Hi all
I have a new build pc in a PaQ case:
http://www.paqt.co.uk/
It is as near to silent as it gets - you sometimes wonder if you missed the button when booting up!!! Anyhow, I'm in the market for a GC for it and am considering the single slot stock fan/heatsink HD3850s. They got on a good review on this site several months ago. I wondered if anyone with this card in a quiet set up could comment on the noise factor of the card. The system is for a DAW, so I'm particularly concerned about any noise during 2D work (when the card is using minimal power - one of the attractions with this card). If it ends up making a bit of noise when gaming, I'm not too worried as I wont be recording while gaming!!!
Would really appreciate any comments. If it looks bad, I'll be looking to go down the passive HD3850/3870 9600GT route....
Cheers
Max
Stock fan HD3850 users - how quiet is yours?
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
Re: Stock fan HD3850 users - how quiet is yours?
My setup is really quiet even by SPCR standards (I would assume). THe noise for the 3850 is the quietest ever for a stock cooler. It was still the loudest part of my pc so I went with an S1 which I am also happy with. It is a really quiet cooler but it is hardly effective with GPU temps up to 90 degrees c. Putting an s1 on it the gpu is almost 40 degrees cooler. I would go with a 3870 and an s1 personally since there isn't much of a price difference now. alternatively look at the 4670 which has all the advantages of the 3850 (reasonably good performance, extremely low power usage, low price) but seems to be slightly better in every way.Max Dread wrote:Hi all
Would really appreciate any comments. If it looks bad, I'll be looking to go down the passive HD3850/3870 9600GT route....
Max
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thejamppa
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HD 3850 with stock cooler I had in game rig prior change was quieter than Nexus fan I had in case. Virtually silent. 4670 looks very nice. Albeit crippled in some extent, it doesn't need extra power cable, which is huge plus. Offers very good performance for its price.
The HD 4750 will be intresting... the crippled HD 4850 with 192-bit memory, lower clock speed ands with only 400 or so graphic units... Ati aim's that against 9800GT will see how it performs...
The HD 4750 will be intresting... the crippled HD 4850 with 192-bit memory, lower clock speed ands with only 400 or so graphic units... Ati aim's that against 9800GT will see how it performs...
I have the Sapphire Passive cooled version (Ultimate Edition ) - Video cards just do not come any quieter than that ! Because of it's heatsink design it can have compatibility issues with some Motherboard /case/cpu cooler combinations .
My combo is - Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-DS2H / Antec 3480 /Zalman 8700NT (yet to be re-fanned , it is obnoxiously noisy at all speeds ) Other than the Zalman's noise this all works well together , CPU is Phenom 9850 and has not at all run hot . As I run Ubuntu on this machine I can not describe actual temps but nothing gets hotter than "warm to the touch" Top card ! now I am looking for another the same but they have been discontinued !
My combo is - Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-DS2H / Antec 3480 /Zalman 8700NT (yet to be re-fanned , it is obnoxiously noisy at all speeds ) Other than the Zalman's noise this all works well together , CPU is Phenom 9850 and has not at all run hot . As I run Ubuntu on this machine I can not describe actual temps but nothing gets hotter than "warm to the touch" Top card ! now I am looking for another the same but they have been discontinued !
I would think it depends on the card. I have an 3850 from Asus, and the noise is pretty bad with no fan control.
So far I've seen nothing but actively cooled 4670s. I think because they have to run it at higher speeds to compensate for the crippled memory bus it won't run that much cooler than current cards.
So far I've seen nothing but actively cooled 4670s. I think because they have to run it at higher speeds to compensate for the crippled memory bus it won't run that much cooler than current cards.
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thejamppa
- Posts: 3142
- Joined: Mon Feb 26, 2007 9:20 am
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4670 draws significantly less power than HD 4850 or 3850, there fore it can be cooled adequetly with significantly less. Its about how many watt's card draws as that will be turned into heat. Less it draws watts, less heat it generates. Two different cards can draw completely different amoutn of energy ( 110W vs. 69W ) yet both can Idle around 50's C... but eventually its all about energy consumption... naturtally 110W cards needs significantly better cooler than 69W card.
Thanks for all the help and wise words guys....
I think I have decided on the ECS 9600GT w/ stock Accelero 2 fitted. Reasons:
1. It is the cheapest option.
2. It is probably the most powerful GPU out of what I have been looking at.
3. It will only take up 2 slots, instead of 3 slots like the passive HD3850/3870s.
4. The Acceleros have great reviews and are apparently one of the best GPU coolers out there.
5. Although it idles higher than HD3850/70, it isn't by that much! On load it beats the HD3870 for power draw and is similar to the HD3850.
Unless of course someone pursades me otherwise!!!.......
Cheers
Max
I think I have decided on the ECS 9600GT w/ stock Accelero 2 fitted. Reasons:
1. It is the cheapest option.
2. It is probably the most powerful GPU out of what I have been looking at.
3. It will only take up 2 slots, instead of 3 slots like the passive HD3850/3870s.
4. The Acceleros have great reviews and are apparently one of the best GPU coolers out there.
5. Although it idles higher than HD3850/70, it isn't by that much! On load it beats the HD3870 for power draw and is similar to the HD3850.
Unless of course someone pursades me otherwise!!!.......
Cheers
Max