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Low temperature graphics card for a embedded PC

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Hello,

here is a complicated question for the experts, I will very much appreciate any help with this.

I have an embedded PC (AAEON AEC-6920), with a fanless motherboard (it cools through the alluminium case, with gets quite hot). It´s quite a small, compact PC, almost like a laptop, although it has PCI-e, PCI and PCMCIa connections. To run a certain program (MaxSea; I am not using games)I needed more graphics memory (512 mb) than the graphics on the motherboard so I installed a Geforce 7300 GT Silent 512mb in the PCI-e slot (this card doesn´t have a fan either).
My problem is that after a while the graphics card reaches 125ºC according to the GeForce driver program, and the image on the display starts blinking a little. I am seriously thinking of replacing this card for one which doesn´t get so hot, and these are my questions:

- Which would be the lowest temperature 512mb card available (with a fan, I guess), taking into account that I don´t need extreme power, since I am not gaming?

- Since the embedded PC does not have a fan itself and it´s quite a closed, compact case, does it make sense to have the fan in the graphics card running inside the case without any opening; I mean, could the hot air flow damage other components in the PC?

Thank you in advance for any answers.

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You shoudl stay away from a GPu with a fan, that will require airflow you don't have as the heatsink alone would be very insufficient. There are many passively cooled cards around.. Are you limited toa compact form factor or will a full sized card fit?

Remember that a lot of fanless cards are not designed to be in an environment that has no airflow. they are jsut designed to be silent. You will probably need one with a quite sophisticated cooling solution.

Message edited by daedalus685 on 05-11-2009 at 01:57:58 AM

Hi,

I am not limited to a compact form factor, in fact the GeForce 7300 GT silent is a normal size card. I chose this fanless model because the computer has no fan on the motherboard either, and there is almost no air flow inside, so I thought I was "following the logics" of this computer. But since the GPU is reaching this extreme temperature of 125ºC (that´s hotter than boiling water!) I thought a graphics card with a fan would be able to keep the temperature down. But it is true that there is no air flow inside, so I don´t know what could be the best solution.

Regards.

Reply to Jess111

The thing with passive cards is they are generally designed for low noise, not for a passive computer. They still have heat sinks that still, usually, require airflow to keep cool.

Now, depending on how tight the case is an active cooled card may work alright, or it may not. It might just swish the air around a lot and still end up at the same temps as a passive card.. You'd want to look for one that has an exhaust.

is there no possibility of adding a small exhaust fan to the case itself? that might help the passively cooled card that u have keep under 100 C atleast

Reply to uncfan_2563

Mhmm...maybe rig something up that shoots air into the slot above your pci-e slot thus allowing the gpu to intake air and the air to cross the pcb along its way to the gpus intake and out the gpu exhaust....

Message edited by rewindlabs on 05-11-2009 at 03:24:37 AM

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http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s145/RSSRM/ay14s5-1.jpg

Reply to rewindlabs

either that or just buy a new case, doesent have to be big, just with a fan hole

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to computernewbie

computernewbie wrote :

either that or just buy a new case, doesent have to be big, just with a fan hole

i doubt he is about to buy a new case just for a graphics card considering what he is running.....

------------------------------

Reply to rewindlabs

Thank you everyone for your replies.

Taking your comments into account, I have been considering two options:

- An internal graphics card with an exhaust: could anyone recommend a model with an exhaust and a low temperature performance?

- An external graphics card than can be connected to the computer. That way the heat would stay outside the computer case... Does anyone know an external graphics card which is actually being sold? I have not been able to find one that is actually in the market. Besides they seem to connect via the express card socket, which this embedded PC does not have (it does have PCI-e, PCI and PCMCIA sockets).

Thank you again.

Reply to Jess111

Any ideas on my previous post would be very welcome. Does anyone know an external graphics card which is actually in the market? Or an internal graphics card with an exhaust on the outside, besides the connectors?

Thank you in advance for any information...

Reply to Jess111

Something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814161273

Thank you, Daedalus! That is exactly the type of card I probably need, because I have a free PCI slot right above the PCI-e slot where my actual graphics card is connected.

Taking into account that I only need 512mb graphics memory and that I am not gaming, which would be in your opinion the coolest running graphics cards with this "back exhaust" format?

Reply to Jess111

well dont use that as ur benchmark. there are a ton of decent expansion slot coolers.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] e%20Cooler

Reply to uncfan_2563

Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

Reply to Jess111

no problem. btw i didnt catch you saying anything about any type of airtake whatsoever. if you dont have ANY hole in ur case, fans wont do much. even a couple small holes will help

Reply to uncfan_2563

Uncfan, you have a point there. The computer is an industrial embedded PC, very compact aluminium case, which cools by heat radiation through the case, and it does not have any openings. I had thought about making a couple of holes in the case, but I was not sure if that would do any good. In your opinion, would that really make a difference in the temperature of the system?

http://www.ipcmax.com/images/fulls [...] C-6920.jpg

Reply to Jess111

with that size of a pc i think so. if u are going to make holes on ur own, u might as well plan out a nice airflow pattern. (making sure it goes through the things u want to cool)

Reply to uncfan_2563

Thanks a lot for the advice. Best regards from Spain.

Reply to Jess111

ah. Buenos dias i dont really pay attention in spanish class

Espero trabajarlo

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to uncfan_2563

uncfan_2563 wrote :

ah. Buenos dias i dont really pay attention in spanish class

Espero trabajarlo

Gracias, amigo. Un saludo.

Reply to Jess111

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