VGA Silencer Worth It?

[49erinnc]

I have the R360 version of the MSI 9800Pro with the massive heatsink on it. Flashed as XT and running at XT speeds. During some light-moderate gaming, my video card is registering around 110F/43.3C with no instability issues. Probably not as cool as I'd like it to but I can live with that if I need to.

My question is, how much of a temp drop could I, realistically, expect from going with a VGA Silencer Rev. 3? If I'm only going to see a couple degrees of improvement, I'm just not sure I want to even fiddle with yanking off the factory heatsink and installing the Silencer. And sound is NOT an issue for me currently so I would be going with the Silencer only for any added cooling benefit. Like I said, my current heatsink is gigantic if you're familiar with the green MSI card but I'm just wondering if it's worth going with a custom cooling option?

Thanks

 

[Appledrop]

i have seen so many people get artifacts after installing vga S, tbh its not worth it, 43 celcius is great, below 50 is fine man!

 

[Megatomic]

The VGA Silencer has one thing going for it that you haven't considered:

DHES. It expels heat from inside your case. Your overall system temp. should be a few degrees lower using this card. Mine dropped 3 degrees.

If you are an overclocker, even in the slightest, this is a huge benefit. And you have already voided your warranty by flashing the BIOS so I say go for it.

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: Azzy64
i have seen so many people get artifacts after installing vga S, tbh its not worth it, 43 celcius is great, below 50 is fine man!

I question their ability to perform minor modifcations to their gear if they get artifacts from this mod.

 

[cw42]

wow ur 9800 is pretty cool at XT speeds. I flashed my BBA 9800pro 256mb to XT and I run 60C idle/70C load. Since you don't seem to be having any problems, and your card seems to be pretty cool, I suggest you just leave it alone. You also keep your warranty by keeping the factory heatsink on.

 

[49erinnc]

Originally posted by: cw42
wow ur 9800 is pretty cool at XT speeds. I flashed my BBA 9800pro 256mb to XT and I run 60C idle/70C load. Since you don't seem to be having any problems, and your card seems to be pretty cool, I suggest you just leave it alone. You also keep your warranty by keeping the factory heatsink on.

Yeah, that's why I'm hesitant to install a Silencer. I feel like my card is running exceptionally cool considering the OC and factory cooling. Then again, I haven't really stressed it under some serious gaming situations for extended periods of time so it could very well exceed 43C. And my case temp doesn't seem to go above 28C so I don't think the additional case cooling (as Megatomic mentioned) you get from the Silencer is a big selling point for me either. I have no plans to really OC my video card beyond natural XT speeds so I guess I don't really need to mess with the Silencer. I just thought that maybe it did significant cooling (5+ degrees) and was going to consider it just for the sake of added protection.

 

[CaiNaM]

Originally posted by: 49erinnc

Originally posted by: cw42
wow ur 9800 is pretty cool at XT speeds. I flashed my BBA 9800pro 256mb to XT and I run 60C idle/70C load. Since you don't seem to be having any problems, and your card seems to be pretty cool, I suggest you just leave it alone. You also keep your warranty by keeping the factory heatsink on.

Yeah, that's why I'm hesitant to install a Silencer. I feel like my card is running exceptionally cool considering the OC and factory cooling. Then again, I haven't really stressed it under some serious gaming situations for extended periods of time so it could very well exceed 43C. And my case temp doesn't seem to go above 28C so I don't think the additional case cooling (as Megatomic mentioned) you get from the Silencer is a big selling point for me either. I have no plans to really OC my video card beyond natural XT speeds so I guess I don't really need to mess with the Silencer. I just thought that maybe it did significant cooling (5+ degrees) and was going to consider it just for the sake of added protection.

i got another 15mhz gpu overclock w/ my 9800p using the vga silencer, and the temps were lower than the stock hsf @ stock speeds. the r3xx silencers can be had for as little as $10 shipped. well worth it imo if you're an overclocker.

 

[VIAN]

I was about to go from 350MHz OC w/stock HSF on my 9700 Pro to 405MHz w/VGAS, although that did require a volt mod. It shows that it can add 50MHz onto it.

 

[apoppin]

i installed a ArcticCooling VGA silencer rev 3. . . but in my case, i NEEDED it. . . .

My GPU temps were running 80+ C . . . with the inferior ATI HS (for the 256/256MB Pro) . . . now they're running ~ 60 C.

HOWEVER, in YOUR case, you have an excellent cooler with your MSI pro. . . . the ONLY advantage i can see with the Silencer is that it eXhausts hot air OUT of your case . . .

so, what are your case temps like?

If 'Normal' or better, i would NOT bother with the Silencer.

 

[naruto1988]

what VGA silencer should i get for my radeon9800 pro? i want to flash it to XT.

 

[Megatomic]

V3 of the original model. LINKAGE

 

[naruto1988]

thanks