GTS-250 a bit too loud - Quiet it down or upgrade?

[aphex]

I will soon be moving my computer (hackintosh) from the office to the bedroom and need to quiet down the whole system. The loudest component is the video card and i'm trying to see how to best solve this issue without spending too much. The sound isn't bad at all for the office, I just need something much quieter for the bedroom.

Currently using an ASUS ENGTS250 (GTS-250). While I do occasionally play games, they are usually few and far between. I do however like to have a little bit of power there just incase the mood strikes I also do some photo editing in Aperture and would possibly like to move info video editing in the near future but I don't want the video card to be a bottleneck if possible.

Just to add, I am currently using a Bgears BG01176 b-Envi case with limited space around the video card due to the proximity of the power supply.

1. Should I add an aftermarket cooler to the GTS-250 and call it a day? Looking at the Zalman VF1000, though i may need to bend it out slightly to fit into the location properly.

2. Alternatively - Should I look at upgrading/cross-grading into something quieter? I would prefer passive, but i'm not sure if i have a ton of room for a completely passive card.


Open to all suggestions! As this is a hack, I am somewhat limited by card choice although nearly everything works nowadays. Just not sure its worth spending $40 for a cooler on a $60 card.

Thanks in advance!

 

[railven]

I'd personally not spend any money directly on that card. I had to switch into my back up card (9800 GTX+) for the time being and I was suprised how quieter it was than my HD 5870 haha.

If I were you, I'd look into upgrading the card. You can get a cooler running card with equal to or greater performance for around ~$100. That's about ~$55 more than just buying a cooler.

I'd try to find a used HD 5770/6770 or try to score an HD 7750/7770 with a rebate.

Oops, if you're looking into nVidia only, check out the GTS 430 and if GTS 450/GTS 550.

 

[aphex]

I'd personally not spend any money directly on that card. I had to switch into my back up card (9800 GTX+) for the time being and I was suprised how quieter it was than my HD 5870 haha.

If I were you, I'd look into upgrading the card. You can get a cooler running card with equal to or greater performance for around ~$100. That's about ~$55 more than just buying a cooler.

I'd try to find a used HD 5770/6770 or try to score an HD 7750/7770 with a rebate.

Oops, if you're looking into nVidia only, check out the GTS 430 and if GTS 450/GTS 550.

I'm ok with ATI or NVidia, not loyal to either. Are those cards you mentioned (GTS 430, HD 5770/6770/7750/7770) quieter than the GTS 250?

 

[railven]

I'm ok with ATI or NVidia, not loyal to either. Are those cards you mentioned (GTS 430, HD 5770/6770/7750/7770) quieter than the GTS 250?

I'd guess yes since they use less power and are all on a smaller node. I checked some of them on AT and found most are quieter at load, but at idle most were about the same.

If you wanted passive cool, you'd be dipping into the HD 46xx and GTS 420's, which performance wise won't be much better than your current card.

You can shop around for a price you like and hopefully get a card with good noise levels.

You can find some noise charts here for the newer cards (oddly the GTS 450 isn't in there, I'd peg it equal to or around the GTX 550):

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5541/amd-radeon-hd-7750-radeon-hd-7770-ghz-edition-review/23

 

[kjknight]

I really only see two options.

1. Clean the dust out of your video cards heatsink, remove the fan and strap on two fans (80/92mm) at a lower voltage. This is really only viable if you have spare fans laying around.

2.Replace the card entirely.

Replacing the cooler is not a good choice since the card is not worth that much. For a bit more you can pick up a used radeon 5770/6770.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

1. Clean the dust out of your video cards heatsink, remove the fan and strap on two fans (80/92mm) at a lower voltage. This is really only viable if you have spare fans laying around.

I did this with my 9800GT, it does 780/1842/900 and idles around 42C with load temps around 54C.

 

[Elcs]

1) Clean heatsink + install fan control software to see if you can tame it successfully.

2) if 1) doesn't work, try directing airflow over it with a spare fan. Disable the graphics card fan for this and monitor temps.

3) If neither of these work, you might consider reseating the heatsink with new thermal paste (voids warranty) or look for a new card.

Spending money is always my last option

 

[T_Yamamoto]

1) Clean heatsink + install fan control software to see if you can tame it successfully.

2) if 1) doesn't work, try directing airflow over it with a spare fan. Disable the graphics card fan for this and monitor temps.

3) If neither of these work, you might consider reseating the heatsink with new thermal paste (voids warranty) or look for a new card.

Spending money is always my last option

+1

 

[Leyawiin]

That's a small diameter fan and that's part of the problem. I would think it's no more than 80 mm and many video cards have much larger diameter fans these days. My GTX 460 with its reference HSF is inaudible over the case fans with the fan on auto. You don't need to get an aftermarket cooler for such an old card - there are plenty of new options with quieter fans and much more power.

Here's a thought. This one is faster than your current card, very compact, uses very little power (no external connector needed) and pretty cheap. Its ideal for a small case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161403
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/HD_7750_iCooler/25.html

 

[kmmatney]

I would agree with others on the cheapest options:

1) Try to slow down the fan with software.
2) Or, remove the fan and replace it with a slower spinning (and preferably larger) fan.

If you are not gaming much, the card should never get very hot - you might even be able to run it without the fan. I have a similar situation with one of my computers, and just have a 90 mm fan running with a resistor to slow it down. You an get fan resistors for a few dollars online.

 

[nenforcer]

Going from a .65nm GTS 250 (or is it .55nm?) to a .40nm GTS 450 / GTX 550 Ti will be like night and day.

Granted, it does cost twice as much than just a cooler, but not only will you have a cooler and quieter card but it will also give you support for DirectX 11, which you currently don't have.

It's a better future proof investment.

 

[aphex]

Just a quick update. Took the stock fan off and strapped a quiet Arctic Cooling 92mm fan to the card, temps are cooler than before and its dead silent.

Thanks for the suggestions!!