SPCR

My processing requirements are in the range of the 9600/4670. I have been happy with the accelero S1 on various cards for some time, usually with an undervolted fan.

There are many fanless models out there, but it seems that most are not as effective as an accelero s1. Anyone know of a fanless 4670/9600 that can go fanless under load with no issues? Unless I hear otherwise I will probably stick with my normal S1+undervolted fan. Does the 1GB ddr3 9600gt compete with the 4670 for low idle power draw? Someone said that 1GB version of the 9600gt is much lower at idle. Thanks

johnoh wrote:My processing requirements are in the range of the 9600/4670. I have been happy with the accelero S1 on various cards for some time, usually with an undervolted fan.

There are many fanless models out there, but it seems that most are not as effective as an accelero s1. Anyone know of a fanless 4670/9600 that can go fanless under load with no issues? Unless I hear otherwise I will probably stick with my normal S1+undervolted fan. Does the 1GB ddr3 9600gt compete with the 4670 for low idle power draw? Someone said that 1GB version of the 9600gt is much lower at idle. Thanks

I think the sapphire 4670 ultimate will be something to look for in your situation (if you dont need 1gb memory):

http://images.google.nl/images?hl=nl&q= ... a=N&tab=wi

I have read some good reviews about it. If you have som airflow it wont become very hot. You could always put a fan on that. But i think it wont beat the Accelero S1 (it is king ).

Thanks. I borrowed a 4670 from a friend and put my accelero S2 on it - my system has no case and sits horizontally and the 4670 is running fanless right now, very stable, temp is 55C at load. At idle the card is only about 10W using my kill-a-watt, not sure about at load. Think I'll pick one up.

I'm also debating between the 4670 and 9600GT. I currently have an 8600GT with passive cooling.

My goal is a fairly powerful card that has low temp and low power idle.

Did you end up purchasing a 4670? What do you think so far? Another alternative is a DDR3 Geforce 220. Costs less and has lower power requirements, but 5 to 10% slower than a 4670.

Passively cooled 9800GT and 4850's are also available, but cost 50% more.

trueg wrote:I'm also debating between the 4670 and 9600GT. I currently have an 8600GT with passive cooling. My goal is a fairly powerful card that has low temp and low power idle. Did you end up purchasing a 4670? What do you think so far? Another alternative is a DDR3 Geforce 220. Costs less and has lower power requirements, but 5 to 10% slower than a 4670. Passively cooled 9800GT and 4850's are also available, but cost 50% more.

I bought (3) of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814102816

2 for my 4-monitor system and one for my son who is a gamer. I added a silent 5v panaflo 12l onto the side of each, though I doubt its necessary. Very happy with them, seems like 10W total for both at idle.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article873-page5.html

That 4670 looks nice, but review is over 1 year old and Newegg shows "deactivated item" so it's not generally available.

Next?

I suppose this would be the equivalent as far as available products....

POWERCOLOR SCS3 AX4670 1GBK3-S3H Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.as ... 6814131171

I used to have the passively cooled Gigabyte 8600GT and replaced it with the Radeon HD 4670 Ultimate and the idle temp of the 4670 was 20ºC cooler.

Since the Ultimate has once again disappeared I would get this card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

It's the most commonly recommended card on the AVS forums for HTPCs because of its performance and very low noise.[/url]

This 4670 looks quite interesting. I wonder why it's not sold more heavily, slap a big GREEN label on it at least should give it a push.

Do you think it's better to get the Sapphire and then try to fit some sort of passive heatsink to it, than buy one pre-built? I gather that the factory passive I look at are 1-gig cards and the RAM is slower.

vincentfox wrote:This 4670 looks quite interesting. I wonder why it's not sold more heavily, slap a big GREEN label on it at least should give it a push.

4670 is a great card, but it's getting a bit old. That's why many models are harder to get hold of today.

The most interesting card today is the 5750 imho. No passive version is available yet though. But if you like the 4670 you should love the 5750.

But if you like the 4670 you should love the 5670 out early next year.

The 4670 is very popular for folks with HTPCs that only do light to moderate gaming.

I would get one of the 4670's I linked to before and try it in stock configuration and then decide if it made any sense to get an after market passive cooler.

trueg wrote:I suppose this would be the equivalent as far as available products....

POWERCOLOR SCS3 AX4670 1GBK3-S3H Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.as ... 6814131171

Well isn't that nice. Newegg is now sold out. Did you guys go and buy them all up? =)

The fan on this 4850 looks very similar to the one on that Sapphire 4670.
http://www.powercolor.com/eng/products_ ... uctID=5840#

I wonder if it would be as quiet?

I don't want to hijack this thread, but I originally thought my choice would be between a 4670 and 9600 as well (since they both have passive cooling options), but now I don't know. (should I start a new thread?)

