Low heat video cards ?

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 4:32 pm

Hi,

I'm currently running two graphics cards, a GeForce 6200 PCI-e and a Radeon 7000 PCI series in my Shuttle SB86i, P4 2.8.

I'm running the two cards because i've got a 3 monitor setup at the moment, for the most part at 1280x1024 (if i'm working weekend i'll grab a 24 from someone).

The problem i'm having is that they're both producing so much heat in the small shuttle case that its causing the fan to ramp up and make a heap of noise - and the thing sits next to me on the desk.

Can any one suggest a low heat alternative for either of the cards, so that i can lower the amount of heat produced in the case, and thus, reduce noise?

Or any other suggestions as to what i can do?

Both of them are passively cooled, which might well be part of the problem.

Cheers

Chocolinx · Post by **Chocolinx** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 5:47 pm

I dunno if this type of card would intrest you, but there are budget ATi Cards that are made specifically for multiple Screens called FireGL I think.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireGL

That should give a list of current FireGL cards that are out there. Each one is different since each has a certain GPU built into it. Not sure if they're low noise but I've seen a few that are passive.

Vicotnik · Post by **Vicotnik** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 8:13 pm

Check out your link there, Chocolinx.

FireGL are the workstation line of ATis graphics cards (nVidia has the Quadro line). Those are expensive cards, and not something you use for simple things like multi monitor use. (edit: The FireGL cards ARE good for multi monitor setups, but not so good that you buy a FireGL card for that reason alone.)
Not much difference between a FireGL-card and the "normal" card it was based on, often you can soft mod your Radeon/Geforce so the FireGL/Quadro driver can be used.

Multiple cards in a small case is often problematic. I'm sorry but I don't know any cards that would be much cooler than the Geforce 6200 and the Radeon 7000. Perhaps the very low end of the current generation. More recent GPUs are created with a smaller process, allowing for a lower voltage and lower power consumption. But your current graphics cards aren't very hot so I don't think it would be much of a difference.

WR304 · Post by **WR304** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 1:51 am

It sounds like a Matrox Triplehead2go adapter could be useful.

It would let you run 3 monitors from a single card:

http://www.matrox.com/graphics/offhome/th2go/home.cfm

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 6:58 pm

hadn't thought of that, WR304. The only annoying thing about something like that would mean that i'd have one desktop, not three discrete ones.

I currently run ultramon and its very helpful to have a different taskbar for each of the three.. i'm not sure how i'd go back!

wwenze · Post by **wwenze** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 9:33 pm

You consider a Radeon 7000 hot?

The culprit should be the 6200 that churns out almost as much heat as a 6600. Get a 7300GS/GT.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 2:21 pm

You think wwenze ?

How much differnece do you think it'd make to switch to a 7300GS?

I found this comparison :

So it looks like you're onto something wwenze

also foudn this, but no mention of the 6200 and what looks like a different scale?

wwenze · Post by **wwenze** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 6:08 pm

Side-by-side comparison of 6200 and 6600:
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2238&p=4

The 6200 is essentially a 6600 core with half the pipes disabled and vcore lowered by IIRC 0.1V, which didn't make much of a difference.

BTW the last pic shows "wtf".

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 9:19 pm

Good find

So, now that i've gathered that i should replace the 6200 with a 7300, does anyone have any suggestion as to what brand etc i should get?

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 10:50 pm

Holy crap it does show wtf.. mustn't like me hotlinking images