2.html
I have no experience with Inno3d so I have no idea of the quality of their products - anyone here? Do I just attach what appears to be a fan to the side of my case? Any big concerns or experiences you'd like to share? How much noise do pumps make or are they silent?

Powercolor seems to have a water cooling solution as well

http://www.powercolor.com/global/produc ... cification
Do I need a pump unit for this?


Thanks for helping out a newbie when it comes to water cooling. I'm not looking to overclock - just get a really fast gaming computer that is very quiet.

[Souli]

You should also check out this one. The cooler was tested by spcr so you can get an idea what it will be like. http://www.calibrestyle.com.tw/productDetail.asp?id=41

[boe]

You should also check out this one. The cooler was tested by spcr so you can get an idea what it will be like. http://www.calibrestyle.com.tw/productDetail.asp?id=41

Thanks - looks like the sparkle one that was pulled from newegg. Do you happen to have a link for the article on SPCR about the calibre - I just looked and didn't see it.

[quest_for_silence]

I just looked and didn't see it.

I mean he's referring to the AC Accelero Xtreme Plus.

[boe]

I just looked and didn't see it.

I mean he's referring to the AC Accelero Xtreme Plus.

Thanks I'll look. Hopefully they'll have a comparison of the AC Accelero extreme vs. a stock 6970 and a stock 580.

[LM741C]

Powercolor seems to have a water cooling solution as well

http://www.powercolor.com/global/produc ... cification
Do I need a pump unit for this?

Yes you will need a pump for this. This is only the GPU waterblock which attaches to the card. In addition to the waterblock, at minimum you'll also need pump, radiator, tubing, fittings, fan, zip ties or hose clamps. It only goes fancier from there, how much is up to you.

[boe]

Powercolor seems to have a water cooling solution as well

http://www.powercolor.com/global/produc ... cification
Do I need a pump unit for this?

Yes you will need a pump for this. This is only the GPU waterblock which attaches to the card. In addition to the waterblock, at minimum you'll also need pump, radiator, tubing, fittings, fan, zip ties or hose clamps. It only goes fancier from there, how much is up to you.

Thanks - do pumps make much noise? For example which would be quieter - a quiet 80mm fan or a pump - typically?

Any chance SPCR would consider doing a comparison of these units?

[boe]

I may end up going with this one. I could save a lot of money by getting a 6970 but I use xilisoft to convert TV shows I download on a regular basis and it can run several times faster on the conversion using my GPU to assist in the process.

[boe]

I got the MSI 580 (shown above) but will probably return it if unless I can figure out what the issues are. I am using the latest available driver available on nVidia's web page of Feb 4, 2011 - I'm running Windows x64 enterprise (legit) with all the latest patches. Often in games such as crysis the mouse select will no longer work and you have to tab your way through menus although you can still use the mouse to navigate in the game through the jungle. Crysis and Crysis Warhead, the game will suddenly go to windowed mode and you can't change it back unless you go to video settings in the game and unselect full screen apply and reselect full screen and reply. It will often pop a windowed screen below the task bar so it is a pain in the butt to even get back to the game.

So far FEAR runs very well with all the settings very high. I already have the last patches available for both Crysis games. I'll see what else I can dig up but I'll probably return the card and just get a 6970 since my 4870 plays crysis and other games quite well without any issues. The only game my 4870 has is with the old RTCW game with can be semi-fixed by placing a dll in the game directory.

I can say that the MSI 580 FROZR is indeed very quiet - not silent by any means but quiet - similar in noise to my old 4870 by msi with the heat pipe cooling solution.

EDIT - I did manage to figure out why it was going windowed - it was when the card got hot. I got around that by uninstalling, removing the personal settings folder and reinstalling. Now when it starts to go above 60C it just goes black and hangs. I'll return this card which I made sure had a full refund policy before ordering. I'll go back to my ATI 4870 card until I can find another card that peaks my interest - hopefully there will be a good 6970 card.

[kadiir]

I just noticed that Gigabyte released a "WindForce" version of the 580:

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/produc ... id=3684#ov

Not quite as fast as the Sparkle but they managed to keep it thin (it's a 2-slot solution).

