quiet/passive cooled PCIe videocard?

[lorlabnew]

Hi guys,

I need an advice here...

Basically, I want to get rid of noise and heat that my current PC generates; I put it together originally for FSX, Crysis and other gaming @ 1600x1200, but I lately don't play games whole a lot. The machine is not extremely noisy, but not quiet either and particularly if running 24/7. I have ambient 80F+ in our house, so all the fans have to spin in packed but still relatively well-ventilated case.

I figured that if I'll replace 8800gtx with less power-hungry card (possibly passive cooled only), I'll drop both some noise but mainly lower the overall case heat. Then I'd get rid of the 3-drive array and leave only single HDD, again I'll save some power and heat. I thought about this card:

ASUS EN8400GS SILENT/HTP/512M GeForce 8400 GS 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814121235

So with basic videocard and only single HDD I'd hope that my case temps would drop, and I could also disconnect at least 1-2 case fans. The 680i still has that damn 50mm fan on chipset (NB?) too, but maybe I it would heat a bit less if the RAID would be gone and gxt wouldn't be sitting right on top of it...

Thanks for help and ideas what to do with that stuff to make it bit more quiet.

current specs:
EVGA nForce? 680i SLI 122-CK-NF68-AR
Intel C2D E6600, ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro
EVGA 8800GTX
8GB RAM (4x2GB) G.SKILL F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ
750GB RAID-0 (3x ST3250620AS SATA-2)
Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic 7.1
LIAN LI PC-7B plus II, Corsair HX620W PSU
3x120mm low-rpm case fans, 1x90mm fan blowing on RAM chips
zalman rpm controllers for fans etc..
Windows XP Pro 32-bit, Vista Ultimate 64-bit (dual boot)
HP LP2065 20" (S-IPS) LCD

 

[DarkRogue]

I skimmed through that post really quickly and caught "Crysis" and "8400GS" ... that doesn't really add up lol.

I would say try to shoot for using an Accelero S1 to passively cool one of the cards it supports, most likely an 8800GT.
If you're worried about temps, grab any quiet fan, undervolt to 5v and strap it onto the Accelero and you have inaudible, superior cooling.

 

[lorlabnew]

Originally posted by: DarkRogue
I skimmed through that post really quickly and caught "Crysis" and "8400GS" ... that doesn't really add up lol.

I would say try to shoot for using an Accelero S1 to passively cool one of the cards it supports, most likely an 8800GT.
If you're worried about temps, grab any quiet fan, undervolt to 5v and strap it onto the Accelero and you have inaudible, superior cooling.

thanks for reply,

well, I actually own (and currently use) the 8800GTX, but I don't need any gaming performance anymore - so I'm sort of trying to "dumb down", slow down/quiet down my current PC. No Crysis or other gaming with intended passive cooled video...

I'm looking for a videocard that doesn't heat too much, that is quiet and not complete dog for desktop work, image editing and such. If needed, I have some Zalman flower-shape type VGA coolers, not sure if they're compatible with newer cards, I used to use them with 6800GS and such in the past.

 

[DarkRogue]

If you are never going to really game on that machine again, then I suppose you can go ahead with that plan.
I was assuming you'd still do some casual gaming though, which was why I recommended the 8800GT.

 

[lorlabnew]

Originally posted by: DarkRogue
If you are never going to really game on that machine again, then I suppose you can go ahead with that plan.
I was assuming you'd still do some casual gaming though, which was why I recommended the 8800GT.

thanks - I'll check out the 8800GT with passive cooling options (Accelero S1?)- as long as the card is not too power hungry and stays somewhat cool when idling or being used for desktop work, I suppose it could be an option. Surely, I wish I could preserve a tiny bit of gaming performance, but I don't want to commit myself to too much fooling with mods and other stuff at this point. I even thought about putting this whole rig aside and built another one, just for desktop work.

