Looking for some input to help me decide on a card

[Moondoggy]

I've narrowed things down a bit but I'm still looking for some extra input.

I'm not much of a gamer but I do occasionaly play a few games when I have time. I was mainly looking for a board that would perform well for day-to-day but be able to step up to the plate if I want to play a game.

Of the graphics cards I've looked at the Sapphire 4670 cards with 512 MB of GDDR3 memory seem to meet the above criteria but it seems there are two models to choose from. The regular Sapphire 4670 card has a small fan on the side of the case that cools the chipset but pushes warm air into the case to be expelled by the case fan. Likewise the "ultimate" eddition has a passive system where heat of removed through a heat fins and then removed from the case by the case fan. So....I guess my thinking tells me that I should consider the ultimate model with the passive heat fins to eliminate the potential for fan noise so here are my questions:

Am I making a mountain out of a mole hill over the issue of heat and the fan cooled model will be just as cool as the other model given the systems usage? Are there any downsides to getting the passive model over the fan cooled model (except the cost) that I not considering? Are these cards all wrong for what I'm attemping to do with them and I need to look at other cards?

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[OvrClkr]

If you want a card that can step up to the plate w/o striking out... you need at least a 4850 or 9800GTX and that will cost around 99.99 USD.....

you can get some nice deals off e-bay or other e-tailors.....

 

[Jaysin]

The heat on that card isn't going to be a significant issue either way, I wouldn't be too considered over the heat being in the case. It isn't like its a 48050x2 or anything.

Noise however is another issue. Unless you are looking for complete silence, it is likely your PSU or even CPU fan is going to be louder than the one on the 4670. Even in games with louder cards, headphones or speakers almost always drown the noise out. On your desktop the 4670 isn't barely audible over other components.

 

[vjcsmoke]

If you want a quieter video card, go for a sapphire vapor-x edition card.

It looks like the 4850 vapor-x is the least expensive of that product line. You might be able to find it for under $100 with discounts if you look for coupons and shop around.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102833

 

[Moondoggy]

If you want a card that can step up to the plate w/o striking out... you need at least a 4850 or 9800GTX and that will cost around 99.99 USD.....

you can get some nice deals off e-bay or other e-tailors.....

Thanks for the reply. But here's a follow-up. If I step up and get a 4850 what will that do noise-wise to my system (i.e. higher, lower, about the same, or I don't know)? Although my current rig isn't terribly loud it does sit right next to me and I'm concerned about noise, especially since I'm not a real gamer. I didn't mention that this was going in a new rig where I'm spending extra money to buy a Cooler Master Silent Pro M600 PSU just to keep the system quiet. Let me know how you think the 4850 should fit in to this mix or whether I should stick with the 4670 and perhaps consider the model that has the passive heat sync.

 

[Moondoggy]

If you want a quieter video card, go for a sapphire vapor-x edition card.

It looks like the 4850 vapor-x is the least expensive of that product line. You might be able to find it for under $100 with discounts if you look for coupons and shop around.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102833

Thanks for the reply....

I'll take a look at this card but I would like to know why this card is considered quieter than others? I thought the passive heat sync was a pretty slick design. I forget to mention that I'm freaked out about the potential for having a loud system. My current rig sits right next to me and I can hear the case fan running all the time and I was hoping to have a quieter system with the new rig I'm going to build. I've even went to the trouble of ordering a Cooler Master Silent Pro M600 PSU just to reduce the noise level.

Please let me know what you know about the 4850 Vapor-x card from Sapphaire. I really do appreciate your feedback.

 

[Moondoggy]

The heat on that card isn't going to be a significant issue either way, I wouldn't be too considered over the heat being in the case. It isn't like its a 48050x2 or anything.

Noise however is another issue. Unless you are looking for complete silence, it is likely your PSU or even CPU fan is going to be louder than the one on the 4670. Even in games with louder cards, headphones or speakers almost always drown the noise out. On your desktop the 4670 isn't barely audible over other components.

Thanks for the reply...