Edit: D'oh - I thought the picture in the OP was of a the 570 WindForce

[DaveLessnau]

boe,

Out of curiosity, what case and power supply do you have?

[boe]

boe,

Out of curiosity, what case and power supply do you have?

No problem - a valid question. Enermax 700 - the 500 was enough for another computer I set up using a 5870 - which never crashed in crysis - it has been stable for a year now. I had a 600 watt on my system before I replaced it with a 700 in case the power supply was the source of the issue with this new card. I realize they make 1000 watt power supplies but at some point enough is enough. I've been using the enermax ones for the past 4 years on about 50 systems and so far not a single issue.

[DaveLessnau]

What about the case?

[boe]

What about the case?

http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6638 - very nice case - plenty of airflow

power - http://www.enermaxusa.com/catalog/produ ... cts_id=206

[DaveLessnau]

With that case and power supply, I'm assuming you just got a bad card. I didn't see a reference to this above, but here's a link to Newegg's page for the Galaxy 58NLH5HS3PXZ GeForce GTX 580:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814162073

It looks like it's using the Arctic Cooling Accelero Extreme Plus heatsink and is in the lowest-cost group of GTX 580's there. The reviews look mostly good, but who knows if they're meaningful in your situation. Since the Frozr fit in your case, I assume this one will, too. But, I don't know.

[boe]

With that case and power supply, I'm assuming you just got a bad card. I didn't see a reference to this above, but here's a link to Newegg's page for the Galaxy 58NLH5HS3PXZ GeForce GTX 580:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814162073

It looks like it's using the Arctic Cooling Accelero Extreme Plus heatsink and is in the lowest-cost group of GTX 580's there. The reviews look mostly good, but who knows if they're meaningful in your situation. Since the Frozr fit in your case, I assume this one will, too. But, I don't know.

It is very possible it is just a defective card. IT is a good case and the card you listed should fit as well - or perhaps it just isn't compatible with my motherboard. I haven't ever had a compatibility issue between cards and motherboards but I have read about some SSD cards not being compatible with certain motherboards. The only thing I'd like them to improve on my case is to add USB 3.0 to the front and a little more space on the side of the case that is closest to the motherboard for hiding the cables. There are a LOT of cables to hide

[DaveLessnau]

Another thing to try with whatever new card you get is a clean install of the drivers. I'm unfamiliar with AMD cards, so maybe that's what you did when you talked about removing your personal settings folder. Here's a link to a post on what's recommended for nVidia cards:

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=169555

I assume there's an AMD equivalent process somewhere. It's probably a good bet that clashing AMD/nVidia driver remnants aren't good things.

[boe]

Another thing to try with whatever new card you get is a clean install of the drivers. I'm unfamiliar with AMD cards, so maybe that's what you did when you talked about removing your personal settings folder. Here's a link to a post on what's recommended for nVidia cards:

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=169555

I assume there's an AMD equivalent process somewhere. It's probably a good bet that clashing AMD/nVidia driver remnants aren't good things.

Thanks - since this computer never had any nvidia cards, I didn't have to go through the nvidia or amd removal process. The settings I removed are specific to the crysis games. It creates config files that are not in the game install directory.

[boe]

Another thing to try with whatever new card you get is a clean install of the drivers. I'm unfamiliar with AMD cards, so maybe that's what you did when you talked about removing your personal settings folder. Here's a link to a post on what's recommended for nVidia cards:

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=169555

I assume there's an AMD equivalent process somewhere. It's probably a good bet that clashing AMD/nVidia driver remnants aren't good things.

Thanks - since this computer never had any nvidia cards, I didn't have to go through the nvidia or amd removal process. The settings I removed are specific to the crysis games. It creates config files that are not in the game install directory.

[boe]

Another thing to try with whatever new card you get is a clean install of the drivers. I'm unfamiliar with AMD cards, so maybe that's what you did when you talked about removing your personal settings folder. Here's a link to a post on what's recommended for nVidia cards:

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=169555

I assume there's an AMD equivalent process somewhere. It's probably a good bet that clashing AMD/nVidia driver remnants aren't good things.

Thanks - since this computer never had any nvidia cards, I didn't have to go through the nvidia or amd removal process. The settings I removed are specific to the crysis games. It creates config files that are not in the game install directory.

