Which card?

[xbdestroya]

Well that might seem like two VERY different classes of card I'm lookign at, and no doubt they are. Basically I'm looking for silent cooling.

There are a number of the Radeon 9600's that have silent cooling, and there's the Gigabyte GeForce 6800 that does as well. My main question, is does the extra $200 or so justify the cost of the 6800. Now, I know there are a lot of graphics whores on this site so please try to frame your answers within the following framework:

1) LCD screen with max res of 1280x1024 - Would the Radeon 9600 give me decent fps at this res with Warcraft 3 and other such games?

2) How long does one estimate it will take before the GeForce 6800 takes a big hit in price? My assumption is that the x800XL should be putting soem strong pressure on the current cards, but that obvioulsy won't pan out while it's selling at 50% over it's MSRP.

3) Is it worth waiting until May-ish to see what ATI's next card announcment is (R520) and see how this effects pricing and cards throughout the sector?

and

4) Is there any strong indication that other 'good cards' will be coming out with silent cooling anytime soon? Looking for AGP, ideally NVidia for stability, but open.

I have never spent more than $60 or so for a graphics card, and that sort of 'this game won't play, time to upgrade' mentality is something I'm looking to skip this go around. Still, for a little bit more than that, the Radeon 9600 series looks like it might have some sort of staying power.

 

[roguerower]

Neither, ATI X800 Pro. But if i had to choose between those two, 6800 definitely.

Ever think of a 9800 pro. Had one before the X800 and it worked at everything i threw at it. HL2 worked perfectly. And its AGP

 

[xbdestroya]

Well if you can find me any of those cards with decent silent cooling. Truthfully, what I'm going for above all is quiet. After that, I believe the power draw for all the 9800 Pro and the X800 are a fair deal above either the 6800, and, obviously the 9600. That's right!!! The 'normal' 6800 actually has a very low power consumption, relatively speaking. The non-Pro x800 might match it though. The 9800 Pro is higher, this I know for sure.

 

[Tweakin]

I had a ATi 9600xt, messed it all up, went with a eVGA 6600GT, way too loud and didn't seem any faster on a XP2600@2.2Ghz.

I'd go with the ATi. I dont think I will own another Nvidia based card. I thought the 2D looked washed out, and the color just didn't seem as crisp as the ATi. I run them on a 19" LCD at the same res.

 

[2Xtreme21]

The 6800 vs. the 9600 is a huge step. I don't think you'd be able to get decent FPS at 12x10 with a 9600 (and make it look good too). Your best bet is to get the 6800, hands down. With the 6800, you'd also have a chance to make it even faster (via the pipe / vertex unlocking).

 

[xbdestroya]

Yeah I agree with you there 2Xtreme, no doubt. I'm running in an Antec Aria, and if I just had some sort of mystical assurance that the 6800 wouldn't push me over the power threshhold where the PSU fan kicks up to it's next 'level,' I would go with it almost 100%. Another option I'm starting to kick around from both a cost/performance and splitting the difference perspective is perhaps getting either the Chaintech AGP 6200 or 6600, in which case I would unlock the 6200. Then remove fan and run a quiet fan towards the heatsink. Overclock it towards GT levels for gaming, and just leave it where it normally is on the day to day. Thoughts?

One advantage to that is the 6200 and 6600 come with 256 MB of RAM, where the Gigabyte 6800 (and almost all 6800's) has only 128. Pretty ridiculous to have 256-bit memory access and have the frame buffer end up being the cards bottleneck for newer games!

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: xbdestroya
Well that might seem like two VERY different classes of card I'm lookign at, and no doubt they are. Basically I'm looking for silent cooling.

There are a number of the Radeon 9600's that have silent cooling, and there's the Gigabyte GeForce 6800 that does as well. My main question, is does the extra $200 or so justify the cost of the 6800. Now, I know there are a lot of graphics whores on this site so please try to frame your answers within the following framework:

1) LCD screen with max res of 1280x1024 - Would the Radeon 9600 give me decent fps at this res with Warcraft 3 and other such games?

2) How long does one estimate it will take before the GeForce 6800 takes a big hit in price? My assumption is that the x800XL should be putting soem strong pressure on the current cards, but that obvioulsy won't pan out while it's selling at 50% over it's MSRP.

3) Is it worth waiting until May-ish to see what ATI's next card announcment is (R520) and see how this effects pricing and cards throughout the sector?

and

4) Is there any strong indication that other 'good cards' will be coming out with silent cooling anytime soon? Looking for AGP, ideally NVidia for stability, but open.

I have never spent more than $60 or so for a graphics card, and that sort of 'this game won't play, time to upgrade' mentality is something I'm looking to skip this go around. Still, for a little bit more than that, the Radeon 9600 series looks like it might have some sort of staying power.