Well, noise is an issue for me. My current rig sits right next to me and I can hear the fan running all the time and I was hoping to have a quieter system on the new rig I'm building. I've even went to the extra expense of putting a Cooler Master Silent Pro M600 PSU in the unit to keep the noise down. I'd appreciate any additional feedback you might have regarding what graphics card I should put in this new righ.

 

[vjcsmoke]

Check out the review here. They focus on noise level and temps of the 4850 vapor-x.

"In essence then, this isn't the fastest Radeon HD 4850 out of the box for obvious reasons, but it is one of the coolest and quietest, and if that aspect of buying a new graphics board is important to you then the Radeon HD 4850 Vapor-X is hugely impressive, a top-class blend of low temperatures and low noise. All that remains is to see how pricing for this board shakes up once it hits UK retail stores properly - At present, the only site listing this card has it priced above a Radeon HD 4870, so with a little patience and shopping around hopefully there will be some good deals to be had."

http://www.elitebastards.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=701&Itemid=27&limit=1&limitstart=8

Overview of how Vapor-X technology works:

"According to the documentation we have from Sapphire, a vapor chamber has 50% less thermal resistance than copper while having TWICE the heat conductivity. Add to that the fact that is it omni-directional (due to the low air pressure) whereas copper sticks to the old “heat rises” mantra and this looks to be a hell of a technology."

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/7245-sapphire-hd3870-512mb-toxic-edition-review-6.html

PS Avoid sapphire "toxic" editions. They are supposed to be really loud. Go with vapor-x.

 

[OvrClkr]

Well this is the issue I have with people that don't like video card noise.....

First of all, the only way you will hear noise coming from the card in the first place is if you are playing a game or watching a movie @ 720P or higher. Of course while you are playing or watching a movie you will have something called "volume", once the volume is at a desired level you should not hear anything coming from the case... If the case is in "idle" mode, meaning all you are doing is surfing the net or sending an email or better yet typing on Toms, your card should be silent or at a tolerable level... If later on you still think it is too loud, you can always remove the fan and install a fan-less heatsink....

 

[vjcsmoke]

He just wants the "quiet" built-in without having to do anything to the card himself. I can understand that. I had problems with case noise myself. I spent over $200 making my case more tolerably quiet. I replaced my drive coolers, CPU heatsink, and the 'chimney' fan on my lian li case.

Some people can tolerate noise, and others can't. *shrugs* When I chose to upgrade my video card, I spent a little extra to get a vapor-x edition, because I just don't want to deal with the noise issues.

 

[Moondoggy]

Well this is the issue I have with people that don't like video card noise.....

First of all, the only way you will hear noise coming from the card in the first place is if you are playing a game or watching a movie @ 720P or higher. Of course while you are playing or watching a movie you will have something called "volume", once the volume is at a desired level you should not hear anything coming from the case... If the case is in "idle" mode, meaning all you are doing is surfing the net or sending an email or better yet typing on Toms, your card should be silent or at a tolerable level... If later on you still think it is too loud, you can always remove the fan and install a fan-less heatsink....

Thanks for the follow-up. Have been reading reviews of the Sapphire 4850 and it sound like this may may be a very good compromise of performance, price and sound. The only remaining question now is whether a 600 Watt PSU is enought or should I jump it to 700 Watts? This new rig is going to have a Core i7-920 with 6 GB of memory and 1 TB HD and tw0 optiical drives and from the reviews I've read, probably the Sapphire 4850.

 

[OvrClkr]

Yea I understand.... heh for some reason I am the other way around...If I hear the "Roar" then I know something fun is happening at that moment....

 

[Moondoggy]

He just wants the "quiet" built-in without having to do anything to the card himself. I can understand that. I had problems with case noise myself. I spent over $200 making my case more tolerably quiet. I replaced my drive coolers, CPU heatsink, and the 'chimney' fan on my lian li case.

Some people can tolerate noise, and others can't. *shrugs* When I chose to upgrade my video card, I spent a little extra to get a vapor-x edition, because I just don't want to deal with the noise issues.

Thanks again for the recommendation. I think I'm going with the Sapphire 4850 as I agree that it is probably the best balance of power and quite while still in my budget range.