I want a card that is near silent when idle and only slightly audible while under heavy load (I do not consider Blu-ray playback heavy load, just gaming). I would like the lowest power usage while idle as possible. I only game once a month (or even less) and maybe watch movies a couple of times a week. The rest of the time it is accessed over remote desktop and downloading content or in hibernation mode (with WOL for remote access).

Options:
NVidia - great drivers
NVidia GT 220 - excellent power handling - too darn slow
*NVidia GTS 240 - possibly good gaming performance and power handling, but doesn't seem to exist yet.
NVidia 9600GT - good gaming performance - hot and power hungry
NVidia 9800GT - great gaming performance - hotter and more power hungry

ATI - crappy drivers
ATI HD4670 - good power handling - a little too slow
ATI HD4850 - excellent gaming performance - crappy idle power consumption

Hold that thought, the HD 5750 looks like my answer (although a bit pricey)
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=46230
http://www.powercolor.com/eng/products_ ... uctID=6660#

What do you guys/gals think of that one?

vincentfox wrote:This 4670 looks quite interesting. I wonder why it's not sold more heavily, slap a big GREEN label on it at least should give it a push.

Do you think it's better to get the Sapphire and then try to fit some sort of passive heatsink to it, than buy one pre-built? I gather that the factory passive I look at are 1-gig cards and the RAM is slower.

I tested my SAPPHIRE 100255U Radeon HD 4670 at idle and load with the stock sink, then with a 5v 80mm panaflo, then with a passive Accelero S1, then with an Accelero S1 using the 5v panaflo. The stock sink was 3C-4C better than the Accelero with or without the fan, and at idle or at load. The stock sink was also far heavier than the Accelero.

How about noise with the stock cooler under load and idle?

trueg wrote:How about noise with the stock cooler under load and idle?

noise is not audible with the 5v panaflo regardless of heatsink. I do not have the fan set up to run at a higher speed at load

b_rubenstein wrote:I used to have the passively cooled Gigabyte 8600GT and replaced it with the Radeon HD 4670 Ultimate and the idle temp of the 4670 was 20ºC cooler.

Since the Ultimate has once again disappeared I would get this card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

It's the most commonly recommended card on the AVS forums for HTPCs because of its performance and very low noise.

I recently picked one of these up. Would have preferred the Ultimate, but they're nowhere to be found unfortunately.

Haven't really tested noise during heavy load, but the heatsink on these is pretty quiet at idle. Should preface this by saying that my system isn't silent, I can't hear the video card over my other fans, but that's probably because I have two 120mm Tri-Cools @ 1000RPM (low) that are responsible for the bulk of the noise from my PC. So if Tri-Cools on low don't bother you too much, you'll probably be happy with the Sapphire card.

If you're going to get one of these, you might as well buy the 1GB model. Probably overkill for a card like this, but it's only $5 more, and NewEgg is currently giving away a free 4GB flash drive (valued at $14) with the card.

johnoh wrote:

trueg wrote:How about noise with the stock cooler under load and idle?

noise is not audible with the 5v panaflo regardless of heatsink. I do not have the fan set up to run at a higher speed at load

Sorry, I meant with the stock heatsink and fan. I was wondering how loud it was idle and under load with the original cooling setup.

trueg wrote:

johnoh wrote:

trueg wrote:How about noise with the stock cooler under load and idle?

noise is not audible with the 5v panaflo regardless of heatsink. I do not have the fan set up to run at a higher speed at load

Sorry, I meant with the stock heatsink and fan. I was wondering how loud it was idle and under load with the original cooling setup.

The 4670 I'm referring to has no fan - I only added one because it adds no noise and I am not big on having zero airflow

This 5750 seems quite interesting.

BUT..... The SPCR article on the 4670 claims AMAZING low idle wattage of 3-4 Watts! As seen here:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article873-page5.html

Although some articles I read claimed more like 10.

The 5750 in various reviews say idle 18 Watts. I'd rather have a decent card that sips power but will wait until I see an SPCR review of the 5750.

Just measured idle power for my rig - 8W for two 4670 cards versus none - 4W each

4W is pretty sweet. I realize now I simply don't game enough to warrant paying double for something as fast as a HD 5750 (if money wasn't a concern I totally would). The 9600GT would be faster, but a 30W idle is way too wasteful.

Now I just need to wait for a good deal to pop up.

Darn, it appears that Newegg has discontinued that Powercolor HD 4670 with passive cooling that I linked to above. =(

I guess there is still the HIS, but it is even more money.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.as ... 6814161288

vincentfox wrote:This 5750 seems quite interesting.

BUT..... The SPCR article on the 4670 claims AMAZING low idle wattage of 3-4 Watts! As seen here:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article873-page5.html

Although some articles I read claimed more like 10.

Anyone interested in the 4670 should take the time to read through this thread - Radeon HD 4670: A perfect balance?
17 pages at the moment so it's not an easy read, but most things regarding the 4670 is discussed there; including the low idle power consumption of the SPCR sample.