1) Not likely

2) This Summer

3) You want it now? get it now . . . . unless you like your current card for the next 4-6 months . Announcements never effect pricing . . . . solid launches do

4) Aren't there any 9800p's with passive cooling . . . . it would be a BIG step over the 9600 but not embarassed to be in the "company with" the 6800 . . . . in other words, it'll run ANY modern game at 10x7 with most eyecandy and details (UNlike the 9600) and probably 12x10 at mid.

What are you running now?

edit: i forgot about the 6600GT

fairly cheap and close to 6800 performance . . . . just don't know if it is available passivly cooled

2nd edit: the 9800p isn't that much more power-hungry than the 6800; but the 6600 series should take even less draw

 

[zakee00]

you really dont have to worry about silent cooling...you can get an aftermarket hsf for pretty much any card.
rofl you are looking at a 6200? that card BLOWS. you _will_not_ be able to play jack squat at 12x10. dont even consider it.

6600GT is a different story though, its about as fast as a 9800 pro (lil faster). the 6200 and 6600 have NO need for 256MB of ram at all. its marketing; higher numbers=more sales. the 6600GT with 128MB totally slaughters the 6600 (non gt) that has 256MB.
you cant even make good use of an extra 128MB of video ram until you are looking at x800/6800 and up. 128MB will play anything except for HL2 and D3 and Farcry at 16x12 4x 8x. then it starts to swap with system ram.

if i were you, i would go for a 6600GT or a 6800NU and get this: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-118-117&depa=0
its virtually silent on its low speed, and cools much better then the Arctic Cooling scilencers.
HTH,
Nick

 

[gobucks]

6600GT is the way to go - in fact, an XFX dual DVI 6600GT is only $180, PCIe or AGP. I don't really notice the fan, but some people say it's a bit loud. If that's an issue, you could always grab a Zalman VF700-AlCu for $30, that'll keep your card icy cool and quiet, and it fits all the geforce 6/Radeon 9x00/Xx00 cards, along with hopefully next gen cards, so hopefully you'll be able to use it on your next card. I just ordered one, it's supposed to be delivered tomorrow.

 

[gobucks]

oh, I almost forgot, I think Leadtek has a passively cooled 6600GT available.

In case you're wondering why I'm pushing the 6600GT so hard, it's because it's almost as fast as the 6800 for $100 less, and twice as fast as the 9600 Pro for only $50 more.

 

[zakee00]

dont get the XFX unless you really need the dual dvi out; its a fact that their customer support sucks alot and they seem to have more problems then other brands.
for $20 more than the XFX u can get the eVGA 6600GT: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-130-220&depa=0

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: gobucks
oh, I almost forgot, I think Leadtek has a passively cooled 6600GT available.

In case you're wondering why I'm pushing the 6600GT so hard, it's because it's almost as fast as the 6800 for $100 less, and twice as fast as the 9600 Pro for only $50 more.

i really think it's because you have one. :roll:



. . . . Good choice! it's what i would get today if i were limited to ~$200 (i got a 9800xt last Spring for $223 as the 6800 was the only other choice for almost $100 more back then)

and i also believve you can get an aftermarket passive cooling for most popular cards . . . . so don't let that limit your choices

 

[zakee00]

yes, i posted a link earlier to a VF700 CU...great cooler :thumbsup:

 

[Spike]

Originally posted by: zakee00
yes, i posted a link earlier to a VF700 CU...great cooler :thumbsup:

I am curious, what supports the claims that this Zalman is so much better than the Arctic Cooling solutions?

For the OP, a 9600 pro is a decent card, I ran one until recently and was playing all the latest games at 1024x768 with good frames and details (except for doom3). I could only get decent frames in some games at 1280x1024 but that includes Warcraft 3, C&C Generals, Dungeon Siege, and others. The first person shooters and role playing are the types the 9600 chokes on at that higher res.

I don't have any experience with the 6600 or 6800 (non-gt) but from what I have read a passive-cooled 6600GT would be the way to go for performance and silence. You would get alot of life out of a good and silent card.

-spike

 

[zakee00]

ive read many reviews on the internet (not just individuals, but websites that reviewed it), and they all show consistent results...the zalman is just as quiet as the nv5, and performs excelent. have you read all of the "O MEH GAWD NV5 KILL3D MY CARD!!!!", "nv5 made my temps go UP" etc threads? it seems kinda iffy; i wanted to get it because it exasusts its own air but im not going to want to waste my time lapping it down trying to get it to fit, etc.