 

[ther00kie16]

Just get the Accelero for your GTX. According to specs, difference between GTX and GT is only 7 watts at load (probably a little more while idle). Just be advised that Accelero will take up 2 slots and adding a fan will take up 3 slots total. If you are really interested in saving power, think about the upcoming 9800gt (I assume some revision of Accelero will fit that) which is a revised 8800gt but is supposedly compatible with hybrid power/SLI with nVidia IGP. So theoretically, it will use integrated graphics unless it needs 3D in which case, it will turn on the dedicated card for hybrid SLI.

 

[DarkRogue]

Originally posted by: ther00kie16
difference between GTX and GT is only 7 watts at load (probably a little more while idle).

Where did you get these numbers?
I've always heard that the 8800GTX was a beast in terms of power consumption, and the 8800GT being fabbed on a smaller process ate quite a bit less.

Here are 2 quick search results to back this claim - they're both by TomsHardware though. This is not the per-card usage, it's stated as total system draw, but I believe they should've used the same system for all the measurements so the differences should be the same.
http://www.tomshardware.com/re...e-8800-gt,1714-14.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/re...tx-review,1800-12.html

At idle, the GT consumes roughly 40W less than the GTX and at load, needs almost a whole 60W less.

 

[lorlabnew]

well it sounds a bit like that 8800GT may also be an overkill for me at this point. I feel that 8800gtx is not too noisy on it own with stock fan - problem is the amount of power it draws and the resulting heat it generates (I keep blowing 120mm fan over it, and also removed all the slot covers under it). I figured if I get card that heats only a little (like that considered 8400GS), my overall temps should drop and so would the noise. Now everyhting needs to spin a lot to get the heat out. Off course, the mobo is not exactly without a fault either - it's a nice board for overclocker but that heatpipe over chipsets heats like crazy even at stock speeds - I can't imagine to run the heatpipe without the 50mm chipset fan (another nosie maker, somewhat higher pitched..)...

 

[DarkRogue]

The 9600GT is a close second to the 8800GT, uses about 10W less power at idle, while still performing well enough in newer games. Of course, you could also try ATI's offerings, but I'm not well versed with them anymore after the 9800 Pro lol.

That 8400 is good if you think it can handle whatever games you will play nowadays on it, though.

As far as the chipset cooling is concerned, I'm not sure how that board and your case is positioned, but can't you place a 120mm fan somewhere in your case to blow over it and several other components? That's what I would do, but again, the P182 does allow for that kind of configuration.

 

[lorlabnew]

Originally posted by: DarkRogue
As far as the chipset cooling is concerned, I'm not sure how that board and your case is positioned, but can't you place a 120mm fan somewhere in your case to blow over it and several other components? That's what I would do, but again, the P182 does allow for that kind of configuration.

hmmm, there is maybe something I could work out - I have a "Zalman bracket" with 90mm fan - it is a bracket that mounts normally on card slot screws I believe - it doesn't fit over 8800gtx and so I have it mounted on floppy cage and cool RAM with it - but with smaller videocard I think it could possibly be mounted as intended - on the expansion card slots as intended. That way I could probably position it over the chipset and remove the noisy stock 50mm fan... I'll have to check it out. since I already underclocked RAM it wouldn't need any cooling I guess, and so zalman bracket mounted 90mm could cool the chipset..that could work; so the 8400gs would be adequate if I wouldn't want to play games? Is the 8400gs on low side with regard to power consumption/heat output? again, no real 3d graphics considered at this point (maybe FS9..), mainly image editing and such

 

[SneakyStuff]

ECS passive 8800GT

Price is right on the money, power requirements are less than 8800GTX, silent operation with included fans if you wish to air cool it, and a very capable gaming card. That would be my reccomendation for you!

 

[ther00kie16]

Originally posted by: DarkRogue

Originally posted by: ther00kie16
difference between GTX and GT is only 7 watts at load (probably a little more while idle).

Where did you get these numbers?
I've always heard that the 8800GTX was a beast in terms of power consumption, and the 8800GT being fabbed on a smaller process ate quite a bit less.

Here are 2 quick search results to back this claim - they're both by TomsHardware though. This is not the per-card usage, it's stated as total system draw, but I believe they should've used the same system for all the measurements so the differences should be the same.
http://www.tomshardware.com/re...e-8800-gt,1714-14.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/re...tx-review,1800-12.html

At idle, the GT consumes roughly 40W less than the GTX and at load, needs almost a whole 60W less.

