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Looking for a good fanless video card

Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards - Looking for a good fanless video card

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darkphantom   02-09-2009 at 07:50:37 PM

I know I'm asking for a solution to a conundrum here but I'm wondering if anyone knows of a good low heat card that is fanless but will still be good for gaming. I'm looking for something fanless since I seem to have bad luck with overly loud fans and plan to build a completely fanless system. Also would passive water cooling be a better alternative than just fanlass for a system ?
I have looked at the fanless cards at newegg but there are very few and these seems to be relatively hard to come by.

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Bronze Graphics badge mousemonkey   02-09-2009 at 11:22:03 PM
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That would be because of the fire hazard I guess. :lol:

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werxen   02-09-2009 at 11:40:19 PM
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you could always get an awesome card ie: 4870 and use passive cooling ie: fanless heatsink + radiator combination. as long as you have subtle air flow it should suffice.

------------------------------ E8500 oc'd 4.5 @ 1.44 vcore with 92mm Zalman
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San Pedro   02-09-2009 at 11:41:12 PM
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I think you can get some 4670 cards without fans. . .
What resolution do you plan to game at?　　If it is anything to high then you may have to look for water cooled solutions, but I don't how loud those pumps can get.

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cadder   02-10-2009 at 12:37:07 AM
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Why fanless? If you are gaming then the noise of the fan won't matter, and when you aren't gaming then the fan will drop down to its lowest speed.

I've been reading user reviews and cards up to and including the 4670 apparently use very little power when idling, so their fans can slow down and be very quiet. OTOH the next step up is the 4830 and it uses enough more power that its fan will be noisier even when idling.

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buzznut   02-10-2009 at 01:08:29 AM
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yeah, I would try riva tuner to control fan speed. For gaming anyway.
My 8800gt is pretty quiet unless 3d gaming.

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Silver Graphics badge TheGreatGrapeApe   02-10-2009 at 01:28:38 AM
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The best bet for Passive is the HD4670, but whether or not you think that's a good gaming card depends on your expectations.

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Bronze Graphics badge jaguarskx   02-10-2009 at 07:38:45 AM
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Gigabyte Passively Cooled HD 4850 for $180.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814125258

------------------------------ Q9450 |Corsair XMS 4GB DDR 800 | ABit IP35 Pro | HD 5850 | Audigy 2 | Seasonic S12 550 | Cooler Master Centurion 532 | NEC LCD2690WUXi and Planar PX2611w | WinXP

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Bronze Graphics badge jaguarskx   02-10-2009 at 07:52:11 AM
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Another option would be to use an Accelero S1 Rev.2 Heatsink (pretty big) to cool an ATI HD 4850. This can be a cheaper option, but you will need to put the two together by yourself.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835186016

Newegg.com's specs are a little old. This heatsink does in fact fit a HD 4850 / 4870 as listed in the official specs. I would recommend a fan for the HD 4870.

My 9600GT is passively cooled by an Accelero S2 (only 2 heatpipes compared to 4 heatpipes in the S1).

------------------------------ Q9450 |Corsair XMS 4GB DDR 800 | ABit IP35 Pro | HD 5850 | Audigy 2 | Seasonic S12 550 | Cooler Master Centurion 532 | NEC LCD2690WUXi and Planar PX2611w | WinXP

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darkphantom   02-10-2009 at 07:22:16 PM
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Thanks for the responces so far.
My LCD's native resolution is 1600x1024 but I'd also like to use the card to watch movies in 1920x1080 (1080p). The idle db is what I'm more interested in, if it's a little loud when playing games it not too bad. I currently have an x1650xt and it gets very hot very quickly which can cause the card to become very loud, it doesn't help that the ball bearings are shot.
A low power card may be a consideration, something with a low idle temp. TheyI would be fine with replacing the cololing unit of the card with something else and Accelero or somethign like it maybe something to look into. If anyone knows of a list of idle / avg running temps it would be very helpful.

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