Palit GTX260 Sonic or Sapphire 4870 Toxic - Which one?

pixel · Post by **pixel** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 6:51 am

Hello,

I had been waiting for the 55 nm GTX 260's to decide on a video card upgrade (currently using a 8800GT). These cards have recently begun to be available in the Turkish market; the Palit GTX 260 216 Sonic being the only product I know being sold here.

I am not planning to mount an aftermarket cooler on the video card (for warranty issues); so I would like to ask for your opinion on which one would be quieter out-of-the-box. I know that it's impossible to ask for silence from powerful cards; but I would still try to get the one that makes less noise.

The Palit is a 55 nm card; which should mean it produces less heat. Palit have also mounted a PWM controlled dual-fan cooler on the card; which, from what I have heard, is similar to the "reference" GTX 260's in noise. PhysX support could be useful in some games like Mirror's Edge. On the downside; the card does not reduce frequencies in 2D mode, unlike other GTX 260's.

The Sapphire 4870 1 GB Toxic is, from what I have read in 3-4 reviews; not so noisy - a review said it's a bit quieter than the Palit GTX 260 Sonic. As an advantage; the 4870's fare very well with AA and AF; often not suffering at all from up to 8x AA and AF. DX 10.1 support is probably not so useful.

I would like to learn you opinions on which card I should go with.. I'm planning to stick with this upgrade until DX 11 cards become widely available. If you think it would be wiser for me to hold this upgrade for a bit more (maybe a month), also please let me know.

Thanks in advance for your help!

shleepy · Post by **shleepy** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 12:42 pm

Honestly, if you're into very quiet computing (and you ARE on SPCR forums here), then most video cards do not cut it with standard cooling. I would not trust any reviews saying that a card is very quiet unless it (1) has a passive heatsink or (2) comes with a well-known 3rd party cooler, like something from Zalman or AC. #2 is rare, but it can happen. Otherwise, you could go for something that has good power consumption and put on your own 3rd party cooler.

Personally, as someone who's been using ATI cards for a while, I'd say go with Nvidia.

Their cards seem to be more consistent, if you know what I mean. People complain about them less often and whatnot.

pixel · Post by **pixel** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 2:09 pm

Well, you're right that I shouldn't ask for SPCR-class quietness from cards with standard cooling.. The two cards I mentioned use custom coolers, but I don't think they are as quiet as an Accelero + a 12 cm quality fan.

Still; I'm kind of hesitant on putting an aftermarket cooler on a video card.. One of the reasons is that it's more complicated than a CPU cooler; one has to also stick ramsinks, mosfet heatsinks etc. and also worry about compatibility/ clearence issues. The second is that distributors stick their warranty stickers on the cooler screws here; so if you remove the cooler, the warranty is gone.

This is why I'm looking for a card with a good cooler out-of-the-box. I can do without overclocking - or have a card that performs 4-5% worse than the fastest model with the same chip - but I want the cooler to be the best one I can buy the card with.

I guess I can also use RivaTuner to control the fan; but I don't think it's enough to change the fan's behaviour altogether...

Thanks for the advice, though. Maybe I should hold until cards with 3rd party coolers become available. (And also thanks for the nVidia advice! I never used ATi before, so it sounds kind of "exotic" to me.. But maybe I should stick with what I'm comfortable with.)

shleepy · Post by **shleepy** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 12:28 pm

Do not be afraid of 3rd party GPU coolers! I also had this fear before, but then I tried it out. If you get a video card / heatsink combo that comes recommended from multiple people, you will be fine. In the class that these cards belong, you will definitely have trouble finding a quiet standard cooler.

But I'll tell you what - try out the standard HSF on the video card before attempting to upgrade it. If you're already happy, then there's no need to get an aftermarket heatsink.

GamingGod · Post by **GamingGod** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 2:11 pm

I have an Evga 260 core 216 and I would not describe it as loud. My gaming system isn't designed for silence but I could easily sleep with it on. Even while gaming its hard to hear it over the background noise of the room. If the ceiling fan is set on low then I cant even tell the computer is going.

rei · Post by **rei** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:20 pm

the 260 runs cooler than the 4870 i've read. i had a 4870 and it ran too hot/loud by default.
manual control of fan makes it bearable but hardly quiet and then too melty hot for comfort.

-toxic line has had bad reputation for years, with underperforming overly loud parts. i wonder if that has changed. this started with the X600 series.

pixel · Post by **pixel** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 6:06 am

shleepy: I just might do that.. If my harddrives (they're suspended, but still not silent) drown out the noise of the Palit GTX 260, then it's no use to install a 3rd party cooler.

If I'm not satisfied, maybe I'll look to Thermalright's solution (HR-03 GT, maybe? I forgot the name..).

GamingGod: Well I have heard that most GTX 260's are quiet (eh, at least for their class). This makes me lean towards them.

I've made quite a few efforts to silence my PC and now it's more quiet (by far) than every other PC I've seen.. Yet I still don't feel comfortable enough to sleep with the PC on. I guess it's my obsessive nature.

rei: What I've read so far gives me the same opinion. The Palit Sonic is not more quiet than the other GTX 260's, I have read; but it does keep the GPU cooler. This makes me think I can slow down the fans with RivaTuner and make it the same temperature, but more quiet, than the other GTX 260's.

I've been recommended by one 4870 user in a Turkish forum to stay away from the Toxic if I want silence; but the reviews I've read on the Internet often say it's very quiet..

I guess I'll not risk it, and go with the GTX 260. Thanks for the replies!

GamingGod · Post by **GamingGod** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 1:49 pm

Im just saying my vanilla evga 260 core 216 overclocked to SC levels ranges from 40 at idle to 60 at full load; and I have never heard the fan. In fact my entire case is pretty much silent, unless you have a really quiet ambient noise level then I doubt that the 260 will be a problem.