Need GPU for Silent Upgarde to PC

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A

abeth

Junior Member
Apr 23, 2011
21
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Hi All,

Current System:
ASUS A8n SLI Deluxe
Athlon X2 +4200 (OC to 2.6)
BFG Geforce 7900 gt oc
2gb OCZ PC3200
Antec TPII -550 PSU
(If you need more specs let me know)

Ok, currently this things sounds like a small turbine (mostly because of the CPU and GPU fans, and old low quality case fans). I'm putting this system into a new quiet case I'm building so that I can put it into the living room and have it hooked up to my 40" LCD for media, gaming and browsing. I've got the case, fans and cpu cooler part figured out, but what to do about the video card has got me stumped.

So to put a new quiet cooler on this very old card is going to cost me $60, when I could get a new card for that much or less. This has me thinking I might as well just upgrade my card to a newer one that comes out of the box quiet.

So what do I get? Lets say budget is $150 max, I would like to upgrade this card to meet the quiet cases needs as well as getting the most out of this system until the day comes I do a full upgrade (Couple years away I hope)

Media I play is 1080p .mkv

Just getting back into PC gaming, only real expectation is to play Diablo 3 when it comes out. Used to play a lot of HL2

Full upgrade isn't an option.

Let me know you opinions!

Thank you in advance.
Phil
 
A

abeth

Junior Member
Apr 23, 2011
21
0
0
Thanks for your ideas! Keep them coming, lets hear some nividia options. Also setting aside the quiet part, what is the best GPU I could use without running into bottlenecks from my old system?
 
toyota

toyota

Lifer
Apr 15, 2001
12,957
1
0
anything faster than a 5770 or gtx550 level of card would be pretty wasteful in most games with that cpu. even that level of card would be noticeably held back in the more cpu intensive games. and just in general that cpu is not going to let you run at settings a decent card could otherwise handle and you can expect pretty low min framerates in most cases.
 
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cusideabelincoln

cusideabelincoln

Diamond Member
Aug 3, 2008
3,275
46
91
Low performance group: GT 240 GDDR5, HD 5670, HD 6570, HD 6670 -> Whatever is cheapest.

High performance group: HD 5750, GTS 450, HD 5770, GTX 550 Ti -> Whichever is cheapest.

Add another 1GB or 2GB of RAM. No need for you to spend $150 on a video card without upgrading the rest of your system.
 
happy medium

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
This is the card you are looking for, a gts450 silent passive. The reviews on newegg are very positive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-129-_-Product

14-187-129-Z01
 
cusideabelincoln

cusideabelincoln

Diamond Member
Aug 3, 2008
3,275
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That is pretty unnecessarily costly. He doesn't need a passive card. He only needs a card whose fan is not loud or louder than his other fans in the tower.
 
A

alcoholbob

Diamond Member
May 24, 2005
6,380
448
126
Something around an 8800GT performance-wise is about as much as you can get without bottlenecking the CPU.
 
B

betasub

Platinum Member
Mar 22, 2006
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cusideabelincoln said:
That is pretty unnecessarily costly. He doesn't need a passive card. He only needs a card whose fan is not loud or louder than his other fans in the tower.
Click to expand...

This is the common problem with the unqualified use of the term "silent". OP says silent in the thread title (which strictly speaking requires passive cooling). But, as you correctly point out, the detail of his requirements is only for a quiet card, so most current low-mid cards should qualify with the standard HSF cooling.
 
Termie

Termie

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2005
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www.techbuyersguru.com
A

abeth

Junior Member
Apr 23, 2011
21
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0
Originally Posted by cusideabelincoln
That is pretty unnecessarily costly. He doesn't need a passive card. He only needs a card whose fan is not loud or louder than his other fans in the tower.
This is the common problem with the unqualified use of the term "silent". OP says silent in the thread title (which strictly speaking requires passive cooling). But, as you correctly point out, the detail of his requirements is only for a quiet card, so most current low-mid cards should qualify with the standard HSF cooling.
Click to expand...
You nailed it on the head there guys, I should have had "quiet" instead of "silent" in the Thread Title.

