Silent and cool card for 1080p 120 hz gaming

[apertotes]

Hello, I recently built a new computer. My current configuration is i5 4670K, gigabyte z87x-ud5h, 8 gb DDR3 1600, 512 gb 840 EVO and a 850W Rosewill Extreme PSU, everything inside a Rosewill Thor V2.

I also bought a Benq XL2420TE monitor.

I want a silent and cool gpu that would be powerful enough to play most games at 1080p 120 hz. But when I say most games, I mean most OLD games, old as in Skyrim, GTA IV or The Witcher 2. I have years of gaming stored on my Steam account that I have been feeding over the years, and now it is the time to enjoy. So, for the foreseeable future I will not be playing cutting edge games like Metro 2033 or Battlefield 4.

I am not on a hurry, so I will wait until I see a nice deal, but for the moment I would like to know what cards are considered the most silent and cool in the categories I am interested. I have already done some research, and it seems that the MSI Gaming Twin Frozer gtx 760 is the best 760 for my needs, and the Windforce is the best 770. But I would like to know also about 780, 780 ti and 290/290X.

So that is my question. With no plans to overclock, what are considered the most silent and cool 780/780 ti/290/290X cards?

Thanks!

ps: also, if my research about the gtx 760 and 770 is wrong, please let me know!

 

[McLovin42]

If you want cool running you want Nvidia. Id be looking at a GTX 770 as a bare minimum. They can be had for under $300 now. If you want the ultimate gaming though on a single card that will push 60-120fps with settings maxed or near max then a $700 GTX 780 Ti is the only way to go. If that's too rich for ya, the GTX 780 is now right in the middle at around $475-500.

 

[3DVagabond]

If you want cool running you want Nvidia. Id be looking at a GTX 770 as a bare minimum. They can be had for under $300 now. If you want the ultimate gaming though on a single card that will push 60-120fps with settings maxed or near max then a $700 GTX 780 Ti is the only way to go. If that's too rich for ya, the GTX 780 is now right in the middle at around $475-500.

He's asking for recommendations for specific cards. What's the quietest 770? Is it one that is less than $300? What's the quietest 780 ti? 780? Is it one that is $475-$500? Remember he's not going to O/C.

 

[46andtool]

Hello, I recently built a new computer. My current configuration is i5 4670K, gigabyte z87x-ud5h, 8 gb DDR3 1600, 512 gb 840 EVO and a 850W Rosewill Extreme PSU, everything inside a Rosewill Thor V2.

I also bought a Benq XL2420TE monitor.

I want a silent and cool gpu that would be powerful enough to play most games at 1080p 120 hz. But when I say most games, I mean most OLD games, old as in Skyrim, GTA IV or The Witcher 2. I have years of gaming stored on my Steam account that I have been feeding over the years, and now it is the time to enjoy. So, for the foreseeable future I will not be playing cutting edge games like Metro 2033 or Battlefield 4.

I am not on a hurry, so I will wait until I see a nice deal, but for the moment I would like to know what cards are considered the most silent and cool in the categories I am interested. I have already done some research, and it seems that the MSI Gaming Twin Frozer gtx 760 is the best 760 for my needs, and the Windforce is the best 770. But I would like to know also about 780, 780 ti and 290/290X.

So that is my question. With no plans to overclock, what are considered the most silent and cool 780/780 ti/290/290X cards?

Thanks!

ps: also, if my research about the gtx 760 and 770 is wrong, please let me know!

Im also gaming in 1080p 120hz and I chose this:


http://www.hardocp.com/article/2014...80_ghz_edition_video_card_review#.UuT0JhAo6Ul


After deciding I wanted a 780gtx I had to figure out which of the non reference cooled ones was right for me. I went with the Gigabyte because it has Samsung/Hynix memory(irrelevant in your case if you dont overclock), the fastest OC out of the box(I didn't want to necessarily OC the card myself right away, only when I need some extra performance), has a 3 year warranty (same as EVGA), and Gigabytes customer service is good from what I've heard. The cooler on this card is excellent as well.

As far as noise, I can remember reading in one of the reviews that the card was quieter than most, if I were you I would google additional reviews for this card because I think it would be a good fit for your needs.

 

[Xed]

Msi twin frozr variants are usually the quietest at least on the green side.

 

[Freddy1765]

I don't think there's any true variability in noise between most aftermarket coolers in the 700-series, especially if you're not OCing. Choose whichever of Sapphire/MSI/Gigabyte/Asus is the cheapest for whichever chip you decide on and you're golden.

 

[KentState]

The MSI Twin Fozr is probably the quietest for the 780 variants. They are typically at or below the noise level of an idle reference card when gaming.