Wikipedia has a nice chart of all the info on all the cards. After a little research however, I think they've got the numbers wrong, it should be a 27W difference, which is more in line with what you found.

But going back to the question at hand. That ECS 8800gt has the the Accelero pre-installed for you so you don't have to mess with it. However, if you are still wanting to save money, I think the Hybrid power/SLI is the way to go as it will completely shut off the discrete graphics when it's not needed. ATI offerings will be more attractive once they announce mainstream and high-end graphics solutions that work with hybrid crossfire as well.

 

[stepone]

Perhaps you could try a new case that's built for sound dampening, like the Antec P182?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...2E16811129025&Tpk=P182

All the panels have sound dampening material built-in & a front door which also helps insulate the noise. The whole case is built around giving the most airflow possible while staying as silent as possible.
My PC which will be quite similar to yours (see below) except I run 6 hd's. This works great for me & is virtually silent.

 

[DarkRogue]

I think (I could be wrong) the reason for the OP choosing the 8400GS has more to do with saving a bit of money and spending a little just to replace the power hungry card he has. If the OP wants to rebuild a PC from the ground up built for silence, the P182 is a great choice as I've got one as well. However, he appears to be looking for low cost alternatives right now. If a better graphics card is still desired though, I just found out Asus also has a 9600GT silent edition as well, which was reviewed quite favorably over at SilentPCReview, but it costs about 3x more than the 8400GS.

To the OP, I'm pretty sure the 8400GS should consume less power, but as with all passively cooled systems, they rely HEAVILY on surrounding case airflow, so make sure you're planning that. Take a look at your case, look at where your fans are, and try to visualize the route the air takes through your case, making sure it passes the video card area. Make sure air can't go through any "shortcuts," like a side vent in the middle of nowhere.

 

[lorlabnew]

thanks for the suggestions guys; yes, I don't want to rebuilt the PC with new case (although that P182 looks good, probably would dampen the noise well), I just want to trim out (at least for this time when I don't have time or desire to play games) power hungry heat generating stuff. I figured that if I would want to game, I can always put 8800gtx back for that time.

I also don't want to occupy 2 slots with another large card, want to keep the current case "breathing" better with less parts inside. If I had on board video, I'd be using it right now, so I figured that 8400gs would be about as effective. I also looked at 8500gt which could have bit more performance, but it seems that people complain about overheat. But as I said earlier I have couple of those nearly silent Zalman VGA fans (got ZALMAN VF700-ALCU and VF700-CU as well, unused now), so maybe I could put it on this 8500gt if it would run too hot to the point that I'd be gettign garbled desktop graphics:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814121093

however, if the asus 8400gs would run overall cooler and wouldn't need any fan, I'd rather have that regardless the performance drop, Cool and silent is my goal.

 

[QuantumPion]

I got a gigabyte 8600GT from newegg for my HTPC. It is passively cooled, and actually doesn't seem to get hot at all which is remarkable. I've had passively-cooled cards in the past, and they seemed to overheat and damage the chips, causing graphics corruption, but this one is working great. http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814125070

 

[lorlabnew]

Originally posted by: QuantumPion
I got a gigabyte 8600GT from newegg for my HTPC. It is passively cooled, and actually doesn't seem to get hot at all which is remarkable. I've had passively-cooled cards in the past, and they seemed to overheat and damage the chips, causing graphics corruption, but this one is working great. http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814125070

thanks, checking it out; I though about 8600GT as well...

just for illustration, here is a picture of my PC internals; you can see how crammed everything really is - but the main reason for all those fans is gtx and raid. without them I think I can remove some fans and gain less noise and cooler overall run

http://farm4.static.flickr.com...13626_e69f84d7c8_b.jpg


..well, I think the 8600GT from gigabyte is too big..

so, maybe I'd go with either of these:

either Asus 8400GS here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814121235

or 8500GT here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814121093


The 8500GT has worse reviews - a lots of coments about overheating - I find it weird since it is clocked lower then the 8400GS; maybe the 8400GS has better heatsink or something? Well, which one to get from those 2 above? If 8400gs will heat less, I'd go with it.

