8800GT - Potential noise and overheating problems?

Hi, I'm a complete noob to the world of PC hardware upgrades so please bear with me!

I'm looking at upgrading my hopeless X1650 SE to an 8800GT but have a few questions before I decide to do the deed. I have one of these machines: http://www.ciao.co.uk/HP_Pavilion_ [...] z__6654999

I'm pretty near settled on upping the supplied 300W PSU to a Corsair HX Series 620W to accommodate the graphics card, despite not having the greatest confidence!

Now my biggest concerns are noise levels and overheating. I'm not planning on overclocking (although if I was to buy a BFG 8800GT I realise they come overclocked), so should the stock fan be substantial? Also, as I live in a shared house I can't have high noise levels either, I'd really want it to be as silent as possible. Does anyone know how the noise levels of an 8800GT compare to an X1650 SE?

If I've missed anything you need to know in order to help then please feel free to ask!

Cheers guys!

Lol, nope I'm not on Middle-Earth.

I ran Speedfan earlier which told me my processors were running at 36C, although that wasn't after any gaming. Are my temperatures likely to jump with the 8800GT?

So you must be gaming with earphones as it's a shared house? Granted, it's loud as hell and inefficient at 80%, but thats why Riva Tuner allows for fan profiles. Replacement fans cost piddiley, so if you want the card for the card, get it now and worry about the decibals later. Your room-mates aren't likely to be annoyed through a wall with insulation by a constant fan speed.

The fan is louder than most, but if your gonna have earphones on while gaming it's faint. If you create a fan profile (say as an example, 30% [quaint] in Windows and 70% gaming) it wouldn't be so dramatic.
You can find a replacement fan cheapily and easily that will drop your noise level and heat exceptionaly - sometimes 15-20 celcius differences from stock. The highest I have seen is 78C in Race 07 - my fan steps up the pace at that degree buzzing at 80%, yet my speakers are so loud, I couldn't hear fan if I tried. <Imo, I don't like gaming w/o sound (hint, hint)

Great performance to dollar ratio. I never let the bitching about heat and noise deter me. Very pleased.

I'm trying to find the noise difference between a BGF OC and a BFG OC 2. Is there likely to be much of a difference?

Although it's the same fan, I'm assuming it'll get hotter as it's overclocked. Does that mean naturally it'll be louder.

I really don't know what I'd be doing with aftermarket cooling, so I'd rather just stick to a stable card that doesn't require any extra cooling.

The Thermalright HR03 GT has just released and can be bought for about $50 to $60 without the 92 mm fan ($6). It comes with a massive heastsink and seperate heatsinks for the ram and VPU chips. You have to remove the original heatsink/fan top. It voids some companies warrenties when you do this. Properly PROPERLY installed expect MUCH lower (60c) temps and a much quieter fan because you don't need to run the 92 mm fan at tornado speeds. Mine was preordered and will be in Sat I hope.

the GT is shorter than the GTS,GTX,Ultra

by almost 2 inches i think.

if u plan on getting a 8800gt and u want it to be silent --sparkle's 8800gt was reviewed by anandtech.com .its got a passive cooling system for the 8800gt and the temperatures are almost identical to the stock 8800gt with a fan albeit on the higher side.do give it a look.

You can always wait for the 8800GTS 512mb...granted it costs more but it's cooling is a heck lot better and quieter. Heat also goes out.

Anyhow the 8800GT is quieter than the old 8800GTS during idle. When you start playing some intense game, the 8800GT becomes pretty loud, louder than the the old 8800GTS.