Silence is Golden – Recommendation for a Radeon Ati 7770 or 7850

[nemesiz]

I’m searching for a new ultra quiet graphics card to replace my ageing but reliable Sapphire Radeon Ati 5750 Vapour X. My budget is roughly up to £200. Currently playing games such as Skyrim, Diablo 3 and Left For Dead 2 in 1600 x 1200 (no AF or AA) on an HP LP2065 IPS Monitor, and powered by an Intel I5-2500 processor(3600mhz) on a ASRock P67 Pro3 Motherboard. (Other components includes 500 watt Enermax PSU, 8gb memory 1600mhz, 3 WD Raptor Drives).

Checked all the usual websites ( Techpowerup, Hexus, Neoseeker, Guru3d, Anandtech) for possible recommendations on near silent graphics cards, with a low power draw but with a bewildering array of choice in Britain and the various ways of reviewing the latest generation of cards I’m in a real quandary which card to purchase. So I’m wondering if anyone has any personal advice on the Radeon HD 7770 or 7850(sadly the Nvidia 660ti still isn’t available and looking at the current generation.).

Possible choices (so far) include the Sapphire 7770 Vapour X (when released), Asus Direct CUII 7850, the Sapphire 7850 OC, HIS 7770 and 7850, and possibly the Powercolor 7850 PCS+ (I believe the resellers could be rebadging it as a 7870 in the UK). Any advice and opinions is welcome, as unsure what card to finally purchase.

 

[formulav8]

If that $95 MSI 7770 was still going on, that would be the one to get bang\buck. Plus I still think is was decently quiet they said.

 

[Grooveriding]

MSI Twin Frozr 7850 is dead quiet. I have one in my wife's computer and it is inaudible when gaming.

 

[Concillian]

I'd think a 7770 would be adequate for your games and resolution.

If you pick a cooler that's not quiet enough, just get one of the arctic cooling accelero series coolers. If your case has room for it, those are always very efficient and quiet.

7850 would be a larger upgrade, but for Skyrim at 1600x1200 a 7770 should be able to handle that pretty decently (I had a 5770 that was doing okay with Skyrim at 1920x1200 with AF & FXAA, no MSAA, not perfect, but then you're at 1600x and the 7770 is faster.)

Any of the decent coolers on the 7850 will be pretty quiet at stock speeds. I know on my Direct CUII I can comfortably keep the fan at pretty much silent speeds and temps don't get out of control at all. A 7850 will definitely fit the bill, but I'm not sure how much benefit you'll get over a 7770 at your res. in those games. It probably isn't worth ~twice the price, but that's your call.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

7770 isn't that much more powerful than your 5750, iirc.

Why not just stick a passive cooler on your existing card?

The XFX Double D series is apparently not as awesome as it looks in terms of core temp, but mine is awfully quiet.

 

[Leyawiin]

I tried a Sapphire HD 7850 OC with the double fans. It was quieter on auto than my GTX 460 with an Arctic Cooling Accelero Twin Turbo II. When I cranked the fans up past 50% it got noisier, but it was so cool running there was no need to - just leave it on auto.

 

[SithSolo1]

7770 isn't that much more powerful than your 5750, iirc.

Wut? http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/537?vs=536

Its at least 30% faster in most games. In Skyrim its almost twice as fast.
And it uses about the same amount of power and is just about as quiet.


Yeah, the 7850 will be a huge jump(2x-3x or more FPS than your 5750) but I think a 7770 would be a really big bump too at that resolution.

 

[Zxian]

http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=64377

Silence is relative. If you're trying to hear a video card under your 3000RPM Deltas, then anything is quiet. If you've already got a quiet system, then the video card is going to make some noise.

As the OP in that thread and someone who's worked for the site, the only truly silent video cards I've dealt with (aside from passive solutions) are ones with very low speed fans and Accelero coolers (or the Thermalright back in the day). None of the OEM coolers are really all that quiet (the Windforce cooler that I had was still audible at 20% fan speed, and reached 90C in Furmark). The best ones I've dealt with have come from Sapphire, but you can still hear them.

The card I've got in my system is the 7870. It easily handles the Skyrim High-res texture pack, D3, ME3, and various other games at 1920x1200 (my monitor's native resolution). With the S1 Plus and two low speed 120mm fans, you'll have a near-silent (only audible within 1ft) video card solution. The installation of the S1 is quite simple, so don't be afraid to do that yourself.

 

[nemesiz]

Thank you to everyone who has posted, but still pondering (or rather procrastinating) on which card to finally opt for.

The card I've got in my system is the 7870. It easily handles the Skyrim High-res texture pack, D3, ME3, and various other games at 1920x1200 (my monitor's native resolution). With the S1 Plus and two low speed 120mm fans, you'll have a near-silent (only audible within 1ft) video card solution. The installation of the S1 is quite simple, so don't be afraid to do that yourself.

Yes I've fitted a couple of custom Accelero Graphics Card Coolers to friends high-end graphics cards to reduce the noise, but sadly I'm trying to keep costs down and avoid hassles concerning warranty issues, and fitting (sadly don't have much time or money for customising).

 

[SickBeast]

OP so long as you don't overclock the 7850 too high just about any card will do. The ones with aftermarket cooling will be better. If you want it dead silent just adjust the fan profile and overclock it to suit.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Wut? http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/537?vs=536

Its at least 30% faster in most games. In Skyrim its almost twice as fast.
And it uses about the same amount of power and is just about as quiet.

30% faster than "meh" is "mehm."

When it comes to upgrading for the sake of performance, 2x is the minimum necessary for me to get off the couch and look at my bank account balance, let alone actually buy something.

Especially after three years.

The 7850 is a much more compelling upgrade. Although it uses a lot more power and generates a lot more heat than the 77x0 models. But that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of quiet cooler designs out there.

 

[Madpacket]

I tried a Sapphire HD 7850 OC with the double fans. It was quieter on auto than my GTX 460 with an Arctic Cooling Accelero Twin Turbo II. When I cranked the fans up past 50% it got noisier, but it was so cool running there was no need to - just leave it on auto.

+1

I own the non OC model of this card (same fan) and it's almost inaudible when gaming at stock speeds. You can also undervolt them quite a bit which should reduce the noise even more. With my card I can undervolt and get away with 1125mhz core and still keep it near silent which is crazy considering the performance at this speed.

The 7770..., although decent at 100 bucks I don't think a 30 percent increase warrants a large upgrade over your existing card plus they gain very little when OCing (128 bit bus kills this).

if you're in no rush perhaps wait until nVIDIA releases the mid range cards, should be soon.

 

[pcm81]

I just bought 7770 for my parents PC to replace the 4870X2 i had in it... broken fan. Kind of felt wierd with downgrading to a 3 generation newer card, but d3 maxed runs smooth with core2 8600.