 

[stepone]

My Gainward 8500GT in my sig has a factory 150mhz oc on it & gddr3 memory @1400mhz instead of the usual gddr2@ 800mhz is passively cooled & it never goes above 55c under load and idles in the 45c range.

If I were you i'd get either of these 2 cards:
ASUS EAH3650 SILENT/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 3650 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 - $66.99 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814121237

GIGABYTE GV-NX86T256H Silent GeForce 8600 GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 - $49.99 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814125070

Both are passively cooled & are decent 1280*1024 gaming cards. You should also remember that ATI 3650 cards have better power management & a cooler 55nm gpu.

 

[lorlabnew]

Originally posted by: stepone
My Gainward 8500GT in my sig has a factory 150mhz oc on it & gddr3 memory @1400mhz instead of the usual gddr2@ 800mhz is passively cooled & it never goes above 55c under load and idles in the 45c range.

If I were you i'd get either of these 2 cards:
ASUS EAH3650 SILENT/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 3650 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 - $66.99 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814121237

GIGABYTE GV-NX86T256H Silent GeForce 8600 GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 - $49.99 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814125070

Both are passively cooled & are decent 1280*1024 gaming cards. You should also remember that ATI 3650 cards have better power management & a cooler 55nm gpu.

OK,

I gave it another look, and I think that I'll order that suggested GIGABYTE GV-NX86T256H Silent GeForce 8600 GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 . The card is single slot an probably not that big afterall.

The card seems like good compromise between the performance and lowered power consumption. Whatever heat this will produce, it should be way less then my 8800gtx that idles right now around 62/63C (system 36C, CPU 41C), room 81F. Guess I'm going to order; if it wouldn't be workign right for me, I can always return it and get somethign else, newegg is good in this. BTW, I don't want Radeon because with nVidia I believe that can keep same drivers if I swap cards.

thanks for all your input guys! I'll post how the card works for me.

 

[iBPJohn]

Hum.. If you not going to be gaming then you probably should be able to get rid of that big fan pointed at the GPU and,the fan pointed at the memory, which should help with noise. I'd assume that you would be running with the case closed?

I also purchased that Gigabyte 8600GT for my HTCP build and it seems to be working well.

 

[lorlabnew]

Originally posted by: iBPJohn
Hum.. If you not going to be gaming then you probably should be able to get rid of that big fan pointed at the GPU and,the fan pointed at the memory, which should help with noise. I'd assume that you would be running with the case closed?

I also purchased that Gigabyte 8600GT for my HTCP build and it seems to be working well.

I'm aiming to get rid of some fans definitely - although each of those fans is relatively quiet alone, all together they do generate some hum. There are 8 fans spinning in this PC (3x120mm, 1x90mm, 1xCPU, 1x chipset, 1xGPU, 1xPSU.. that's way too many. I managed to cut it down from 9, the previous PSU had 2 fans (OCZ Xtream 750W or something like that, it was a noisy thing) And yes, the case is running normally closed, I removed the side for the shot only.

 

[SolMiester]

I have the Calibre 9600GT and that has a dual fan cooler asembly and the fans usually only operate around 35% so its very quiet!...

Not sure if you have them in the US though?

 

[lorlabnew]

I didn't hear about them, but I'm not too familiar with Sparkle brand - I think they sell power supplies here under this name...

I'm probably going to check out Circuity City tonight if they'd have some suitable card on hand for fair price, but if not I'll probably proceed with 8600gt from gigabyte.

 

[Binky]

How about a 3650 for $59AR?
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...p?ProductCode=10008261

 

[lorlabnew]

Originally posted by: Binky
How about a 3650 for $59AR?
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...p?ProductCode=10008261

I'm not too familar with the ATI's offerings since the days of Radeon 9500/9700 series.. been with nVidia since. Also, I ordered the 8600gt silent card, I'll see how it goes...

Thanks for the tip though!