Graphic card recommendations?

[ctblack]

Hi,

I don't know if the card I have in mind exist or not, I have been burned by cards with onboard fans that die and cause other problem one too many times. So I am asking the knowledgable forum members to see if a fanless card exist that has not too bad performance in 3D games (not FPS, but RTS type of games), my monitor has max resolution of 1650x1050 pixels. If there is not such thing, then which card out there has the best (long lasting) cooling onboard fan? Thanks!

 

[ahslan]

well this might be a little overkill for you but here it is anyways:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125237

if you told us what your budget was, we could help you a lil better...

 

[ctblack]

well this might be a little overkill for you but here it is anyways:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125237

if you told us what your budget was, we could help you a lil better...

Thanks for replying, that card looks like it fits my needs. My budget is $200-$300.

 

[ahslan]

well there you go man...lol...got it on the first try

just make sure that the card will fit in your case...that thing looks pretty big just from the pics...

 

[aevm]

Is that card using a TEC cooler by any chance? The Newegg and Gigabyte sites don't explain what "GIGABYTE Multi-Core Cooling Technology" means.

 

[megamanx00]

I just hope your case has good ventilation.

 

[br3nd064]

I don't think it uses a TEC cooler. It looks like a standard heatsink. If you decide to go with that card, make sure your case has good airflow.

 

[wgdz]

for that $214 go get the visiontek 4870 that is on sale at BB if you can similarly price and use a 10% coupon if you have it to.

 

[ahslan]

well I will admit that the card is a little expensive, but this is because of the fanless heatsink and 1gb of onboard memory...but ya, if it were up to me, I would get a cheaper one...

 

[ctblack]

I did ordered that card along with my new PC, which is using a Antec Sonata III case. Someone did replied about having good ventilation, the Sonata III comes with one 120mm rear multi speed fan, and there is a option to add a front 120mm fan, do I need to add the front fan too?

I agree the price is more than other 4850 cards (I actually paid $241 Canadian), but I am now have phobia about my card's fan dying and take out my whole computer with it. So the extra $50 or so is well justify for me to sleep well at night

 

[ahslan]

...well then i guess the peace of mind is worth $50 then...

good selection on the case btw...you can run your computer with only the back fan, but if you are OCing, I would get another fan for the front...

 

[ctblack]

Great! Thanks! I don't plan to do any OCing, I am only using a 2.4 GHZ quad core. The games nowadays seems to be more GPU sensitive than CPU bound. I hope it will last me a while.

 

[zanny]

Considering cpu bottlenecks, the 4850 is nice. Only issue is its the 1 gig edition, and I guarantee that your whole system will cap out without using up 512 meg ddr3 on a 4850 - you can get a 2ed at some point later if you want some crossfire, but $40 for 512 meg ddr3 is a little much.

 

[rdb]

4850, maybe with a after market cooler

 

[ctblack]

Considering cpu bottlenecks, the 4850 is nice. Only issue is its the 1 gig edition, and I guarantee that your whole system will cap out without using up 512 meg ddr3 on a 4850 - you can get a 2ed at some point later if you want some crossfire, but $40 for 512 meg ddr3 is a little much.

Does that applies to all games? I am only interested in RTS/RPG types of games and not FPS types.