 

[Spike]

Originally posted by: zakee00
ive read many reviews on the internet (not just individuals, but websites that reviewed it), and they all show consistent results...the zalman is just as quiet as the nv5, and performs excelent. have you read all of the "O MEH GAWD NV5 KILL3D MY CARD!!!!", "nv5 made my temps go UP" etc threads? it seems kinda iffy; i wanted to get it because it exasusts its own air but im not going to want to waste my time lapping it down trying to get it to fit, etc.

Strange, I did nothing with my NV 5 (no lapping or other modifications), it dropped my load temps 10 c (6800GT), allowed a higher overclock (Now can run at 432 core), dropped my case temp 1 c and took 5 min to install. Can't complain for $23

-spike

 

[zakee00]

nice; ive read many posts with similar results to yours but i cant help but notice all of the negitave ones as well. thats great news that it allowed you to get a higher OC, thats what im hoping for
sorry to hijack the thread, but what were your before and after temps?

 

[xbdestroya]

Well the Zalman is fine - afterall I have one on my CPU, but I'm running inside an Antec Aria. In case you don't know, it's kind of like a SFF-PC, except you can use any mATX mobo in it - thus upgradeable. Anyway, I have an Abit KV-80 in there now, and with the PCI cards, I can't afford, real estate-wise, to lose a PCI slot to the AGP slot cooler. Right now I'm looking into an AGP 6600 I think to overclock to near-GT levels when needed. And to Zakee00, I was never intending to leave the 6200 a 6200, I was going to unlock the pipes to get a 6600. Gotta find value where you can!

As far as price goes, I'm actually not limited in any way, it's just for someone who games so infrequently, I just can't justify paying 'full price' for cards that I know will cost half as much a year from now - thus my hesitation on the 6800. But I think the 6600 series will drop a lot less as a percentage of it's current value a year from now.

 

[Spike]

Originally posted by: zakee00
nice; ive read many posts with similar results to yours but i cant help but notice all of the negitave ones as well. thats great news that it allowed you to get a higher OC, thats what im hoping for
sorry to hijack the thread, but what were your before and after temps?

For my BFG 6800GT:
stock cooling (370/1000) idle 50-52, load 68-72.
stock cooling (400/1100) idle 52-54, load 70-74
NV Silencer (420/1100) idle 52-54, load 62-64
NV Silencer (432/1140) idle 52-54, load 63-65

I can probably push the ram higher but I got tired of overclocking the card when it performs fine at stock speeds. Currently I run it at 420/1100 but may reduce that to 400/1100 to put less strain on the core as like I said, games and everything else run fine as it is.

Originally posted by: xbdestroya
As far as price goes, I'm actually not limited in any way, it's just for someone who games so infrequently, I just can't justify paying 'full price' for cards that I know will cost half as much a year from now - thus my hesitation on the 6800. But I think the 6600 series will drop a lot less as a percentage of it's current value a year from now.

I agree, I also see the 6600 dropping less in price. IMO, that would be the card to get, especially if you can find a 6600GT passivly cooled.

-spike

 

[cryptonomicon]

win

 

[Spike]

Originally posted by: cryptonomicon
so sad the numerous posts that people put in this thread without even trying to read what this guy wanted help with. he plays mostly warcraft 3, doesnt want to spend much, and wants something that is passively cooled. then he gets a bunch of replies like BUY THIS CARD IT ENLARGES MY PENIS AND I GET ONE TWO MILLION FPS IN HAEF LEIF TWEW. peace

Some of us actually addressed his concerns/questions in our posts, unlike you. And please don't talk to us about your personal size problems, leave that for your boyfriend

-spike

 

[zakee00]

Originally posted by: cryptonomicon
so sad the numerous posts that people put in this thread without even trying to read what this guy wanted help with. he plays mostly warcraft 3, doesnt want to spend much, and wants something that is passively cooled. then he gets a bunch of replies like BUY THIS CARD IT ENLARGES MY PENIS AND I GET ONE TWO MILLION FPS IN HAEF LEIF TWEW. peace

i had no idea that you could unlock a 6200 to a 6600. do you have any linkies for me?

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: xbdestroya

As far as price goes, I'm actually not limited in any way, it's just for someone who games so infrequently, I just can't justify paying 'full price' for cards that I know will cost half as much a year from now - thus my hesitation on the 6800. But I think the 6600 series will drop a lot less as a percentage of it's current value a year from now.

that's a "limitation" - by your own definition

and i think everyone - and you are leaning the right way - agrees the 6600(GT, especially) is the right way to go to fit your needs for silence, power requirements, certainly price and single-slot solution. Personally i just never cared for the 6800Standard in its price-performance ratio.

i don't believe you mentioned what card you are running now?

 

[zakee00]

a 9600 pro

 

[Tweaks R Us]

nah 6600GT or 6800 hands down that 9600 pro is puny compared to them.