Which Graphics Card Do You Use?

The online reviews say that the Sapphire X700 Pro has a quiet, nice cooler

My Asus V9950 has a special cooler which is much quieter than other FX 5900s, and is moderately overclockable

 

Good to hear...................owe you a cold one Firecat
Hmmm..... do Firecats like their drinks cold

 

Its summer here so I'll take a cold one

hehe....I wonder how anyone with an FX 5800U would enjoy any game, when that dustbuster is vacumm cleaning P) like hell.....

 

If BillyBlaze change from stock cooler to a silencer then he won't hear his vga anymore.
@ Firecat : have you tried a passive cooler from Zalman yet? it's only 15$ I believe and it's worth the money imho.

I had my 6600gt passively cooled and the max was 50C

 

I have not heard about a silencer for the Ati X850XTPE... is there a link available?

I do not know if I would be interested in replacing the stock fan on my Sapphire even if it is a little loud. I put on Artic Silver 5 on my new CPU for the first time and that was traumatic enough for me. I believe the warranty goes out the window on your card if you decide to mod it as well doesn't it?

The problem I feel with passive cooling though is that the ram sinks/heat pipes are just transferring heat into the rest of your case isn't it? You are going to need very good case cooling.

 

Arctic Silencers are considered to be one of the most effective cooling units except for h²o and dry ice I have it on my x800xl modded to xt and it is 38C idle and 50C full load. unhearable and you can change the rpm's of vga card

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga2.php?idx=61

the HIS X850XT ICEQII Turbo (Like HIS Excalibur) has a built in silencer...which turns of in reflective blue (I have the same but x800XL)

http://www.hisdigital.com/html/product_ov.php?id=167&view=yes

http://www.hisdigital.com/html/product_ov.php?id=153&view=yes

Edit: there shouldn't be any prblem for removing stock for better...no prbs at all, even I managed to do that every card has the possibility to change their stuff.
Arctic Silver5 + Zalman 7700Cu for me was idle: from 57C to 41C and full load 68 to 55
it's a cpu saviour for amd as well

take care

 

Yeah I have heard a lot of good things about the Artic Silencers. Perhaps if temps get too high on my video card I may consider giving it a try. Have to do some gaming and see how high I can get my temps on full load. The design of the Artic Silencers however appear to be quite similar to the stock fan on my X850XTPE. Have you done any comparisons with your stock fan versus Artic Silencer?

 

the stock fan is a silencer. I have the HIS X800XL ICEQII Turbo and the card comes with the nv silencer but a special edition that lights up (like pic.) but a friend has the same card without the silencer and my temps are 40 and his 53 idle so...

take care

Inf

 

How good is a passive cooler vs. active ones?

 

Some argue that passive cooling is quieter and still able to distribute heat away from the core. But the problem is that many heatpipes depend on good case ventilation and airflow. So you will need VERY good case cooling. To me there seems very little advantage in the quietness argument. I say this because it is very likely that you will have to add additional case fan(s) to your system to not only improve airflow for the heatpipes on your video card but to compensate from the heat distributed from those heatpipes.

You can take a look here of a review conducted on the Gigabye Radeon X800XL which uses heatpipes.

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1756&page=2

 

This is the one i am now thinking about.
http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/FeedBack/CustratingReview.asp?item=N82E16814102405

would it be a good choice with my machine or is there a better x700 pro
like maybe this
http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/FeedBack/CustratingReview.asp?item=N82E16814123148

a lot of $......need to make the right choice

 

Sapphire is one of the top-tier ATI card manufacturers. I'd recommend you go with Sapphire.

Abit, is focused more on value, but performs nice too.

I'd say that the Abit would perform slightly better than the Sapphire (the Abit has 5Mhz extra core clock), but I'd choose Sapphire for reliability.

Both cards are really good, and the ultimate choice is up to you.

 

Yep I've been hearing great things on those Sapphire Cards too...great overclockers.

regarding the question on the heating...well, I experience the noice and heating like this:
Papst is manufacturer of fans till 12mm. The fans are constructed in a special way making the "blowing" very strong with very little noise (19dB=unheareable practically). So I have in front and in back a fan of 12mm, the frontfan at 1400RPM and backfan at 2000Rpm cause that is quiet too. the psu has a controller to control the fans of powersupply.
if I play HalfLife I just put on the fans a bit faster so my cpu and vga remains 38-40C.
better cooling doesn't mean it's gettting louder...not at all.
@Billy Blaze : you cannot compare HIS with Gigabyte...better compare HIS with Sapphire but the HIS has better cooling

 

I am sold ...i will go with Sapphire, but will i need extra fans with the x700 Pro..
I have 350 watts power w/single fan
Asus P5GD1-vm
Pentium 4 540 3.2 Ghz
Intel oversized heatsink/fan w/thermal controlled variable speed fan

 

Do you have a exhaust fan at the rear? And in the front? Cause that is very important to create a decent airflow. cold air from the front to the back while cooling the hdd's and cpu/vga.
I am concerned about your power supply. if you have (like me) a prescott then the powersupply can only be good if you have enough Amperes on the 12V.
Intels are very powerhungry and you have the newer prescott's so your mobo is setup through the 12V...you need a lot of Amperes. Especially when you have a good graphics card combined with Pressies ... it's like the engine of your hardware giving 'juice' to your peripherals...that must be important on the long term...it's like an investment and it's better for your rig.

have fun

 

Thanks for getting back Infinity.......rear only....i will get a front fan as you suggest.......my PU is a 350 watt Antec.......how do you, or anyone else for that matter, feel about that ....

