Silent GPU

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steevie_b
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2007 3:51 am

Silent GPU

Post by steevie_b » Fri Dec 21, 2007 3:53 am

Hi,
I'm looking to buy a new graphics card. I has to be silent and able to run Unreal Tournament 3. I've got a PCI-E slot for it.
Any advice would be good.
Cheers.
Steve

angelkiller
Posts: 871
Joined: Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:37 am
Location: North Carolina

Post by angelkiller » Fri Dec 21, 2007 7:09 am

Hi,

Unfortunately, I don't know how stressful UT3 is on graphics cards.

If you want silence, Arctic Cooling's S1 fits on a X1950Pro, a 8800GT and a 3870. All these cards are relatively powerful so I don't think they will have a problem with UT3. BTW, what resolution do you plan to play at?

seraphyn
Posts: 322
Joined: Wed Nov 28, 2007 1:26 pm
Location: Netherlands

Post by seraphyn » Fri Dec 21, 2007 7:19 am

angelkiller wrote:Hi,

Unfortunately, I don't know how stressful UT3 is on graphics cards.
UT3's engine is pretty awesome in its scaleability. You could run it on ancient cards, though it scales down so bad it will look like the original Doom.

I'd suggest going for the passive version HD3850 if you're only playing this one new game. Good price/performance ratio on that card.

steevie_b
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2007 3:51 am

Post by steevie_b » Fri Dec 21, 2007 7:25 am

Well at the moment I've got an ATI x550. I replaced the v. noisy fan with an arctic cooling heatsink pack. I've tried playing UT3 but the graphics are VERY poor, rather doom-esque...
The recommended spec for UT3 is:
NVIDIA 6800GT/Ultra or 7800GT/GTX SLI
I'll look about at the suggestions you've given
Thanks
Steve

angelkiller
Posts: 871
Joined: Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:37 am
Location: North Carolina

Post by angelkiller » Fri Dec 21, 2007 7:49 am

seraphyn wrote:
angelkiller wrote:Hi,

Unfortunately, I don't know how stressful UT3 is on graphics cards.
UT3's engine is pretty awesome in its scaleability. You could run it on ancient cards, though it scales down so bad it will look like the original Doom.

I'd suggest going for the passive version HD3850 if you're only playing this one new game. Good price/performance ratio on that card.
Thanks for the info, and I would definately agree that a 3850 would be an excellent recommendation.

As for the power aspect:

6800 Ultra < 7800GTX < X1950Pro < 3850 < 3870 < 8800GT

As you can see, these cards I recommended are more powerful than the "recommended specs" and I honestly don't think SLI is needed to run this game smoothly. As mentioned earlier, I recommend the 3850, which costs about $180 and offers the best price/performance ratio. It is also compatible with AC's S1, so it will be completely silent. (But may run a bit hot) The 3850 will also run circles around your X550. :)

steevie_b
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2007 3:51 am

Post by steevie_b » Thu Jan 03, 2008 4:35 am

Hi,
I'm just about to buy the HD 3870 but I'm not sure if it's compatible with my motherboard. It says it's PCI-E 2.0 but I don't think my motherboard is. It's an ASUS M2V. I can't find anywhere that says it's PCI-E 2.0. Will this be a problem if it isn't?
Steve

seraphyn
Posts: 322
Joined: Wed Nov 28, 2007 1:26 pm
Location: Netherlands

Post by seraphyn » Thu Jan 03, 2008 5:07 am

It won't be a problem. It has backwards compatibility (and i doubt it'll mean anything worthwhile in performance).

My motherboard has PCI-E 1.0a and my graphics card is 2.0, never had a problem.

ivionday
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2008 11:28 am

Post by ivionday » Thu Jan 10, 2008 12:08 pm

i'm in the same boat, looking for a silent GPU and i play UT and UT3. i require ATI so it will work with my ATI HDTV wonder. I have been leaning toward the Asus X1600 silent PCI-e , either 256 m or 512 m. However - I am not too picky about the UT3 performance, or any newer game performance for that matter - I'm currently using a Radeon X700 Pro and play mostly UT99 :).

The Asus X1600 silent can be found for 85 bucks , I believe.

Aris
Posts: 2299
Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2003 10:29 am
Location: Bellevue, Nebraska
Contact:

Post by Aris » Thu Jan 10, 2008 1:57 pm

Go with a stock passive 8600 varient. It'll run fine.

SeanFL
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:31 pm

XFX or gigabyte?

Post by SeanFL » Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:38 pm

I have an 8600gt that seems to be the loudest thing in the case so it's time for a passive GPU.

two that seem to be popular are:

Gigabyte 8600gts ($140)


or the XFX 8600gt passive for $140 also.


any preference between the two?

Sean

Bugsi
Posts: 45
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 11:18 am

Post by Bugsi » Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:09 pm

I have the MSI 8600GT with stock passive cooler. As suggested above, just go with a stock passively cooled vid card. Instant ZERO noise from your GPU.

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