Hello (and help!) from a Newbie - bought a "silent"

[PC peace]

Hi,

I just found this forum when searching for info on a passive cooled ATI 4850 1G. I have a question - if anyone can help in any way it would be greatly appreciated.

Background:
I told a custom build supplier of silent computers (arbico.co.uk) that I wanted a silent PC which was capable of playing mid-range games and fast with 3D graphics applications like SolidWorks, along with big image processing using all Adobe graphics programs. He suggested changing the standard card from silent nVidia 9800 GT 1GB Passive Cooled to an Silent ATI HD4850 1GB Passive Cooled.
The invoiced spec. was i7 960 3.2 CPU, Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R motherboard, Silent Gigabyte ATI HD4850 1GB Passive Cooled graphics card.


I have just taken delivery but the graphics card is a "Custom Modded Powercolor ATI HD 4850 1GB Card with an Arctic Cooling Passive heatsink"

My question:
Would I have been better with the nVidia card from a silence perspective? (When I ordered I was relying completely on the suppliers advice because I don't know much about this, but I have now read on the web that the ATI 4850 can run hot.). If you think that the graphics card supplied is just as good as the one invoiced and will do the job then I would be happy to just get on an use the machine - even though the supplier was being a bit sharp.

If anyone could comment it would be a great help.

Kind regards.

[MikeC]

If it is one of the big AC coolers with wide fin spacing, it probably works just as well if not better than the Gigabyte HS -- assuming the RAM is heatsinked as well. Just add a slow quiet 120mm fan on or near the video card if you suspect it's too hot. There are many software video temp monitors.

[cordis]

The big question from your list is if the programs you have there are accelerated with ATI cards, most programs out now that can take advantage of GPU processing use CUDA, which is only available on nvidia gpus. I'm not sure if you're using Solidworks just for GPU drawing capability or gpu processing, and the same goes for Adobe stuff, pretty much.

[PC peace]

The big question from your list is if the programs you have there are accelerated with ATI cards, most programs out now that can take advantage of GPU processing use CUDA, which is only available on nvidia gpus. I'm not sure if you're using Solidworks just for GPU drawing capability or gpu processing, and the same goes for Adobe stuff, pretty much.

Thank you very much for this insight.

I am not sure what the difference is between GPU drawing and GPU processing but I use the Solidworks 3d package.

However, it looks like I was given incorrect advice by the supplier because they offer a choice of 2 graphics cards at the same price, either the Silent nVidia 9800GT 1GB Passive Cooled or the Silent ATI HD4850 1GB Passive Cooled. I told them I was using Photoshop and Illustrater and 3D design programs and wanted to play mid-range games and they told me to opt for the ATI !!!!!!!

What, briefly, is CUDA and to your knowledge does the nVidia 9800GT use CUDA?

ATB.

[PC peace]

If it is one of the big AC coolers with wide fin spacing, it probably works just as well if not better than the Gigabyte HS -- assuming the RAM is heatsinked as well. Just add a slow quiet 120mm fan on or near the video card if you suspect it's too hot. There are many software video temp monitors.

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, the cooling system/fins cover the entire card - good news. However, given the info from Cordis, I am now not sure whether or not the graphics card will be of any help with my application programs and so I now have to consider "rejecting the goods."

[corrion]

He recommended the ATI because it's faster than the Nvidia for gaming, so it was a honest suggestion.

CUDA is basically a programming language that takes advantage of Nvidia's parallel processing power. All cards above the 8000 series have it for Nvidia, but ATI has yet to release an equivalent to the mass. The program must utilize the language though, so not all programs can be run on the GPU.

[PC peace]

He recommended the ATI because it's faster than the Nvidia for gaming, so it was a honest suggestion.

CUDA is basically a programming language that takes advantage of Nvidia's parallel processing power. All cards above the 8000 series have it for Nvidia, but ATI has yet to release an equivalent to the mass. The program must utilize the language though, so not all programs can be run on the GPU.

Thanks very much for the further info. I have started a thread in the System Advice section (Which Cards Accelerate Which ... ?') to try and go a bit further with this.

[cordis]

Yes, the 9800gt supports CUDA, but yeah, it does depend on the program as to whether or not it will work. I'm pretty sure some of the Adobe products support it, but I'm not entirely sure which ones do.