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Need a quiet graphics card with Dual DVI

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2004 12:15 pm
by mpteach
I need a quiet graphics card with Dual DVI, but im having trouble finding one.

I'm looking to buy one with a great price/performance ratio, like the radeon 9800 pro series which just droped to $220s. I guess i can quite a card if need be but i need Dual DVI for my two new monitors.

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2004 1:29 pm
by SebRad
Hi, there are several manufactures releasing dual DVI Radeon 9600s, like this one from HIS. The Radeon 9600 is a very low power chip and easy to cool quietly/ passively eg Zalman ZM17 or ZM50.
Dual DVI Radeon 9800s have been rumoured. Dual DVI X800 and dual DVI GeForce 6800s are coming. The X800 will be cool-able with new version of VGA Silencer or Zalman ZM80C (or D or whatever), the latter may also fit the 6800.
Google(See 2nd page as well)
Seb

Re: Need a quiet graphics card with Dual DVI

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2004 5:18 pm
by Jim Byram
mpteach wrote:I need a quiet graphics card with Dual DVI, but im having trouble finding one.
Gainward Silent FX PowerPack! Ultra/980XP Professional
(Nvidia 5700 with Zalman ZM80D-HP heat sink)

http://www.gainwardusa.com/products/vga_980sxp.htm

Dual DVI and no extra power connection required.

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2004 5:46 pm
by tragus
I'll repeat my usual: Look at Matrox P650 or above. Their DVI output is superb, all passive cooling (and rather cool at that), 2-D graphics and text are excellent. I've played a few games on the P650 and the 3-D is fine for my taste, but I don't do heavy-duty gaming nor 3-D rendering (except the rare CAD solid), so cannot comment. Oh, and the price is very nice for the P650 if dual DVI is the prime concern (as it was with my lab).

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2004 7:46 pm
by mpteach
I'd rather buy a radeon 9800pro with Dual dvi if they are release in the next month or so. Otherwise i will go for the 9600. Nvidia cards consume too much power.

Are matrox cards good? i thought they only made low-end cards.

Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 6:08 am
by tragus
mpteach wrote:Are matrox cards good? i thought they only made low-end cards.
Search these forums for "Matrox" and see the opinions of SPCR folks. The general consensus appears to be that Matrox boards are unparallelled for text and 2-D, but do not have the on-board hardware to do the accelerated 3-D manipulations (meaning it has to be done in software). The boards themselves are stable, passively cooled, excellent values, and unexciting compared to the latest Vodoo9900Whatever. I believe MikeC himself uses a Matrox (as do I). I would call the P650 a mid-level card -- t $155 a Newegg.

Again, if you need the hardware 3-D rendering, Matrox may not be your cup of tea. If you don't, check'em out.

Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2004 9:21 am
by acaurora
If you have a ton of $$$, and are really ambitious (and have a good water cooling system), you can go get the BFG Tech GF FX 6800 Ultra OC with Waterblock.

I might be getting it, not sure if I want to fork over the $600 for it, though. ~.~

Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 8:36 pm
by mpteach
Actually i was thinking of the
XFX nVIDIA GeForce FX5700 Ultra Video Card, 128MB GDDR3, 128-bit

for $192 at newegg.

I will watercool and slightily overclock it. IT seem a little pricy but theres not a whole lot o options out there, short of the 6800ultra. The radeon 9600 seems a little slower and i believe that nvidia dual screens will work better becaue they have a dozen dual dvi models out and nview software

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2004 2:30 am
by JohnMK
There's so much developing around the corner on this very issue, it's probably worth waiting 3 more months for double your options.

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2004 3:02 am
by mpteach
Can you give me any specifics?

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2004 10:50 pm
by sthayashi
http://forums.2cpu.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=251578
Pick one that you feel you can make quiet and/or has sufficient enough 3D for you.

Note that the FireGL series may require modding of the ACVGAS. I modded mine out of paranoia.