Silent High-End

[gaurav311]

Hey dudes.

I recently had a R9500Pro card, on which the fan was a loud bitch, so I sold it, and got a FX5200 with passive heatsink. However, it has now come to my attention that the FX5200 is about as fast as a sedated snail, and of no use, despite the DX9 support. I need something that is as good-as or exceeds the speed of the R9500, but is silent, or as nearToSilentAsPossible.

I was wondering if anyone could point me to something suitable, for a sensible-ish price, say about $300 max, preferably less

Thanks in advance!

G.Sharma.

 

[modedepe]

I've seen radeon 9700's that come with a heatpipe for passive cooling. You could also consider modding a card with a zalman cooler yourself.

 

[gaurav311]

Those zalman heatpipe thingies scare me. And are expensive too. Also apparently they heat up like nuts after a while. I was wondering if anyone has any experience of cards with especially quiet/adjustable fan systems by default. You know, something like that 25dB FX5600 that tomshardware got thrills out of, except something that's actually capable of running more advanced stuff at speed with AA etc turned on.

How can most of you dudes stand the terrible noise most these things put out?!

G.Sharma.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: gaurav311
Those zalman heatpipe thingies scare me. And are expensive too. Also apparently they heat up like nuts after a while. I was wondering if anyone has any experience of cards with especially quiet/adjustable fan systems by default. You know, something like that 25dB FX5600 that tomshardware got thrills out of, except something that's actually capable of running more advanced stuff at speed with AA etc turned on.

How can most of you dudes stand the terrible noise most these things put out?!

G.Sharma.

I keep the cover on my case... and I've accepted that computers get hot, and the most cost effective way to cool them is with fans, and fans make some noise, and if you don't like it, buy a Mac

 

[modedepe]

Originally posted by: gaurav311
How can most of you dudes stand the terrible noise most these things put out?!

I don't have super sensitive hearing


I don't have a zalman, but judging from what others have said, it sounds like they stay pretty cool. If you were really worried about it getting hot, you could have a low rpm fan blow on it. That would surely keep it cool. True though, they are a bit pricey. But sometimes you do have to pay more if you really have to have a super quiet system.