Total system overhaul, GPU dilemma!

[Qbah]

Greetings fellow ATers.


Long time reader here, don't post that often though. And I have a major dilemma on my hands, namely... Which card should I get. I'm aiming at a silent PC. My last one was pretty silent Except for 3D mode after a while... that X1950XTX is a jet engine I am giving the whole machine away to my father. I can manage with a bit lower performance or a bit higher cost (not that much though ). So, here's the deal:



1. I was planning on getting the IceQ3 HD 3870... it would cost me 340$ (those are the prices here, don't ask - Denmark ) and getting another one in a month or two (since I recon it's stretching it with one card at that res with all eye candy on, right?). It would set me back around 680-700$. A regular one costs around 250-260$ but it's far from being silent, right ? (I have very good hearing, can hear idle noise of my drives from several meters, which are said to be very quiet - many people can't hear 'em from a meter).


2. Getting one 8800GTS 512MB. Now I don't know anything about the noise (which is a major factor) and it's slower than the two HDs in Crossfire, but... it costs around 400$. However, it has enough 'umph' t play everything at my native res with all eye candy on (correct me if I'm wrong here ).



However... I have a very bitter experience with nVidia cards (had a 7800GT), mostly about display quality in games and movies (which was absolutely horrid for me). The moment I moved to a Radeon X1950XTX all the problems went way. And I have yet to encounter anything bad from the day I upgraded. Hence my dilemma. Did the drivers improve at the green camp? Are there problems in games? How's movie playback? Filtering quality? If I can get a pretty solid confirmation that nVidia improved in those areas, I'm not gonna spend 300 bucks more for a bit faster solution (which needs to be quiet). Also, Crossfire is more dependant on driver support, though the Catalyst set is yet to disappoint me in that area (monthly release, new features, stable, fast hotfixing, WHQL). I visited the nVidia page and the last driver for the 8-series is from last year (which kinda made me worried about proper support).

Yes, I can spit the extra 300$ if the nVidia camp didn't move one bit from the moment I left it almost 2 years ago.

Thank you for any insight into the matter


EDIT: Edited the text bit to be a bit clearer and bolded the major points

 

[Qbah]

First page goodness! (aka bump )

 

[imported_wired247]

I like your GTS option the best so far!

The nvidia drivers are quite good these days (even vista 32/64 bit), especially if you don't use SLI, but even SLI is pretty good for a lot of games.

Movie playback is flawless using CCCP

In fact, I find that many more games are better-supported by nvidia than they are by ATI.

 

[happy medium]

How about a passive cooled 8800gt.

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3165

I can't find one for sale but mabe you can.

 

[Anath]

I would say go the 8800gt option because more often than not the amd cards are a little bit noisier when that fan speed kicks up. However, the amd card is still a very good option if you are leaning more towards the amd side because of your previous experiences

 

[zod96]

Get a 8800GT and passive cool it like I do I game at 1680x1050 and I play COD4, BF2, BF2142 and crysis and with the exception of crysis I can set everything to max with AA and AF enabled. Crysis is the only game I have to set some things to med to play it smoothly. And A GT is only 1 slot and only 1 power connector, less power and less heat and on newegg right now their only $160

 

[videogames101]

Although I concur on Image quality, you can't beat the 8800GTS for performance on a cheap single card.

 

[SlowSpyder]

I game at 1680x1050 on my Radeon 2900Pro overclocked to 800/1600... it is very comprable to the 3870. This card works absolutely perfect at this res, typically I can game with all settings turned up, or almost all settings. I can't say I get 60fps+ 100% of the time, but it never fails to be smooth game play... well, with the exception of Gothic 3, which is known to be a shit game engine, not likely to be a hardware issue. Also, I'm getting very spoiled by the AMD monthly driver updates. My last few cards have all been Nvidia, while they worked fine, I've never been happier with a video card then my 2900. Each AMD driver update is bringing better performance as well... and they are releasing them monthly, not bad! I don't know about the 8800GTS, but the 3870's are supposed to be pretty quiet, and the cooler removes the hot air from the case.

With all that being said, if price is close I'd have a pretty hard time taking the 3870 over an 8800GTS512. Assuming the 3870 is a fair bit cheaper, I don't think you'll be unhappy with it at all. But, the 8800GTS IS faster by a decent bit, so if the price is close that'd be my choice. Crossfire/SLI would probably be fun to poke around with, but personally I'm not confident that either of them -just work- yet. I like to tinker around as much as the next guy, but when I game I just want the game to play and play well... it seems that Crossfire and SLI are a bit hit or miss yet. Both the 8800 series and the 3800 series are supposed to have very good image quality, so I don't think that'll be an issue for you either way. Good luck with the decision, I'm sure you'll be perfectly happy with either one you choose.

