Graphics Cards

The ASUS GTX 670 DirectCU II is one of the few high-end graphics cards that run really quiet and cool right out of the box.

The ASUS Radeon HD 7870 DirectCU II is a high-end graphics card with a large dual fan cooler. Though it has an impressive look, it doesn't have quite what it takes to cool the GPU quietly at full load.

Budget graphics cards aren't as exciting as the top tier models but their lower power requirements are perfect for quiet or even silent cooling. ZOTAC has taken advantage of the GeForce GT 640's modest 65W TDP, equipping it with a completely fanless cooling solution.

The ASUS GeForce GTX 680 DirectCU II OC graphics card has it all: big performance, low power consumption, a very efficient and quieter cooler, and a extravagant price.

Taking advantage of the AMD's Radeon HD 7750 low 55W TDP, Sapphire has outfitted it with a fanless cooler. The HD 7750 Ultimate offers silent operation for only US$15 more than actively-cooled versions of the same card.

The recent release of the Radeon HD 6450, 6570 and 6670 graphics cards brings the much lauded AMD HD 6000 series to the entry and budget segments. AMD introduced the higher-end cards first to garner interest, with the HD 6850, 6870, 6950, and 6970 all racking up accolades left and right. The new budget cards also offer better performance per dollar, substantial energy savings and improved video decoding capabilities and support for stereoscopic 3D playback.

The Radeon HD 6850 is AMD's sub US$200 entrant in the discrete graphics card market. We have two on the bench to compare, a reference sample from AMD, and the Asus EA6850DirectCU, which is overclocked, has an adjustable core voltage, and is cooled using a direct-touch heatpipe heatsink. They turn out to be winners, especially the Asus.

AMD's new Radeon HD 6870 is not a revolutionary game-changer, but with enhancements in efficiency and performance as well as extra display features, these video cards based on the new Barts core offer a lot of value in the competitive $250 bracket.

The HIS HD 5550/5570 are a trio of budget graphics cards that have good potential for silent cooling. Though not great for 3D performance, they are energy efficient and they are all equipped with fanless heatsinks.

The Radeon HD 5870 is one of the fastest GPUs on the market, offering excellent performance for the newest PC games. HIS takes it one step further with its Turbo edition by overclocking the core and memory speeds and slapping on their own custom cooler.

Our first Radeon HD 5750 sample comes courtesy of Asus in the form of the EAH5750 Formula, a small, midrange graphics card with a rather interesting race-car style heatsink. As the HD 5000 series' energy efficiency is well-known, the unique cooler has the potential to be fairly quiet.

The ATI Radeon HD 5450 and HD 5570 are the lowest models in ATI's HD 5000 family. The 5450 may make a perfect HTPC card, while the 5570 is one step up, hoping to deliver reasonable 3D performance at a reasonable price.

The Radeon HD 5850 is a high-end graphics card with plenty of performance enhancements over ATI's previous generation, improved power consumption, and advantages like triple display support and the ability to bitstream Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD audio.

Not content with the performance/price edge the Radeon HD 4830 currently enjoys over the GeForce 9800GT, ATI has decided to hammer the $100 graphics market further with the new Radeon HD 4770 released today. Built using a 40nm manufacturing process, ATI positions it as a better performing, more energy efficient replacement for the HD 4830.