Recommend quiet (of course), cool, with DVI?

ecove · Post by **ecove** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 9:24 am

Just put together a small box for my wife based on a microATX board. I'm also going to get her an LCD and I'd like to use DVI. I'm looking for a video card with the following requirements: cool, quiet (pref. passive), with DVI, 8x AGP. Otherwise, the power reqs are not great. This box will be used for simple stuff: text editing, viewing 2D images (sometimes high res), surfing. No gaming. One of the keys is that it be very cool, since there is little space in the box, and it gets pretty hot in there. TIA.

jonasy · Post by **jonasy** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 9:54 am

You could buy here simply anything with an AGP- & DVI interface.

However, ATI's cards seems to have a more reliable DVI interface compared to nVidia's.

I would probably buy her a Radeon 9200 or 9250 from a manufacter of your taste. But be sure it has a passive heating solution, most of those have but you can for example ask yout dealar to make sure. The heat produced from a low-end card like those wont be a matter even in a really tiny case, and certainly not if there is no gaming.

Wedge · Post by **Wedge** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 10:40 am

I not exactly up-to-date on which cards are currently passive, but the Radeon 9600 (non-pro) is always a good choice. It comes in AGP, passive, DVI out.

Get the Built-by-ATI card and you get a 3 year warranty. Get one made by Visiontek and it carries a lifetime warranty.

Sizzle · Post by **Sizzle** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 12:01 pm

I have a Sapphire Atlantis 9600 256mb version that is passively cooled I will be getting rid of soon. It's hardly even used. I'd part with it for a good price if you are interested.

vlmarc · Post by **vlmarc** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 10:51 am

I have purchased an Aopen Aeolus FX-5200-DVI for my low-power PC. It has a big heatsink, no fan. With the tool 'nvclock' for Linux you can change the Core and Memory frequency: in this way the power can be reduced. I dont know for Windows.
Price: around 50 Euro.

aphonos · Post by **aphonos** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 11:07 am

Also take a look at Matrox G550 or G450 and P650. Top of the line for 2D and all three are passively cooled. May not be AGP 8x for all the models I listed, but most 8x boards are backward compatible AFAIK.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 5:25 pm

Hello:

I'm going to second the Matrox's -- the G550 is small, and it has a DVI. Some G450's also have DVI. The P650 is the fastest, has 64MB, and *two* DVI's but it is also a larger card. The 2D image quality of any Matrox is top notch, and they are definitely worth getting for this reason alone.

ilh · Post by **ilh** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 5:39 pm

How can DVI-D 2D image quality not be excellent? I know that Matrox 2D was very good for analog (used to run 1600x1200 on one at work), but digital is digital.

--Lee

rtsai · Post by **rtsai** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 6:49 pm

Many NVidia fx5200-based cards with DVI-out are passively-cooled. I have a Chaintech SH5200-128-DVI. Others reported to me are the MSI FX5200-TD128 and Gainward Pro/660 TD/DVI VGFX5200DTL.

Beware of the newer cards with 128-bit memory; the manufacturer websites often show "reference" pictures that don't show a fan. I was bitten by the eVGA 128-A8-N306-LX.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 4:08 am

Hello Lee:

ilh wrote:How can DVI-D 2D image quality not be excellent? I know that Matrox 2D was very good for analog (used to run 1600x1200 on one at work), but digital is digital.

Your are right in that any DVI signal is likely better than the RGB. But, there are DVI output cards that do not meet the DVI standard -- digital signals are not inherently perfect! There are distortions and errors that affect a digital signal, and some DVI cards are better than others.