[boe]

Good news for me!

I just contacted Newegg and they are willing to take my MSI back if i order another 580 GTX - I just ordered the DirectCU version - hopefully it will work OK. Yesterday I got ambitious and used a spare drive and installed just Windows 7 enterprise (official copy) and just the latest Directx drivers and a fresh install of Crysis Warhead - game still crashed as soon as I entered the armored vehicle (in the game ). I could have avoided the restocking fee if I just go another MSI card but frankly I didn't want to have to go the hassle of another return in the event it isn't the card that is the source of the issue.

[DaveLessnau]

Hopefully, the new card will work better. Keep us posted on whether you think the Twin Frozr or the DirectCU is better.

[Tzupy]

GTX 580 DirectCu review at Techpowerup, link to noise page:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS ... II/23.html

[boe]

Hopefully, the new card will work better. Keep us posted on whether you think the Twin Frozr or the DirectCU is better.

Hello,

I got the the DirectCU today. I would say sound wise they are about the same level of noise although they have a slightly different type of sound. I didn't use anything to actually measure it vs. the MSI so I can't say 100% for sure. I can say that it seems to run about 10 degrees celcius cooler under full load vs. the MSI card using the desktop gadget for nvidia temps.

I've played Crysis Warfare for about 30 minutes now without any crashes - guaranteed the MSI that I had would have crashed by now (typically within 10 minutes). I have done nothing different with drivers or anything else. I took out he MSI card this morning and put in the DirectCU card and so far it is great. It seems a little smoother in Crysis as well. I didn't actually run any FPS tests but I have my Crysis completely cranked now to enthusiast for EVERYTHING and 16Q and it doesn't seem choppy at all!

It is possible I just got a defective MSI card so I'm not claiming they will all have the issue mine did. I have the slot space for the Asus card so I'm not concerned about about giving up an extra slot plust I can plug in one of my monitors using display port and my TV using a standard HDMI interface so it turns out this was a better choice for me since they cost about the same.

IF you plan on going SLI you would need a different case than mine. My motherboard has enough high bandwidth PCIE slots that I could actually put in a second one of these cards and still have space between them but I would have to put it towards the bottom of my motherboard and since my PSU is below the motherboard in my case it would not fit.

I was going to try the 6970 if I had issues with this card but I can pretty much say this 580GTX card by Asus works like a champ!

[DaveLessnau]

The DirectCU is about 10 degrees cooler than the Twin Frozr? Wow! My N560GTX-Ti baby brother to that 580 Twin Frozr runs very cool (though a bit noisy) and I assumed the 580 version would be tough to beat (temperature-wise). Assuming the new card continues to work properly, it sounds like the DirectCU is a good choice.

[boe]

The DirectCU is about 10 degrees cooler than the Twin Frozr? Wow! My N560GTX-Ti baby brother to that 580 Twin Frozr runs very cool (though a bit noisy) and I assumed the 580 version would be tough to beat (temperature-wise). Assuming the new card continues to work properly, it sounds like the DirectCU is a good choice.

I probably should have said the DirectCU is 10 degrees quieter than the MSI FROZR 580 that I received that crashed on a regular basis between 60-80 degrees. The highest temp I saw the FROZR get to when CRYSIS was maxed out was 80 degrees celcius. With Crysis maxed out on the DirectCU it got to 70 degrees.

[appletree]

Wow, that DirectCU card looks really nice. Since it is 3 slot design - I can imagine it will be pretty quiet, wonder how it compares to Gainward Phantom.

[darren]

I just put an MSI GTX580 Twin Frozr OC in my new system. I previously had an EVGA 580 and an Asus 6970. I was having some freezing issues that I now believe are memory related, rather than graphics related, prompting me to swap the EVGA for the 6970. Anyway, the MSI card has worked fine for the week I've had it. I don't play a lot of games at the moment, but I have run Warcraft with ultra settings and L4D2 as well. I was often maxing out frame rates at the 120Hz sync of my monitor.