 

Antec is a good brand, like Enermax and Tagan. the price isn't that expensive and the quality is sometimes better then those 30$ 600W powersupplies

I had the same antec psu like you have. my cpu is 3.4 with 6600gt and it managed perfectly...so don't worry.

important is then inside airflow...so your cpu temps will drop too. I saw at my friends house the temps rise to 85C - "hmmm, Andy...isn't that normal?" ... like I said: amd is much better with this...allways been

have fun...and watch out with installing stuff...cause I blew my own two weeks ago

Andy

 

OK Andy.......sounds good.....i just discovered there are two Antec 350 models.....which one did you have....Smartpower or Smartpower 2.0
http://www.antec-inc.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=26350
So how did you blow what

 

This was my case I bought some time ago: SLK3750 with this power supply:

http://www.antec-inc.com/specs/sl350_spe.html

case :http://www.antec-inc.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=93703

I purchased a needed a new psu cause the card I have at the moment: x800xl which is heavier on the 12V then the 6600gt... and when I exchanged the old psu and inserted the new one (Antec truecontrol 550W) it blew up. then new motherboard and the dvd burner too...it was horrible but I learned my lesson well never play with psu's anymore lol

 

DUDE ..............NO FUN.......hey,...i assumed i had had an antec because i went to the seller's site ( Velocity Micro ) and they indicated that that there PUs were Antec...well, i just pulled the cover and guess what ...the pu is a HiPro HP-P401WP(PEE-U).........i am not happy .....what do you think of that unit...it seems like crapola to me..
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Prod...3&CMP=OTC-pr1c3watch&ATT=Power Supply for Cas

 

Any type of additional active cooling will be adding noise. How discernable the noise is, is the question. In the context of passive cooling for video cards, it is very dependant on the airflow and cooling of the case. Video cards with their own fan are not as dependant on these factors. If a computer is already setup with good case fans and the airflow is good then passive cooling for the video card should be fine. Just keep in mind that it WILL be producing more heat within the case. Whether you will have to add additional case fans to compensate is up to the user. That was the point I wanted to make. Many people just think they can get passively cooled video cards and be all setup minus the noise that the video card fan produces. But in reality the setup might be louder so that one can provide good airflow to cool the heatpipes on the card.

I was not actually making any comparisons at all. A question was asked about passive vs active cooling and I thought I would add my perspective.

How did you come to the assumption that the PSU would be Antec? Can you provide a direct link (if possible) to the product you purchased. 350W seems a little under powered, but depends on your CPU, video card, and how many other devices you have connected in your computer. If this was a mistake by the seller you should definitely send them an email or call their office.

 

yes, true BillyBlaze, but the time where all those fans produce lot's of noise are over, and thank God for that I can tell you that my computer isn't making any noise and I love that cause I hate the sound of it my previous computer was a landmower or something...it was waaay to noisy. Passive cooling is unheard off for high end graphic cards imho...the temps can rise till 70 or 80C cause it is necessary for fans, no matter what. 12mm fans doesn't make that much noise here and my temps are 41C idle with prescott 550 (3.4) so I consider this to be good for my cpu as well in the long term.

sorry bout the misunderstanding regarding the comparision.

@ Rainwalker: Sorry to hear that! you should definately send them an email or whatever cause if you can prove they promised you an Antec maybe they will fix it cause such an Antec would be just good enough for your rig

have a sunny day

Andy

 

Greetings Billy............my presumption was a result of this page
http://www.velocitymicro.com/vendors.php?PHPSESSID=d2af39b512b64fdfd3a999c249ec19c9

Yes, i intend to call them, but i am not hopeful..........very disappointed in them so far as a result of this................btw... it seems i will need to replace the pu and after Andy's horror story i am nervious about doing so. Would it not be a simple matter to buy the same brand (HiPro) and simply unplug one connection at a time and replace it with the new connection....i am thinking that the harness would be the same ....or are all the PUs that i might buy ( one of the ones we have written about) have the same( non-confusing if installed as i suggested ) harness

 

Has anyone tried this...
http://www.directron.com/xtreme.html

looks interesting

 

Hi Rainwalker, those antinoise things aren't that good...I read about those things on a lot of places (hardware fora) and the results weren't that good.

the easiest way is to buy two 12mm fans (front and back) and if you can control the speed then you can control the noise/heat and it's cheaper then those damper kits .