For example:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_780_Ti_Gaming/23.html

 

[apertotes]

Im also gaming in 1080p 120hz and I chose this:


http://www.hardocp.com/article/2014...80_ghz_edition_video_card_review#.UuT0JhAo6Ul


After deciding I wanted a 780gtx I had to figure out which of the non reference cooled ones was right for me. I went with the Gigabyte because it has Samsung/Hynix memory(irrelevant in your case if you dont overclock), the fastest OC out of the box(I didn't want to necessarily OC the card myself right away, only when I need some extra performance), has a 3 year warranty (same as EVGA), and Gigabytes customer service is good from what I've heard. The cooler on this card is excellent as well.

As far as noise, I can remember reading in one of the reviews that the card was quieter than most, if I were you I would google additional reviews for this card because I think it would be a good fit for your needs.

Hey! Thanks for the link! How is your experience gaming in 120Hz? Is the gtx 780 enough for most games? Also, as I said, I do not plan on playing to most cutting edge games, but mainly 2-3 years old. Would a 780/780 ti be an overkill, or will it be the push I need to run The Witcher 2 or Skyrim at 120 Hz?

Also, I see that everybody recommends me to go NVIDIA. Besides the temperatures and noise, they also have g-sync which may be a plus. But looking at annantech review of the sapphire 290x, it seems that with custom coolers, those cards can also be cool and quiet. Am I missing something?

 

[McLovin42]

Hey! Thanks for the link! How is your experience gaming in 120Hz? Is the gtx 780 enough for most games? Also, as I said, I do not plan on playing to most cutting edge games, but mainly 2-3 years old. Would a 780/780 ti be an overkill, or will it be the push I need to run The Witcher 2 or Skyrim at 120 Hz?

Also, I see that everybody recommends me to go NVIDIA. Besides the temperatures and noise, they also have g-sync which may be a plus. But looking at annantech review of the sapphire 290x, it seems that with custom coolers, those cards can also be cool and quiet. Am I missing something?

I run a pair of GTX 780 ti's off my Asus 1080p 144hz monitor in sli.

Disconnecting one of them and running a single 780 Ti there are still some older challenging games where it won't run at a full 120fps average with settings maxed(But it will be between 60-120fps with no issue).

Even with 2-3 year old games, I would highly suggest a 780ti if you want to get near 120fps consistency across the board, older games or not.

So yes a single 780 Ti is enough for most games with settings maxed at 1080p.

A 290x will never run as cool or quiet as a comparable 780ti, nor is it as powerful. Its on par with a regular GTX 780...........but is still not as cool running or quiet.

 

[bystander36]

Hey! Thanks for the link! How is your experience gaming in 120Hz? Is the gtx 780 enough for most games? Also, as I said, I do not plan on playing to most cutting edge games, but mainly 2-3 years old. Would a 780/780 ti be an overkill, or will it be the push I need to run The Witcher 2 or Skyrim at 120 Hz?

Also, I see that everybody recommends me to go NVIDIA. Besides the temperatures and noise, they also have g-sync which may be a plus. But looking at annantech review of the sapphire 290x, it seems that with custom coolers, those cards can also be cool and quiet. Am I missing something?

These Nvidia cards are typically cooler than their AMD counterparts. If AMD has a good aftermarket cooler, Nvidia will have good ones too.

Anyways, to throw a wrinkle into the mix, at high FPS, the cards get hotter than at low FPS, even if the GPU load is the same. Going to 120hz/FPS will increase noise from what you may have been used to at 60hz.

Here is a review with a few 780's in comparison to each other:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/geforce-gtx-780-evga-gigabyte-inno3d_7.html#sect0

The one that is clearly the winner is also twice the cost of the others, so that is probably off the table.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Remember that the prices of the R9 series are kind of high because of all the cryptocoin miners are buying them up

 

[46andtool]

Hey! Thanks for the link! How is your experience gaming in 120Hz? Is the gtx 780 enough for most games? Also, as I said, I do not plan on playing to most cutting edge games, but mainly 2-3 years old. Would a 780/780 ti be an overkill, or will it be the push I need to run The Witcher 2 or Skyrim at 120 Hz?

Also, I see that everybody recommends me to go NVIDIA. Besides the temperatures and noise, they also have g-sync which may be a plus. But looking at annantech review of the sapphire 290x, it seems that with custom coolers, those cards can also be cool and quiet. Am I missing something?

Well I havent received my card yet lol, I just ordered it on Saturday, however I do play modded skyrim, and the 780gtx will easily push 120fps in 1080p in that game.
You mentioned that you wont be overclocking, well the card that I linked you to is as fast as a stock 780ti. Now if we are talking about the non reference 780 ti's with custom coolers then yes they will clearly be faster. Go for whatever you can afford, if the 780ti is in your price range then I would consider gigabytes version as well. they make a 780 ti ghz edition..I think currently it is the fastest out-of-the-box overclocked 780 ti available..But it costs a pretty penny!