On default settings, I'd say it is about the same in terms of noise as the reference 580, but I didn't have them side by side. The 6970 at default was about the same at load, but clearly louder at idle. I now have the fan profle on the MSI card set to stay at minimum (40%) until 70C. Then the fan goes up 1% rpm per degree rise. I haven't seen it go above 74C, even when I was running a Prime95 torture test while gaming. The MSI card puts a lot of hot air into the case, rather than exhausting it out the back, so I wanted to see if the CPU temps went up with a full CPU and GPU load. They didn't. I guess the airflow is pretty good despite having the fans on low. Mostly it runs 65-70C under load and idles between 55-60C. My system is basically inaudible other than the GPU. At 40% RPM, it is clearly quieter than the reference 580 and 6970, at idle or load. You can still hear the GPU fans, but the noise is very low and unobtrusive. Subjectively, it's about the same as my old system (QX6700, Radeon 5850 OC, Antec Solo case), but runs a bit cooler.

The new system is i7-2600k (default speed), 2x4GB corsair vengeance (running 1333C9), MSI 580GTX twin frozr OC (running at default 822/1645/2138), Lian Li PC-B25S (with low RPM Scythe flex fans and Noctua NH-C12P SE14 CPU cooler), crucial c300, corsair AX850 PSU, asus p8p67 deluxe, alienware aw2310.

I have no idea about the Asus DirectCU, but I don't think you can go wrong with either one. I'd be happy with whichever one was cheaper if there's a difference. I was tempted to swap since they appear to be the same price right now, and you get another port on the asus. But since my sytem is running stable, I don't think I want to mess with it unless I hear the asus is significantly quieter at the same temps.

[BiochemGuy]

I got the ASUS Direct CUII GTX 580 card yesterday. It was meant to replace a GTX 285 card that has an Accelero XTREME GTX Pro cooler on it.

At idle the fans on the ASUS card run at 15% (~1100 rpm) and they have an audible low-frequency hum that is noticeably louder than the Accelero-cooled GTX285. At any fan setting above 30% I find the noise level of the ASUS card to be annoying. In contrast, the Accelero-cooled GTX 285 was never noisome on load.

I realize that I'm doing an apples and orange comparison here, but I'm disappointed by the Direct CUII cooler. Maybe I'm just spoiled by the Accelero cooler. In any case I've decided to RMA the ASUS card and order the Sparkle Calibre GTX 580 card. I'll post my observations when I get the new card.

[darren]

boe- did you happen to note any errors when your frozr crashed? Mine worked fine for days, but recently I've been having crashes that are more and more frequent. I thought they were memory related based on the error I received from Warcraft, but the windows event viewer gives this warning each time it has happened, "Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding and has successfully recovered." Windows suggested I update the driver, even though I have the latest one, based on this dump text

"Source
Windows

Summary
Video hardware error

Date
?2/?19/?2011 2:29 PM

Status
Solution available

Description
A problem with your video hardware caused Windows to stop working correctly.

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: LiveKernelEvent
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.48
Locale ID: 1033

Extra information about the problem
BCCode: 117
BCP1: FFFFFA80073B0010
BCP2: FFFFF8801000F354
BCP3: 0000000000000000
BCP4: 0000000000000000
OS Version: 6_1_7600
Service Pack: 0_0
Product: 256_1
Bucket ID: X64_0x117_DxgKdxFailed_IMAGE_nvlddmkm.sys
Server information: ce60698b-e04a-45f6-a69e-251b7764adc1"

I previously had an EVGA 580 and an Asus 6970 that never had this type of crash, so I am now almost certain it is related to the MSI card. I wasn't quite sure before as I was having another type of freeze problem that I assumed might be the same issue. I though that was graphics related at first, which is why I returned the other cards. I then thought it was the same memory issue that was causing this problem, but finally discovered it may be a known issue with my Crucial SSD. Kind of hard to troubleshoot two separate problems, especially when both give pop up crash notifications that indicate a possible memory error!

Anyway, my DirectCU should arrive today. Given that the graphics card crashes now happen multiple times a day (3 this morning), I should know pretty quickly if the new card fixes the problem. I note that my card rarely touched 70C even with my custom fan profile set to 40% RPM until it hit 70. I removed the custom profile to make sure that MSI afterburner wasn't causing the crashes. It wasn't. The card is much louder now and it still crashes even though temps are around 60C when it crashes:/ Not sure why it is becoming more frequent or why it didn't happen at all for nearly the first week I had it.