I'm looking for a graphics card that is quiet when used with 4k/5k desktop. I currently have a 7970 and the fan ramps up quite a bit with a 4k screen and web browser open.

I don't really play games any more, only old ones and those will be fine at 1080p. All I'm really bothered about is being able to run dual 4k/5k monitors without the fan constantly ramping up.

I guess any seriously reviewed semi-passive one, even a 1060, which had the right connectors for the job, would do the trick.

When you say "semi-passive", you mean it stops the fans at low temperature?

I was thinking about the RX 480. The Radeon drivers seem to be better, less crapware etc, and looking at the reviews in this forum they seem to be more consistently passive up to 60C.

RX 580 should be out soon. Hopefully some discounts on the 480.

Exactly.



It's a fine, less expensive option.



With reference to my own experience, I don't think so: and about bloatware/unnecessary options, just don't install the driver package blindly (that applies to both AMD and Nvidia).



I can't agree, as clearly seen on ASUS cards it's more often the contrary.

That's a good point. I wonder if waiting might be a good idea. Maybe something like a 570 or even 560 might have similar performance but run a bit cooler. I guess there is no way of knowing until the cards are out.

To be fair it's more than a decade since I bought an Nvidia card so I'm probably talking nonsense. Well, the other thing is that AMD are better with open source drivers, and Linux is a long term goal.



It's just ASUS cards though... Maybe they have much better coolers or something, but the majority of cards seem to have set their fans to come on in the mid to low 50s. I just wonder why ASUS are so much better, are they cooling better or just pushing the thermal limits a bit more. The card reporting "60C" doesn't really tell you much about things like the VRMs and RAM etc. Or maybe I'm just paranoid.

If you are not gaming or using the gpu for something like editing, its its only multidisplay you are after, i think a low end card should do fine. Nvidia is will be anouncing next month the GTX1030 or if you like AMD Radeon RX 550

I wonder what the RX 550 will be like. The high end models are just like the 470/480, but higher clocks and thus more heat. If the 550 is the same it seems like you might as well get the 450.

Hi, depending on the connections on your monitor(s) an RX 460 might suit you.
They have DP1.4 and HDMI 2.0 both capable of 4K output (and dual link DVI) and start from ~£80, which might drop once RX 550/ RX 560 become widely available. It will have less outright 3D performance than the 7970 but if you are not gaming this won't matter at all to you, the video playback should be better and more efficient on the newer card too.
Some models don't even require PCIe connector and will use much less electrical power than the HD 7970 you currently have. The 7970 would probably fetch enough on eBay to pay for an RX 460 too.

Regards, Seb

That sounds like a plan then. For me it is more about getting enough ports and quiet operation.

I haven't seen a low-end card with more than 1 Displayport output. This may or may not be a problem depending on your monitor choice.

Would integrated graphics + low-end card with DP work?

Yes, good point. Although some of us are still using PCs that predate DP1.2.

I wanted a Ryzen CPU so no integrated GPU.

Looks like ports will determine how low end I can go.

Seems like all the 560 cards have 1xDP, 1xHDMI and 1xDVI, all 4k capable. The only cards with more are the 570/580 ranges that have 3xDP.

Three 4k capable ports should be enough I think.