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Buying card in next 1-2 months - want to make it passive cooling - which ATI card?

C

ChefJoe

Platinum Member
I don't want people to try to dissuade me from ATI, I use them, I like them, and that's it.

My requirements, DVI connection (desire flat panel later), TV connection, ATI, pretty good performance for under $200. I'm not a gamer, but I want something better than my ATI Radeon VE when 3d things happen. This will go in my new Springdale based machine, bulding to start later this month. This new computer will have passive cooling wherever easily done, so I will want the ability to swap the graphics card cooler with a larger, passive one or a nice flat surface to which I can attach a larger HS (maybe taking a pci slot) to make it passive.

So, should I be investing in a 9500 Pro (OEM) before they're gone or wait to see what comes out of the 9600 line ?

[EDIT] Get nVidia... ha ha. The other reason is that I will run this as a dual display system with a PCI radeon 7000 that I have, so the staying with same maker for drivers seems like a good idea.

[EDIT] This is going nowhere fast. I dunno, I had hopes of people talking about how much longer the 9500 Pros will be around (I hear they're getting scarce) and how passive cooling can be added to it and perhaps a 9600 Pro. From what I hear, the 9200 will be passive, but I think I might want a bump above that.
 
i had the 7000 for about 2 weeks before i realized how bad it was.

since i'm restricted to PCI, i got a $80 radeon 9000 online, it should be arriving tomorrow, PM me if you want to know whether its worth a buy!

its got dual monitor support (DVI), tv out, no fan or anything. really excited about it!
 
At the moment as I see it, the only cards that could happily function with just a heatsink are the Radeon 9000, 9200, and possibly a 9600 (depending on speeds and what some manufacturers do). These all offer better graphics than your Radeon 7000. I've omitted the 7500/LE because it isn't really pushing you further.... you can do better for just a little more money.

I suppose an 8500LE or 9100 equivalent could run with just a heatsink but I think a case fan providing good ventilation to the card may be necessary.... I know my brothers Radeon 8500 runs quite warm and that has a heatsink and fan.

Edit: To be honest, if you really really wanted to you could always buy a card and then edit the BIOS and throttle it back a bit so that running with a heatsink will not damage it... in the case of the 9600 it may be your best bet. It may also be possible with a 9500 non-pro as these only have half the pipelines of the 9700/9500 pro cards so should generate a less heat.
 
Or the sapphire 9700Pro ultimate

Its a 9700 Pro with the Zalman VGA Heatpipe ZM80A-HP cooler...
If I had the money I would buy one of these..

The ultimate, apart from the cooler, also have RAM sinks, which you dont get with the standalone ZM80A-HP.

/edit
And if I read what you wrote, about below 200$ 😛

You can use the ZM80A-HP on almost any graphic card, so you can choose the best card, then make it silent..
 
Get a 9500 Pro and a Zalman cooler (I think there's one below the ZM80A which would be cheaper, and will probably be sufficient for a 9500Pro, it should also keep the cost below $200 and give decent performance.
 
What about the new version of the GeForce FX 5600 Ultra?
I saw the benchies and it performs on par and sometimes better than the Radeon 95/9600pros.
Dont know how much it is though.

Keys
 
Gigabyte has an ATI Radeon 9200 VIVO 128MB AGP at Newegg for US$99 (with passive heatsink of course). I've been pleased with the quality and stability of the Gigabyte motherboards that I've used, but I don't know anything about their video cards (which means that I might have to be the first guinea pig and try it out, because the features look tempting to me). 😱
 
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