Fastest passively cooled video card?

[idlepaw]

I'm looking for suggestions on the fastest passively cooled video card besides the Ultimate editions from Sapphire (too big). I've looked at the Radeon 9600's, but is there anything faster? Also, is that card faster than the 9500 Pro's or the TI4400? Thanks for all your help.

 

[yhelothar]

geforcefx 5800 ultra (2D mode only though 😛)

or you can get a 9700pro with a zalman/thermaltake giant heatpipe cooler

 

[Sid59]

3rd party 9600NP come passive.

 

[modedepe]

The 9600 is about the fastest besides one with a heatpipe. It will be slower than a ti4400, and much slower than a 9500 pro. If you want a fast card and want to go passive you'll probably need to stick a zalman on it.

 

[BoomAM]

Sapphire Atlantis 9800XT Ultimate Edition.
Comes with a Zalman HP Cooler. And a silent fan. But can be run without the fan. Theres a review on FiringSquad.

 

[idlepaw]

Thanks for all your replies. None of the Ultimates or Zalman's will fit since I have a Shuttle XPC. I'm just trying to get that thing as quiet as possible. Looks like I'll just have to go with the 9600 and sacrifice some performance.

 

[nick1985]

thats to bad...

 

[RollWave]

i dont understand you shuttle people...you spend extra money for less performance that isnt really even that mobile!

 

[idlepaw]

Well, I don't play games too much, so Word only goes so fast. Besides, how cool is it to have a near silent tiny box for a computer? 🙂 In my mind, it beats those huge ass full towers anyday.

 

[MichaelZ]

midi towers for life 😛

 

[GreatDaleness]

Originally posted by: idlepaw
Well, I don't play games too much, so Word only goes so fast. Besides, how cool is it to have a near silent tiny box for a computer? 🙂 In my mind, it beats those huge ass full towers anyday.

If you don't play games, why do you want something more powerful than a 9200?

 

[idlepaw]

Originally posted by: GreatDaleness


If you don't play games, why do you want something more powerful than a 9200?

Now why'd you have to go and be all logical? 🙂

 

[BoomAM]

Originally posted by: idlepaw
......Besides, how cool is it to have a near silent tiny box for a computer?......

If we were to to take literally, then not cool at all. In 90% of cases (no pun intended), silent means less cooling potential. Unless your running Water Cooling.

 

[idlepaw]

I'm actually pretty surprised how cool (temp wise) my Shuttle is. With a 2.4GHz CPU (non-overclocked), TI4400 video card, 7200 RPM hard drive, and a cdrw:

load
system temp 45C
CPU temp 50C

idle
system temp 43C
CPU temp 33C

I'm pretty sure my old computer was a lot louder and hotter. Go figure.