 

[Qbah]

I still have 10-12 days to decide, so I'll be googling for any reported problems about the nVidia card. But so far I haven't found anything terribly wrong about it (then again... I didn't find anything on the 7800GT at the time I was buying it... :roll: ) . And I'd rather get the GTS since it's quite a bit faster than the GT. Though... is there a passively cooled one for sale? I'm getting the Antec P182, so thermals should be decent inside. Can a GTS owner tell me if the fan is audible at idle? I don't mind the noise during gameplay that much (the XTX kinda made me immune ), but idle noise is very important to me (the XTX was pretty quiet at idle).

As for the HDs 3870 I was considering they have the custom HIS cooler and it's *very* quiet, I checked it live So noise is fine for me with them. Though two will set me back around 300$ more (I'd rather not spend them if I don't have to ).

Well, so far I'm leaning towards the GTS. And I did want to try Lost Planet and am looking forward to the new Tomb Raider game (those run better on the 8-series). Not to mentin I'm a huge fan of DMC, and the ports from Xbox 360 seem to be runing better on the 8-series overall. Mass Effect to name another...

I just hope *if* I go the green camp route again I won't be ripping my hair out again.

And thank you for the input, appreciated !

 

[Jax Omen]

If you really need it to be super quiet, consider buying a regular 3870/8800 and getting the Accelero S1 rev2 GPU cooler. It's a passive cooler that works somewhat better than the stock coolers as long as your case has decent airflow. You can stick some fans on it and it cools crazy well.

I want them V_V

 

[Denithor]

Keep in mind that the single 8800GTS is almost certain to run quieter (and will definitely run cooler) than two 3870s even at idle. And the extra heat generated by the two GPU option would probably cause your other case fans to run higher to keep everything else cooled properly.

And you save $300 which you can put toward your next single card in a year (or so) that will easily beat the 2x3870s you would buy today.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Originally posted by: Denithor
Keep in mind that the single 8800GTS is almost certain to run quieter (and will definitely run cooler) than two 3870s even at idle. And the extra heat generated by the two GPU option would probably cause your other case fans to run higher to keep everything else cooled properly.

And you save $300 which you can put toward your next single card in a year (or so) that will easily beat the 2x3870s you would buy today.

3870's push all of the heat that they create outside of the case, so it's not likely to make other components heat up or the fans run faster. Of course the two GPU fans may be nosier though.

 

[hooflung]

My 3850 is quiet while my 8800GS is somewhat noisier. They both are more quiet than the X1900GT and 7800GT they replaced. My 3850 512 games great at 1680x1050 and I never hear anything over its power supply and front fan. I game at 1280x1024 on the 8800GS with a slower CPU and it is just slightly slower than the other machine. Not enough to be mad or go out and waste money on a CPU/mobo/memory platform. So I would say the 8800GTS or a 3870 will do you good. On the driver issues... I am more happy with AMD drivers quality wise and stability wise. Hell, even frequency wise. The 8 series drivers I have are basically my december 2007 drivers with 8800GS support and I am still quite unhappy with Nvidia about them. But I can play Hellgate London, Steam games and EVE on my vista 64 box now with no slowdown. You can't loose with either but don't bet on Crossfire X or SLI unless you are willing to plunk down cash for another card within the next 2-3 months.

 

[Qbah]

Just to let you guys know, I've opted for a HD 3450, as the HD 4xxx series is around the corner. If it's on par with a 8800GTS 512 or a bit slower/faster I'll get it. I just can't force myself to buy a nVidia card, taking my previous experience into account. Only if the new ATi cards suck some major a$$, I'll get the 8800GTS (since they're dirt cheap now!).

Oh and the system is perfectly stable ! Lovely components ! The Q9450 is running at 3.2GHz with a Prime95 (24h) temp of 48C :Q Sick Plus the HD 3450 isn't that bad (really! :Q). And it has a passive cooler I can run alot of my stuff at medium settings at 1680x1050 (Dark Messiah of M&M for example) with acceptable framerates. Lost Planet runs like sh!t though Also, the Antec, my Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme (+4 Nexus 120mm fans) and the Corsair HX520W PSU run extremely silent (sure I can hear it, but some music during a nap/nighttime and it doesn't bother me).

Thank you for the input though, much appreciated