x1800xt - low noiselevel with lower voltage possible?

[Athloniac]

hello out there,

I intend to buy an x1800xt, but I am not totally sure yet. main thing that worries me is its alleged noise. :?
so my burning question is: is it possible to run such a card on a constantly lowered fan speed, if one reduced the voltage and maybe the gpu frequency a bit??
anyone has information/links about the benefit of lowering temps/volts in terms of reduced heat?
I am willing to take a little performance hit as long as the gpu will be kept cool enough even with lowered fan speeds.
thanks in advance.

p.s. english isnt my native tongue, so this posting took me like 20 minutes...

 

[bhavv]

At stock speed the fan on th X1800XT is actually very quiet. The only time you can notice the noise is if you manually turn them up when overclocking, but at stock speed you wont hear anything more then a whisper.

 

[Athloniac]

unfortunately I´ve been reading too many complaints about noisy x1800 cards to feel really safe now. but thanks anyway!

 

[bhavv]

You could get one of these: http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga2.php?idx=90

 

[RichPLS]

I have an X1800XT made by HiS.
Only time you hear it is when booting PC and lasts for about 2 seconds.
Mine is overclocked to 700MHz core/1600MHz memory and gets ~ 4,935 3DMarks06 and 9,881 marks in 3DMark05

So far, no gaming or benchmarking has made the fan hit full speed levels...

 

[Vokofpolisiekar]

The XT might make some noise if it runs too hot and/or your case is suspect to vibration and noise. Both of these can be fixed by doing some air flow revisions and to make use of fan screw supressors.

Best bet if noise worries you is to get 3rd party cooling, but you loose warantee.

And lastly, noisyness is almost the crux of todays top gcards - so it's almost something that can't be avoided if you want top of the line equipment without wanting to be creative about it.

 

[Athloniac]

I know that there are thirdparty cooling options but if I shell out that much money for the card I´d like to avoid the risk of losing the warranty. Also I like the idea that the stock cooler moves hot air out of the case instead of only moving it around in the inside... nice concept imho.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

You might want to take a look at a few reviews. most say the same thing Xbit says;

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-x1900xtx_8.html

"ATI Radeon X1900 XT/XTX graphics cards are equipped with the same cooling system as installed on the ATI Radeon X1800 XT, so their acoustic characteristics are identical. The fan works at its full speed only at the start of the system and then steps down to the min speed and becomes almost completely silent. The fan speed may occasionally increase in 3D mode, but the noise remains in a comfortable range even then, although there is a rather irritating “plastic” tone in the noise due to resonance in the cooler’s sealed casing. The fan seems to be ready to speed up even more if the GPU die temperature becomes still higher, but it didn’t do so even once during our tests. The card was quiet on our open testbed, so it is going to be perfectly silent in a closed PC system case."

 

[Vokofpolisiekar]

Moving the hot air out of the case is to me one of the best cooling options available. Just make sure that the card is fed cool air constantly. My case cooling is so good - I get 1C above room temperature - and that keeps my card coolish (were still in the middle of summer here in SA).

 

[bluntside]

The X1900 xt/ xtx have the same turbine coolerz on them. I believe U can lower the voltage to quiet down the cooler some, fact is If U R willing to do so your card might not run properly and possibly couse damage 2 it. I own a x1900 xtx and the only time it sounds like a jet is a startup for about 7 seconds. If u really want and absolute quiet card, try swapping out the stock cooler with heatpipes and or heat fins, doing so I believe voids UR warranty. BUT, if ur planning on the x1900 xtx, for about $25 more U can get the 7900GTX www.pricegrabber.com IT nearly runs silent. U get better performance and a silent card, a great way 2 got but if UR a diehard ati fan like me ud stick w/ the x1900 xtx. A piece of art by ati. U may lose a frame or 2 per second but hey thats how the game works. There is also watercooling but one must not tread lighlty into the world of water cooling. Makes your system run silent. But there will also be nanocooling. Coolers that cool with liquid metal, best heat transfer in the world. www.nanocoolers.com