Quietest/Coolest 6850... Sapphire, Powercolor, MSI or Asus?

They make noise, too.

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alexb
Posts: 252
Joined: Thu May 29, 2003 3:04 am
Location: Vancouver, BC

Quietest/Coolest 6850... Sapphire, Powercolor, MSI or Asus?

Post by alexb » Wed Jan 04, 2012 11:27 am

I was wondering what is the quietest/coolest 6850 card out there?! Excluding the passive Powercolor.

From what I can read on the TechPowerUp website, it looks like MSI Cyclone is the best.

MSI Cyclone (idle/load): 24/27 (Silent Mode)
MSI Cyclone (idle/load): 24/34 (regular mode)
AMD HD 6850(idle/load): 27/36
Powercolor PCS+ (idle/load): 29/31
Asus Direct CU (idle/load): 28/38
HIS IceQ X turbo (idle/load): 31/34
HIS 6850 (idle/load): 32/41

However, Anandtech review says AMD is the quietest vs. MSI and XFX (which was crazy loud).

While in Forums, there are some good reivew of Sapphire 6850 (which is super confusing as Sapphire makes like 6 different 6850 version)?!

So, WHAT IS THE CONSENSUS? Which 6850 is the quietest card? One thing that peeves me off, is that the *quiet* desing cards are mostly OCed, which is a negative for me, as I want it to draw least power in my HTPC, where quiet operation is important.

Thanks

PS. I dont wanna use a passive card, as I am not 100% sure if I got enough airflow headroom inside my Antec Fusion HTPC case. I think it is safest to use a slow running fanned card.

Tetreb
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Joined: Wed Sep 29, 2010 8:37 am
Location: Central Europe

Re: Quietest/Coolest 6850... Sapphire, Powercolor, MSI or As

Post by Tetreb » Wed Jan 04, 2012 12:57 pm

I'd say the most silent would be a passive one with a fan strapped to it.

alexb
Posts: 252
Joined: Thu May 29, 2003 3:04 am
Location: Vancouver, BC

Re: Quietest/Coolest 6850... Sapphire, Powercolor, MSI or As

Post by alexb » Wed Jan 04, 2012 2:34 pm

Tetreb wrote:I'd say the most silent would be a passive one with a fan strapped to it.
Yes, but I got no room for such setup.

Tetreb
Posts: 50
Joined: Wed Sep 29, 2010 8:37 am
Location: Central Europe

Re: Quietest/Coolest 6850... Sapphire, Powercolor, MSI or As

Post by Tetreb » Wed Jan 04, 2012 2:43 pm

I had good expereience with HIS, and MSI cyclones seem to be recommended here too. Though if it'S a cramped case and the air inside heats up, the fan will be heard as they turn faster. Look for a card which you can undervolt.

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