I have never done any gaming before, because I always found the user interface and responsiveness drove me nuts within minutes. But now, I'd like to start playing sim racing games on my PC. I have a single 1920x1200 monitor. Is there a 'silent at idle' video card that would play these games smoothly? And what about if I were to go to a 3 monitor setup? How much gpu do I need? I have no problem with adding an aftermarket cooler if that will make it silent at idle.

Thanks for helping.

Which sim games? Some are lower gpu impact than others. Triple monitor is a harsh mistress. Here's Dirt 3 in triple monitor mode, for example with last year's cards.

OK. I'll stick with single monitor for now. Right now I have a 1920x1200 but may move up to 2560x1440 sometime.

Games I plan to try out: iRacing, Netkar Pro, rFactor, Forza, Simbin titles, DIRT titles.

Given the current power of IGP, is it possible to use onboard graphics with an i3-2100 and basically shut down the video card completely until gaming? I.e., is it possible to have the video card fans turn off when lightly using the system for browsing etc...?

I guess I am looking for the quietest card at idle, because I'm sure I won't hear it all once the sound of the game is on.

Thanks.

Using Dirt 3 (as it's widely benchmarked): At 1920x1200, an HD 7770 or HD7850 would work ok. If you plan to move up in resolution, then consider the HD 7850 as a minimum and the HD 7870 or GTX 670 as good. Too bad Nvidia is dawdling around with the 660 family release - it'd provide some competition at 1920x1200.



Haven't seen anything that turns the cards completely off...I was hoping that Virtu on the IVB boards would enable AMD's Zero Core state when the dGPU isn't used..but so far, no joy from the www. That said, there are some fairly quiet at idle cards out there. Here's a 7850 review thread I've been compiling. HT4U tends to have the quietest test setup to compare cards (other than here ). There's a GTX 670 thread here.

With the exception of the latest Dirt Titles, you could go back aways in GPUs. I mostly run Iracing and had no problems with a 5850 running 3 1280x1024 without shadows above 60Hz. My 'dedicated racing PC' is currently running a powercolor 6970 PCS+ and while powerful and runs 3 monitors, its very loud at idle and has bad fan control (no PWM or even fan speed signal). Dont think I have ever seen it dip below 100 at road america (usually the worst FPS track). Once I am racing, I never notice the noise.

If its in your budget, either the Gigabyte Windforce gtx 670 (which I have on a 'dedicated non racing computer') or an Asus gtx 670 (supposedly quieter) would do nicely and would support 3 monitors in the future. I prefer Nvidia for racing because of the way the Nvidia control panel allows you to customize all GPU settings on a .exe level which can become important when you run alot of old titles (rfactor and simbin) yet launch them from the logitech profiler which can customize FFB for each game.

As you have mentioned, for racing, the most important criteria is idle noise. While racing I have the sound so high I cant hear the GPU although I am sure a 6990 would drive me nuts.

Gary