Looking for a fanless replacement for my old GeForce 6600 GT

hhpwang · Post by **hhpwang** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 8:49 pm

I have an older desktop that I'd like to hook up to my HDTV via HDMI for movies and such. My current video card is a Gigabyte GV-NX66T128VP GeForce 6600 GT PCI-E Passive.

Requirements:
- fanless, or very nearly silent
- able to handle HD content
- HDMI out
- compatible with my old Asus P5W DH Deluxe mobo

I don't really play games so gaming performance isn't that important to me. It's an old machine, so I don't really want to shell out too much cash for a replacement card. Any suggestions? The thing I'm most confused about from reading about current cards is which ones will work with my motherboard.

Thanks in advance!

Parappaman · Post by **Parappaman** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 3:20 am

A nice and cheap Sapphire HD4350 will be enough then

maalitehdas · Post by **maalitehdas** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 10:24 am

GF210, passive and cheap for your minimum requirements. I suppose it has the lowest possible power consumption with 1080p HD performance. But if you're in to 3D movies one day, go straight to GF250 or HD5000-series. There are passive options, and of cource any heatsink/fan cooling system can be replaced with a suitable passive one from accelero.

hhpwang · Post by **hhpwang** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 12:59 pm

Thanks for the replies folks -- question:

Compared to my existing card, do these suggested cards perform at least at the same level? I've read that some cards, esp ones with the Radeon HD4350, are underpowered, and I'm wondering if that just means underpowered compared to what else is available today? Can I assume that even the most inexpensive cards today are better than the GeForce 6600 GT?

maalitehdas wrote:GF210, passive and cheap for your minimum requirements. I suppose it has the lowest possible power consumption with 1080p HD performance. But if you're in to 3D movies one day, go straight to GF250 or HD5000-series. There are passive options, and of cource any heatsink/fan cooling system can be replaced with a suitable passive one from accelero.

Parappaman · Post by **Parappaman** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 1:05 pm

I would assume so, on my HD4550 (which admittely is some 30% faster than the 4350 on 3d gaming) I just completed Bioshock 2 at 1360x768, all settings maxed out, and it was quite a smooth experience: this is something no 6600GT can archieve.

hhpwang · Post by **hhpwang** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 2:16 pm

Cool, thanks for the data point. Sounds like I can probably go with one of the less expensive cards and still get what I need out of it.

Parappaman wrote:I would assume so, on my HD4550 (which admittely is some 30% faster than the 4350 on 3d gaming) I just completed Bioshock 2 at 1360x768, all settings maxed out, and it was quite a smooth experience: this is something no 6600GT can archieve.

maalitehdas · Post by **maalitehdas** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 2:22 pm

G210 can be compared to old GF8000 series in performance (GF8600 is closest to it I suppose) and compared to HD4000 series it's performance is somewhere between 4350 and 4550. 40nm technology gives that performance level with very low wattage and low heat levels. GF250 is an upgrade based on GF9000 series.

ilovejedd · Post by **ilovejedd** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 8:39 pm

maalitehdas wrote:G210 can be compared to old GF8000 series in performance (GF8600 is closest to it I suppose) and compared to HD4000 series it's performance is somewhere between 4350 and 4550. 40nm technology gives that performance level with very low wattage and low heat levels. GF250 is an upgrade based on GF9000 series.

Really? I seem to recall reading the G210 to be worse than the HD4350.
GTS250 (9800GTX rebrand) > 9800GT > 9600GT > GT240~=9600GSO > GT220 > 9500GT~=8600GTS

Needless to say, I think any of them will be better than a 6600GT. Heck, I think the ION is probably equivalent to a 6600GT. Imho, HD4550 is better value. It runs pretty cool, has a low 20W TDP and just costs slightly more than the HD4350 and can be found around the same price as the G210. I use the fanless Sapphire Radeon HD4550 512MB GDDR3 ($45) on my HTPC.

hhpwang · Post by **hhpwang** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 10:19 pm

Thanks for the info! There seem to be a fair number of complaints on the newegg page about excessive heat from this card -- has this been your experience?

ilovejedd wrote:
maalitehdas wrote:G210 can be compared to old GF8000 series in performance (GF8600 is closest to it I suppose) and compared to HD4000 series it's performance is somewhere between 4350 and 4550. 40nm technology gives that performance level with very low wattage and low heat levels. GF250 is an upgrade based on GF9000 series.
Really? I seem to recall reading the G210 to be worse than the HD4350.
GTS250 (9800GTX rebrand) > 9800GT > 9600GT > GT240~=9600GSO > GT220 > 9500GT~=8600GTS

Needless to say, I think any of them will be better than a 6600GT. Heck, I think the ION is probably equivalent to a 6600GT. Imho, HD4550 is better value. It runs pretty cool, has a low 20W TDP and just costs slightly more than the HD4350 and can be found around the same price as the G210. I use the fanless Sapphire Radeon HD4550 512MB GDDR3 ($45) on my HTPC.

ilovejedd · Post by **ilovejedd** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 5:55 am

hhpwang wrote:Thanks for the info! There seem to be a fair number of complaints on the newegg page about excessive heat from this card -- has this been your experience?

Meh, I think the reviews from Newegg are overly conservative. Mine operates in low 50's inside a fairly cramped case. Never really seen it go above that. If you read the reviews, you'll see that a lot of them are getting the same temps I am. Personally, I don't think that's bad for a fanless card.

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 6:41 am

having idle temperatures in low 50's in passivecooled by small block of aluminium is quite good. Surface area in those heat sinks is only fraction what surface area is in Accelero S1 or S2's or Zalman VFN-100HP and no heat pipes. Its well with-in safe operating temperatures.

hhpwang · Post by **hhpwang** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 11:02 am

Makes sense.

Newegg also sells the MSI R4550-MD1GH which looks fairly similar -- it's a 1GB vs the 512MB sapphire. I'm guessing I won't see much difference in performance between the two right?

ilovejedd wrote:
hhpwang wrote:Thanks for the info! There seem to be a fair number of complaints on the newegg page about excessive heat from this card -- has this been your experience?
Meh, I think the reviews from Newegg are overly conservative. Mine operates in low 50's inside a fairly cramped case. Never really seen it go above that. If you read the reviews, you'll see that a lot of them are getting the same temps I am. Personally, I don't think that's bad for a fanless card.

ilovejedd · Post by **ilovejedd** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 12:24 pm

hhpwang wrote:Makes sense.

Newegg also sells the MSI R4550-MD1GH which looks fairly similar -- it's a 1GB vs the 512MB sapphire. I'm guessing I won't see much difference in performance between the two right?

Nope, not really anything that'll be noticeable. An advantage of the Sapphire card is it doesn't need two expansion slots. The heatsink on the MSI card is too big and would likely block the slot beside it.

hhpwang · Post by **hhpwang** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 9:57 pm

thanks again to everyone for the help! i think i'm gonna go with one of the 4550's, probably the sapphire.