How slow can you set the 8800gts fan to spin?

Fruktsallad · Post by **Fruktsallad** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 12:35 pm

Yeah...that's about what I wanna know. I've seen several people post that they're running their fan at 59% or 60% by adjusting in rivatuner or the likes. But is it possible to set it lower, to like 20-30%? I realize that'd make temps go way up, but can it be done at all?[/list]

PopCorn · Post by **PopCorn** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 7:06 pm

yea with a mix of different software controllers, i just have it set to 100% all the time, i barely here a difference from 50% to 100% so, but yea i can get it to like 10% if i use nvidias "nTune" and rivatuner

Fruktsallad · Post by **Fruktsallad** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 11:25 pm

Cool!

But...you really hear no difference? I'll be using it in a really silent rig where my noisiest component (besides the 8800gts) will probably be the Corsair 520HX, so I'm thinking I'll be able to appreciate every single drop in noise that I can get...maybe the 8800gts isn't for me after all.

WR304 · Post by **WR304** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 9:57 am

100% fan speed is noisy but using the automatic fan speed settings you're unlikely to ever have it spin that fast.

The lowest fan speed I can see available in rivatuner is 25%?

The automatic fan settings for the 8800GTS per Rivatuner are:

Duty Cycle Min 25%
Duty Cycle Max 100%
T Min 72c
T Range 32C
T Operating 82c
T Low Limit 72c
T High Limit 92c

What that seems to mean in practice is that the graphics card fan stays at 60% speed until the card reaches 82c. After that it starts to ramp up.

Original thread abouot 8800GTS noise:

viewtopic.php?t=40686&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

The fan at default 60% speed (1500rpm approx) is quite quiet although clearly audible.

Dropping it to about 45% speed makes a noticeable decrease in noise levels. The problem with that is 45% speed isn't quite enough to control the idle temperatures of the card.

In a low airflow case fixed 45% or lower fan speed resulted in the GPU temperatures climbing even with the card idling.

Fruktsallad · Post by **Fruktsallad** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 10:57 am

Thanks for you informative answer, WR3034. That was exactly the kind of information I was looking for.

And thanks for the link, but I've waded through all that already.

Seems all it boils down to is whether I'll be able to stand that extra noise to get the performance boost. Hmm.

And fitting a HR-03 or the likes adds another 50â‚¬ to the gfx board purchase, which makes a passive 7900gs or 7950gt seem all the more worth it.

Or do you reckon idle temps might stabilize using 45% fan in a reasonably well ventilated Solo case? Underclocking the idle speeds might also help...

A176 · Post by **A176** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 8:46 am

do you live in some kinda padded room to have ambient noise lower than the GTS?

Fruktsallad · Post by **Fruktsallad** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:07 am

A176 wrote:do you live in some kinda padded room to have ambient noise lower than the GTS?

Not really, mate - just in a relatively quiet part of town. I'm thinking it doesn't take much to rise above that noise level...for instance I can clearly hear my P120 spinning in its usb enclosure from several meters away. It's attached to a router and I'm using it as a NAS. Works great, except for the horrible whine.

WR304 · Post by **WR304** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:21 am

In my Antec Solo case with a single Scythe SFF21D 800rpm exhaust fan 45% 8800GTS fan speed wasn't quite enough to control idle temperature.

If you had more airflow then it might work though.

The problem with setting a manual fan speed is that you override the automatic fan control so you're stuck with needing an artificially high fan speed for 3d modes.

It's really not that bad at 60% though. I suspect the Corsair PSU will largely drown it out (I don't own one to say for sure though).

viewtopic.php?t=40884

Considering a 7900GS or 7950GT as alternatives isn't really a fair comparison as they're outdated cards.

Performance wise they're not in the same league.

If you want a graphics card for running new-ish games at reasonable framerates the only real choice is a 8800GTS or 8800GTX.

Fruktsallad · Post by **Fruktsallad** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 5:44 am

WR304 wrote:In my Antec Solo case with a single Scythe SFF21D 800rpm exhaust fan 45% 8800GTS fan speed wasn't quite enough to control idle temperature.

If you had more airflow then it might work though.

It might work, eh? I'll have at least one nexus sucking fresh air in the front, so yeah. Might work. But right now, I'm actually leaning more towards the 7900gs even though...

WR304 wrote:Considering a 7900GS or 7950GT as alternatives isn't really a fair comparison as they're outdated cards.

Performance wise they're not in the same league.

A bit OT, but for about half the price (â‚¬150 vs â‚¬300) I get like 60% of the performance according to most benchmarks. Should be enough for most of my needs at the moment, and when the time comes to upgrade in about a year or so, there'll likely be a passive card available that outperforms the 8800gts. Selling for about â‚¬200. So if I sell my 7900gs then for â‚¬50, I'll end up with the same final pricetag and still a better card in a years time. I think.

Hackintosh compatability is also important, and atm there is no support whatsoever for the 8800 series, whereas the 7900gs is supported out of the box.

That's where I'm at right now. Won't place my order for at least another week, so I'll probably change my mind about seven times until then.

Ahh, decisions decisions.

WR304 · Post by **WR304** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:52 am

Fruktsallad wrote:[A bit OT, but for about half the price (â‚¬150 vs â‚¬300) I get like 60% of the performance according to most benchmarks.

You can get 8800GTS 320mb cards for Â£175 approx in the UK (â‚¬259 approx).

It depends what games you want to play with the card really.

If you want to play a graphically intensive game such as Oblivion for example on a 7900GS expect 30% of the performance of a stock 8800GTS at 1280*1024 resolution.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/graphics/ ... &chart=296

Newer games are going to make that performance gap even more pronounced.

Fruktsallad · Post by **Fruktsallad** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 7:25 am

Hehe, I was using that same chart, but a different comparison:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/graphics/ ... &chart=318

I think you're right, most newer games will keep increasing that difference, however I'll mostly be gaming strategy/rpg (Medieval II: TW, NWN2 (Dragon Age! =)) games, not very into hard core fps since i started feeling signs of RSI. I think the 7900gs will manage most of those games at 1680x1050 with at least some AA/AF, no?