Low power / decent performance?

[chico1st]

Hello I am looking for a graphics card that is low power but has decent performance

USES:
I am making a silent computer since its mostly for watching videos so the card must be low power (im sort of anal about computer quietness) , but i do game a bit Supreme commander 2 and MAss effect 2. I feel comfortable over/underclocking so i can use that to increase and decrease consumption

FEATURES:
as a note i dont plan to do SLI or anything, and I would like my Zalman VF900 heatsink to fit but I dont expect you to know if it will or not.

BUDGET:
and im not really on a budget, but im also not made of money.. i was thinking the 100$ range and i plan to buy within a few weeks.

SYSTEM:
It will be with an i5 system and my 550W PSU
My current monitor is 1400x900

COOLING:
I would like to use as little cooling as possible on my VF900...3.3V or 5V

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS:
TigerDirect

COMMENTS:
a benchmark of performance vs power consumption would be awesome!


THANKS!

 

[rolli59]

Then we have a HD5750 with passive cooling http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131300

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500146&cm_re=zotac-_-14-500-146-_-Product

 

[rolli59]

All the low power cards are compared in this review of the HD5570 http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5570,2552.html

 

[chico1st]

after looking up a bunch of stuff i was wondering what you guys thought of
EVGA GeForce GTS 250 512MB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

there is also a Zotac Model,are they reputable?

It seems to also have quite a low power consumption at idle (I assume HD videos will be somewhat close to idle) but be significantly more powerful than the 240
What do you think?


Also, I have become pro-nvidia because of linux support (I had heard ATI had good linux drivers now, but apparently that was false)

PS: I realized newegg has much better deals so i will use them instead of tiger direct.

 

[chico1st]

didn't you want silent models?
the EVGA you linked is a fine card but rather loud

well im goint to put my VF900 on the card ideally (if it fits)
and since the GTS250 has a lower power consumption the fan should only have to run at slow speeds to keep it cool.
i was hoping that while playing movies the card wouldnt heat up too much, i dont know where 1080p movies are on the Idle->Load spectrum.
That logic works right?

figuring out if my heat sink will fit though is a hassle though.

and low power i suppose would be something which I can cool with about 24CFM over my heatsink while watching 1080p