Thank you so much for all the great ideas, I'm sure I can now find a GPU from your suggestions that will keep this rig going for a while.

Add another 1GB or 2GB of RAM. No need for you to spend $150 on a video card without upgrading the rest of your system.
Click to expand...
Prices at my local PC shop for PC3200 and other CAN online retailers are $43 2x512MB and $67 2x1GB (I need 2x because my MOBO is dual chan right?) Is this worth the performance increase?

Thanks again!

Phil
 
happy medium

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
abeth said:
You nailed it on the head there guys, I should have had "quiet" instead of "silent" in the Thread Title.

Thank you so much for all the great ideas, I'm sure I can now find a GPU from your suggestions that will keep this rig going for a while.

Prices at my local PC shop for PC3200 and other CAN online retailers are $43 2x512MB and $67 2x1GB (I need 2x because my MOBO is dual chan right?) Is this worth the performance increase?

Thanks again!

Phil
Click to expand...

ok, so thats a little too quiet. :thumbsup:

I for one would not buy into those 6570 and 6670 cards you can do alot better for a few more dollars.

I go with the Gigabyte gts450 with the windforce II cooler, its the same type cooler that on the gtx 560 Super Overclock, which is very quiet.
It also give you a little extra power for the future, since you said you were keeping your system for a while longer.

$104 AR is a real good price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125341

Most if not all cards in this class are at least fairly quiet, You could go for this gts450 for $80 AR. This card is faster then any other cards mentioned and cheaper also. It's also a little overkill for your system, but overkill is good.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814162062

If you can find a 5750 under 80$AR thats also a option.

ARe stilll using windows XP? If so 2gb is enough for you IMO.
 
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S

Silverforce11

Lifer
Feb 19, 2009
10,457
10
76
Somehow i don't think you will be able to run Diablo 3. It looks pretty demanding.. and knowing blizzard, their games are more often than not CPU limited.
 
VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,571
10,206
126
As far as I can tell, my Gigabyte GTX460 1GB OC is nearly silent, at least it's not noticable over the other fans in my cases.
 
Termie

Termie

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2005
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www.techbuyersguru.com
VirtualLarry said:
As far as I can tell, my Gigabyte GTX460 1GB OC is nearly silent, at least it's not noticable over the other fans in my cases.
Click to expand...

wahdangun said:
why not HIS HD 6870 iceQx turbo ?

linky

its really silent card and you got great performance too
Click to expand...

These are fine cards, but they are way too much money to throw at a system that probably can barely make use of an HD5670.
 
W

wahdangun

Golden Member
Feb 3, 2011
1,007
148
106
Termie said:
These are fine cards, but they are way too much money to throw at a system that probably can barely make use of an HD5670.
Click to expand...

he said he want to eventually playing D3, so a bit more powerful GPU isn't bad, and maybe he can upgrade the CPU also in the future to be able to play D3.
 
A

alcoholbob

Diamond Member
May 24, 2005
6,380
448
126
Silverforce11 said:
Somehow i don't think you will be able to run Diablo 3. It looks pretty demanding.. and knowing blizzard, their games are more often than not CPU limited.
Click to expand...

It's a Blizzard game, by definition it will run on every POS out there. I can run Warcraft III on a 1.4GHz Pentium III single core laptop and integrated graphics...their minimum settings are easy to push.

Plus it's primarily a single player game.
 
W

wahdangun

Golden Member
Feb 3, 2011
1,007
148
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Astrallite said:
It's a Blizzard game, by definition it will run on every POS out there. I can run Warcraft III on a 1.4GHz Pentium III single core laptop and integrated graphics...their minimum settings are easy to push.

Plus it's primarily a single player game.
Click to expand...

what! WOW is ancient games, and just try running star craft 2 on that pentium 3,
 
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