MSI Radeon X1300Pro 256mb, questions

RaptorZX3 · Post by **RaptorZX3** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 12:51 pm

when i was trying to build-up a computer on paper, with the available components from the store, i've made a stupid idea of taking the MSI Radeon X1300Pro 256mb(small round heat-sink + fan) instead of the Sapphire Radeon X1300Pro 256mb (fanless, but big heat-sink)

i have a few questions about that MSI PCIe card...if you do have one or have the knowledge about it to answer my questions:

-Do the stock fan is quiet? (doesn't make strange noise after a while or vibrate to the point it make your case vibrate a bit)
-Is there a program somewhere, where you can monitor the VGA card fan and maybe slow it down a bit? (because SpeedFan can't do this on VGA card...and the programs available from MSI doesn't have the "fan monitoring" thing)
-is it easy to install a VGA card heat-sink? (like the Zalman ones)

i don't have anything else under my VGA card (sound and network is on-board), so i guess the Zalman (big) fan would fit...

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 3:56 pm

the small fans that are used on ATI's cards are always incredibly grating in sound quality as well as loud.

I have no idea about this card particularly, but the lower the wattage of the card, the noisier the fan they put on them. (they dont need much cooling so they use tiny fans and really thin heatsinks)

Rip the sucker off! go for a zalman sandwich and blow across it a 120mm silent fan... my best recommendation yet it seems. x1300 isnt that killer heat wise.

RaptorZX3 · Post by **RaptorZX3** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 7:31 pm

one way i'm trying to cut off the noise is placing those big 10-pack carton CD/DVD boxes i've been using to keep my back-ups, videos and photos, on the side of the computer.

tell me, is that hard to replace a VGA card fan? the grease that come with a Zalman fan is good enough to do the job right?

if i do replace the fan by myself, i'll void the "service warranty" of my computer, so in the future, i'll have to pay 30$CAN if there's something to change on it (like changing the VGA card or modify/install anything i'm paying for in the computer). the 3-years general warranty will still be here, but i would void only the "service warranty".

something i hate about my computer store: they don't have Nexus products or those quiet Papst fans in stock. the most quiet things they have are the Zalman fans, they don't even have quiet 120mm fans (my Sonata 2 use a 120mm 3-speed rear fan, but it could be even more quiet)

Antec 3-speed 120mm fans is a bit loud, if you consider 28db loud at medium speed, and we won't talk about the "high" setting on the fan where the computer sound like it'll lift-off your desktop! geez....they say it's 30dbA on High setting, it sound much louder than 30dbA! what you hear the most is the amount of air blowing out of the case at high speed.

i don't have a Zalman CPU cooler, but this one is pretty good for me (ThermalTake CL-P0200, 19dbA, 2000rpm max. lowered at around 1800rpm with Asus Q-Fan setting at 14/16 speed set in BIOS, so the dbA rating must be around 16-18dbA right now).

i touched the side of my VGA card, and yes it vibrates a bit, must be the fan on it...

tell me, putting on a Zalman VGA cooler doesn't put much weight on the card, right?

scandium · Post by **scandium** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 12:32 am

Another option is to use an Antec Vcool to blow air onto the card that's brought in from outside the case via its intake. It has a 3 way speed control and is pretty quiet on the low and medium settings. You need two free slots below your card though.

Tephras · Post by **Tephras** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 2:01 pm

A passive VGA cooler will be enough for the X1300Pro, there's no need for a fan.

RaptorZX3 · Post by **RaptorZX3** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 2:58 pm

Tephras wrote:A passive VGA cooler will be enough for the X1300Pro, there's no need for a fan.

you mean i could safely unplug the fan, leaving it there on the heat-sink and it won't overheat?

keep in mind i have the X1300Pro made by MSI, not directly made by ATI

Erssa · Post by **Erssa** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 4:03 pm

RaptorZX3 wrote:
Tephras wrote:A passive VGA cooler will be enough for the X1300Pro, there's no need for a fan.
you mean i could safely unplug the fan, leaving it there on the heat-sink and it won't overheat?

keep in mind i have the X1300Pro made by MSI, not directly made by ATI

I did for my Radeon 7000 and It never died during the 3 years I had in active use (lots of gaming). However, I understand this is a bit different card, so if you do it, keep an eye on the temps. Ati probably has some tools for checking temps.

It's your own responsibility, if you do it. However, if the card overheats and dies, hypothetically speaking you could just connect the fan header back to the card, RMA it and act like it never happend, hypothetically speaking of course. For the record, I'm not supporting this kind of behaviour or advicing you to do it...

RaptorZX3 · Post by **RaptorZX3** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 4:36 pm

can't find the ATI/Radeon-based video card monitoring software....is there a VGA temp monitoring software somewhere?

because SpeedFan have the temps and fan speeds for the board, cpu, hard disk and other components, but not the monitoring/fan speed of the video card

it would be great to have the advice of someone who actually HAVE a MSI/ATI Radeon X1300Pro 256mb who unplugged the fan and telling me it's safe to do it after some tests.

i remember 3-4 years ago, some GeForce2 cards had heat-sink + fan, while others only had heat-sinks on it (like in my older computer, Asus GeForce2 MX 32mb, heat-sink only, while my friend had the same GeForce2, but made by another constructor, having a fan on it.

Tephras · Post by **Tephras** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 7:41 pm

RaptorZX3 wrote:you mean i could safely unplug the fan, leaving it there on the heat-sink and it won't overheat?

Nope, what I meant was that there's no need for an auxiliary fan for a VGA cooler such as the ZM80 in order to cool a X1300PRO sufficiently.