I'm going to build a quiet gaming rig for a friend soon. He wants to spend about 450€ for the graphic card. I never bought such an expensive card, and I have no idea what to choose. I suppose the Radeon 9800 pro - or maybe the GeForce FX 5900 - is the way to go.

Is it possible to use the Zalman passive cooler with one of these card ?

What brand/model would you gamers and silence maniacs recommend ?

Check out Tom's new review of VidCards...it even includes the SILENT Factor (about time):

http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030714/index.html

An MSI nVidia Card comes out on top...But there are some other interesting flavors as well...

That's where I found that the GeForce FX 5900 and Radeon 9800 pro where the cards to choose in this price range. But thanks for the link anyway

I don't trust Tom's Hardware when it comes to quietness/noise. There are people in this forum who have the same expectations as I have, and I'll take their advice.

So get a 9700Pro and HPit with a Zalman 92MM.

"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law."

Crowley

Many of us use the Zalman heatpipe heatsink with ATI's Radeon boards. Is the 9800 vastly different?

Check the Tom's review...they have pics.

http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030714/index.html

That's exactly what I'm wondering : will the Zalman heatpipe work with the Radeon 9800 pro ?

If it doesn't, I'll tell him to buy the 9700 pro, if Polist8 says the Zalman heatpipe can cool it.

What about the GeForces and the Zalman cooler ?

How about the Sapphire ULTIMATE RADEON 9700 ATLANTIS PRO

http://www.sapphiretech.com/vga/9700proult.asp

I can't remember if it's in the 450$ price range but I should think so. I mean if you're going for silent, and he apparently has mucho dinero to spend that could be an option. It's got a heatpipe system similar to the zalman. But this way he won't void the warranty trying silence it himself.

Doesn't Zalman have specs on what cooler will fit what card? I'm not into the heatpipe solution until I build a new PC with an AMD64, so I haven't done much but look at them superficially.

I can't recommend the product personally, but there are plenty who can. Maybe run a search in the forums for 9800 heatpipe?

Remember to take advantage of Zalman's webboard. They're one of the developers who actually read and answer questions asked by customers

http://www.zalman.co.kr/usa/board/board.htm

But to save time I ran a search there and yes, the ZM80A-HP is compatible with 9800pro cards.
The Zalman rep suggests either having a fan blowing at the heatsink or waiting a bit for the ZM80C-HP model, which you can mount an optional fan on.

Sapphire will also have a 9800pro ultimate (meaning basically a 9800pro with a Zalman cooler already mounted) out by the end of this month, though it will probably be out of your price range.
The Sapphire 9700pro ultimate costs ~450€ here in Finland, although prices here are notoriously high.

Also note that there is always the chance that you damage the card if you're mounting the heatsink yourself even though it's supposed to be quite easy to do.

Great idea ! I knew this card existed, but I didn't consider it cause I thought it would be impossible to find it in france. I just had a look, and one shop in Paris has it. At 340€, it's not even that expensive. I'll ask my friend what he thinks.

By the way, yes, he is the kind of guy who will spend more than is really needed when he buys a computer. I'm currently in the process of explaining "no you don't need a 800 zigamegawatts PSU - no you don't *have* to buy Intel - no you don't need the latest 3.2ghz CPU, the 3ghz one is two times cheaper and you won't notice the difference - no you don't *need* this 200€ aluminium case", etc.



Do they ? That would be very interesting.


Edit : typos

Thanks Fabool, that's great information. I'll ask my friend if he can wait for the ZM80C-HP.

Zalman is definitely a progressive company who really understands how to remove a hazardous object (noise) while still allowing for normal (sometimes better) performance.

I have no problem giving them my money.

Rokk!

Yep, if you can get a decent deal the saphire ultimate series with pre-installed zalman heatpipe coolers are fantastic. Otherwise it's pretty easy to add a zalman to a 9700 or 9800. I wouldn't recomend it for the new nvidias though, they appear to need more powerful cooling, and I'm not sure they use standard mounts either.

You guys have me wanting an ATI card now. I never thought I would say that. I've been such an nvidia fan for 3 years now.

That ULTIMATE RADEON 9700 ATLANTIS PRO looks absolutely kick-ass. I am finding them for $300 - $400 here in the US. Just don't have that much money to spend on one right now.

My last two cards have been a GeForce 2 and a Geforce 4, but if I was buying today it would be a 9800 non pro, with a zalman added on. Or maybe that saphire ultimate 9700 pro, it's just sweet.

A local shop here in Finland says that the new ZM80C-HP should be available on July 21.
No confirmed date on the additional fan (ZM-OP1) but I would suspect it won't be far behind.

I've been an ATI fan for about 2 years now...I moved from 3dfx to nVidia, and though I still like nVidia's products, I like the way ATI conducts business and mainly manufactures their own cards, not leaving them for a million companies to make.

Just think how old the 9700 engine is already...The next gen is going to be devastating!

Now I just hope they come up with a logical passive solution that doesn't take up two PCI slots....................

Me too! I still have my old geforce pci card and it is louder athn my ati 7200! Everyone here where I live bad mouths ATI and its drivers and it is hard to install but I have changed mine out of two pc's with no problem at all, drivers load fine. Here is to ATI and hopefully a killer upgrade with silence:}

I've done some research, and it looks like many people have had graphical corruption issues with the Sapphire Radeon 9700 pro Ultimate. See Sapphire's forums for example.

My friend will be buying ATI, that's for sure now, I won't let him buy a GeForce, they draw too much power, produce too much heat, and we need a quiet card.

Maybe I'll just buy him a 9700 pro and add a ZM-80A, I don't know yet.

I think ATI has come a long way. Good competition from nVidia made it possible. Now only if they both get the idea that I don't want to spend a jillion dollars on 3D vacuum, we'll all be set.

There are heatpipe cooled versions of the 9800 pro and 9600 coming out next month according to Sapphire who e,mailed me about this