Lastly I would consider any future games that will be coming out that you might like to play. You mentioned the witcher 2, well the witcher 3 will be out this year. From what I have seen and heard that game will need a lot of GPU power to run on high settings! The system requirements havent been released yet but the developers mentioned that they will be announcing them soon, and to "start saving for upgrades" in the meantime hehe. G-sync would probably benefit you since you play at 120hz.

I also considered a r9 290 Sapphire Tri-X however they are very hard to find right now, and even harder to find one that isnt marked up way over MSRP because of the mining craze. But they are great cards as well and you cant go wrong either way. But a 780ti will definitely be faster!

 

[TreVader]

Even with a 780ti, you won't push 120hz in all games without pushing that processor to 4.5ghz+. I don't know why people buy K series processors and then leave them at stock clocks. Makes no sense whatsoever. Same with buying Lightning, Toxic, and Classified cards and leaving them at stock clocks. It's just dumb.

 

[apertotes]

Well, thank you all! I think I have the answers I was looking for. I will wait until I find a nice sale of pretty much any MSI Gaming gtx card, as they seem to be the most silent, without compromising the temperatures (not taking into account iChill cards).

Meanwhile, I will meditate about whether I want a 780 ti or not.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

Well I havent received my card yet lol, I just ordered it on Saturday, however I do play modded skyrim, and the 780gtx will easily push 120fps in 1080p in that game.
You mentioned that you wont be overclocking, well the card that I linked you to is as fast as a stock 780ti. Now if we are talking about the non reference 780 ti's with custom coolers then yes they will clearly be faster. Go for whatever you can afford, if the 780ti is in your price range then I would consider gigabytes version as well. they make a 780 ti ghz edition..I think currently it is the fastest out-of-the-box overclocked 780 ti available..But it costs a pretty penny!

Lastly I would consider any future games that will be coming out that you might like to play. You mentioned the witcher 2, well the witcher 3 will be out this year. From what I have seen and heard that game will need a lot of GPU power to run on high settings! The system requirements havent been released yet but the developers mentioned that they will be announcing them soon, and to "start saving for upgrades" in the meantime hehe. G-sync would probably benefit you since you play at 120hz.

I also considered a r9 290 Sapphire Tri-X however they are very hard to find right now, and even harder to find one that isnt marked up way over MSRP because of the mining craze. But they are great cards as well and you cant go wrong either way. But a 780ti will definitely be faster!

I hope you aren't dead set on playing skyrim at 120hz/fps. If you turn off vsync/the 60fps cap in game it will cause the physics to go completely haywire in the gamebryo engine.

 

[46andtool]

I hope you aren't dead set on playing skyrim at 120hz/fps. If you turn off vsync/the 60fps cap in game it will cause the physics to go completely haywire in the gamebryo engine.

nah, the only game id like to try in 120hz is borderlands 2 right now

 

[3DVagabond]

Hey! Thanks for the link! How is your experience gaming in 120Hz? Is the gtx 780 enough for most games? Also, as I said, I do not plan on playing to most cutting edge games, but mainly 2-3 years old. Would a 780/780 ti be an overkill, or will it be the push I need to run The Witcher 2 or Skyrim at 120 Hz?

Also, I see that everybody recommends me to go NVIDIA. Besides the temperatures and noise, they also have g-sync which may be a plus. But looking at annantech review of the sapphire 290x, it seems that with custom coolers, those cards can also be cool and quiet. Am I missing something?

Sapphire is a great card. It depends on what you have to pay for it. If it was ~$600, which is what it should be without inflated mining pricing, it would be a fantastic recommendation. If you can wait for pricing to come to normal, then I can wholeheartedly recommend it.

For the record, IMO, the 780 ti isn't worth $700 either. Right now, the 780 (non ti) for $500 is probably the best value in a high end card. You need to O/C it though to get the most out of it. If you can get a custom R9 290 (non X) for ~$450, that would be what I would recommend. Good luck with that at the moment, though.

Just to be clear, I'm not recommending any reference cards. If you want cool and quiet (relatively speaking) you have to go custom.

 

[3DVagabond]

Well, thank you all! I think I have the answers I was looking for. I will wait until I find a nice sale of pretty much any MSI Gaming gtx card, as they seem to be the most silent, without compromising the temperatures (not taking into account iChill cards).

Meanwhile, I will meditate about whether I want a 780 ti or not.

Don't just look at absolute performance. It's possible to be swayed, and that's what these companies bank on. We look at the bars on the graphs and are willing to pay dumb amounts for what often is no noticeable difference in gaming experience. Single digit performance improvements are not noticeable most of the time (There are always exceptions, of course.).

 

[el etro]

Go for a pair of GTX 770s!
Chose models DirectCu or Twinfrozr.


But if you find a pair a 280x for $60 less, you can go for it.
Chose models TwinFrozr, DirectCU(the best), Xfx or His.