They both come at similar prices, so you have to wonder how much you value a completely passive unit. I'd go for the X-650 in any case, with your setup I'm pretty sure the fan won't spin unless heavily loaded. Also, you might save something getting a X-560 (which, on a side note, will be more than e...

The Accelero 4870X2 in its first edition actually had short screws that caused lots of troubles, lots of reports of chipped cards around the globe. Hard to blame the entire breed for one defective product though. The S1 uses two clips that only require pushing, no brute force involved: once they're ...

It might be the controller then. By the way, I don't own a Scythe cooler, but they're better performing and have good fans. Try looking at the Ninja 3 (you could even run this one fanless, seeing the number of fans you have in there) and Yasya and see if they suit your taste.

Get a Scythe Mugen 2 instead of that overpriced Zalman, it performs fine and has a better fan to boot. :wink: The noise you're hearing could be anything from interaction between the fans' frequencies to just running them too quickly, to the fan controller not working properly. Try some different spe...

It's called Thermalright Spitfire, but it's a quite cumbersome setup. And it's only good if you don't need any of the expansion slots in your motherboard. Behold the beast. :mrgreen: It's a shame you didn't use the provided VRM sinks, I find them to be more effective than the stock plate one usually...

I think it also comes down to board design. Gigabyte/Sapphire/others might use a stiffer PCB than the Powercolor used in the review. This is just pure speculation anyway. One should test all of them under the same conditions to get a good indication... or just get one of the Asus cards with the supp...

Noiseblocker BlackSilent Pro best everything else. You just have to find one.

Behold the beast. :mrgreen: It's a shame you didn't use the provided VRM sinks, I find them to be more effective than the stock plate one usually finds on these cards (I have direct experience with a non-reference Sapphire 5850 and a TwinTurbo Pro, the stock plate looks beefier but was outperformed ...

It basically is more expensive and less effective than an Accelero Xtreme, all while occupying an extra slot... Might be good if one doesn't have long enough clearance in its case though.

The Slipstream Slim as case exhaust isn't a particularly good choice. Try putting the Tricool back there and experiment with 5v and the varius switch settings (I found the 5v-High combo to be slightly quieter than the stock 12v-Low setting) and place the Slipstream on the TwinTurbo with some zip tie...

It will be enough. Though you still have to question yourself if getting a 460 is more logical than getting a 5770: after all, you said ultimate performance is not what you're after, and some saved watts (and $) won't hurt anyway. The stock egg-shaped cooler is pretty effective and gets really quiet...

Don't forget to check BeQuiet! E7 CM 480w or 580w. They're 80+ bronze certified and have pretty competitive prices for the quality you get.
The CoolerMaster M600 is a good choice too.

Yeah, I give up and beg for mercy.

Wow, I didn't mean to start such a fight! :lol: That fan is the same used on the L2 Pro, TwinTurbo Pro and the various Freezer Xtreme revisions. It's a consistently quiet unit at the right speed, I tried it on the first two coolers I mentioned. It also uses a FD bearing which is better at handling h...

Actually, it's much thinner and exactly the same girth (105x116x64mm, vs 115x106x53mm), it also comes equipped with a better fan and better mounting system. Also, that review uses automatic fan speed, which is never a good thing when comparing multiple heatsinks, favoring high noise/high speed stock...

Arctic Cooling is coming with the new Freezer 11 LP, which will be more effective than the lackluster Shuriken.

6 drives will use too much power on spin-up, the 150w pico may not be enough. Get a small ATX psu, such as a Seasonic S12II 330w, BeQuiet! L7 300w or Enermax Eco80+ 350w.

Get that CP-850. Way overkill in terms of raw power, but perfect cable length, great stability, very quiet operation and excellent price. And you can ditch out a fan, which is worth a year of electricity, not considering what you're saving on the PSU... Also, do note that when power reaches the 70-1...

The VF3000 is not quiet, get a TwinTurbo Pro, it's cheaper, quieter, takes less space and performs on par with the Zalman.

You can't. If you need watercooling, get a different case, really.

That's overpriced if one doesn't put low power consumption extremely high in its priority list. The Club3D should be doing well. Problem is, this case isn't as good as a P183 with passive video cards. As Cryoburner said, hot air doesn't leave the heatsink, but rather follows its entire length by goi...

I can get them for 4 € plus shipping, or 5 € for the Pro variant: that's unbeatable value, though there are much better choices if one can spend some extra cash. Problem is, to get better quality and durability one has to spend at least 3 times as much, that's why I keep recommending them to bas...

Gigabyte Silent Cell HD5770 Review I was about to post the same exact thing. :mrgreen: A CP-850 and this card will make this computer a better balanced machine. I also think that using the 1200 rpm Slipstream variant @5v on the internal slot or even at the rear exhaust will greatly improve thermal ...

What kind of fan did you use in your PSU? The most recommended fan is the Scythe S-Flex 1600 RPM, I'd add the Arctic F12 as I saw it start with as low as 3v, plus it's rated for an even slower speed at 1500 RPM.

12v power is handled by the external brick, so your limit on video card is that piece of hardware. With a 200W unit, even a standard 5770 will be fine, provided that you don't plan overclocking anything.

Going fanless is so extreme and cool, but utterly useless. A Mac mini with much faster hardware and better equipment goes for less, takes much less space, looks better and doesn't sound bad either. Not mentioning the DIY route... Love the SSD and the blu-ray on that new Mac Mini! The 16 GB SSD is h...

1) Both essentially silent at idle, but the 5850 gets noisier under heavy load. 2) If you can delay the purchase for two months, then waiting is always a good choice. Otherwise, buy now what you need. 3) No, but the regular 5830 should be pretty quiet. NI is a big question mark for everyone, though ...

Well, they have to save on something to sell them at that price, don't you think?

Going fanless is so extreme and cool, but utterly useless. A Mac mini with much faster hardware and better equipment goes for less, takes much less space, looks better and doesn't sound bad either. Not mentioning the DIY route...