ECS 8800GT 512MB Fanless for $209.99 AR ($50) at Newegg

[Cherub]

This is the best price I've seen on a 512MB 8800GT from any decent retailer (Dell purposely excluded), and it's fanless with what looks like a high quality cooling setup.

Video card here

Rebate here

The rebate is good to 2/15/08. There is also a promo code good on 2/7/08 for another $10 off for newsletter subscribers.

 

[ghost recon88]

Wonder how a fanless one overclocks? And ECS is selling video cards? If their video cards are anything like their motherboards, I would pass. IMO, the Galaxy one is a much better deal for the same price, and you can also chose the get the Galaxy rebate in only a week if you don't mind getting $36 back instead of $40.

 

[Doclife]

You beat me to it. I just ordered one and it cost me $206 shipped. This is the best deal for a passively cooled 8800GT 512MB video card. Someone reported that this card is factory OCed to 650MHz core /1900MHz memory.

 

[Karaktu]

Actually, it comes with the "Turbo" fans, if you look at the accessories pictures.

My personal concern with anything not eVGA/XFX/Visiontek is the lack of a lifetime warranty. ASUS offers a 3-year, MSI offers a 2/3-year (3rd year is almost worthless), but most everyone else is a one-year.

 

[Cherub]

Originally posted by: ghost recon88
IMO, the Galaxy one is a much better deal for the same price, and you can also chose the get the Galaxy rebate in only a week if you don't mind getting $36 back instead of $40.

The reason I think the ECS is a better card is the fact that its fanless with a good cooler and because it's retail. The Galaxy is OEM and is not a reference card. Some Galaxy's are apparently better and have a jumper for increased voltage; however, I've heard that those that don't are more difficult to voltmod, being non-standard. This is probably irrelevant to 99% of us, though.

The quick rebate is a great idea, and with only a 10% reduction it's very reasonable.

 

[v8envy]

I bit. The code for today is EMCACAHAF, just to save you some clicking.

 

[fleshconsumed]

Heh, I have a love/hate relationship with this forum. I almost ordered this card when it was $226 after MIR several days ago, I even put it in my cart and started checkout, but then decided against it because I don't play a lot of games anymore. However, at $206 I couldn't resist and just ordered it. So thanks guys for saving me 20 bucks, and damn you guys for making me spend $200.

Regarding whether ECS or Galaxy is better, I'd say ECS is. Both cards carry 1 year warranty and both cards cost the same after MIR. Galaxy advantage is that rebate is smaller and will arrive faster if you pick paypal option. However, ECS card comes with a superior cooler that would cost you at least $33 otherwise ($27 for the S1 and $6 for the Turbo Module). IMO the S1 cooler outweighs larger rebate.

 

[konakona]

wow, I want this card.
kinda wondering if I should sell my hd3870 and go for this.
ditto on what OP said, this is widely regarded as the best cooling on vid cards available. (cant beat fanless or a slient fan of your choice)

 

[zig3695]

ohh... nice deal now.. 8800gt 512mb for $200 is where it should be. but toca race driver GRID doesnt come out till summer... ill be waiting to see whats available then for video cards...

 

[imported_Section8]

This has a SLI connection, but it looks like the cooler blocks it. Is there a proprietary SLI bridge for this?

 

[fleshconsumed]

You could probably either cut aluminum fins where bridge is supposed to be or try and fit flexible sli bridge.

 

[daction]

In for one, thanks for posting this.

 

[Crass]

$23 tax good and bad that it is shipping out of memphis (where i live) so $229.14 AR .. Pewp

 

[Fam Money]

Originally posted by: Karaktu
Actually, it comes with the "Turbo" fans, if you look at the accessories pictures.

My personal concern with anything not eVGA/XFX/Visiontek is the lack of a lifetime warranty. ASUS offers a 3-year, MSI offers a 2/3-year (3rd year is almost worthless), but most everyone else is a one-year.

Per Guru3D review it is supposed to be a 2 year warranty though I could not find anything to back that as Newegg shows it as only a year.

Reviews seem good to me.

Review 1
Review 2
Review 3
Review 4

 

[you2]

So which is better - this card or a GTS (g92) for $270 ? Isin't the GTS 15% faster ?

One other question - it looks like this card is really high. In my current case (lian pc-60 plus) if this card is taller than the 1800xt I will need to take out the side fan. Is this a big issue ?

 

[gwynethgh]

Crap I cant find the HEIGHT of this card anywhere. Height can be a critical factor in HTPC cases, No point in getting a quiet card and not having it fit in the case (with the cover on). Why of why do the reviews say its a tall heatsink without taking 30 second to measure it for us. So please reviewers if you get an oversized board please tell us the dimensions.

Another thought that a reviewer did note. Time to have an HDMI connection right on the card like ATI cards are doing. Few NVIDIA cards do that. I can understand the desire to have the dual DVIs in a high resolution rig but again in a HTPC HDMI is the way to go to get than video to a TV. They could also feed the audio over the HDMI like intended. (again like some ATI cards). (PS dont like ATI as a product or their drivers)

 

[fleshconsumed]

That's the thing. 8800GT is not a HTPC card. It's a high end part where second DVI port is much more useful than HDMI.

 

[littlebitstrouds]

Originally posted by: fleshconsumed
That's the thing. 8800GT is not a HTPC card. It's a high end part where second DVI port is much more useful than HDMI.

What? You mean I can't play my games on my 40" LCD just because it's hooked up to my HTPC? Hmmm I guess I'll have to take back my 8800gt, my 4 gigs of ram, and my 3.0ghz c2d... Why did I think I could game with this crappy htpc.

 

[zig3695]

thats not what flash was meaning. this card doesnt seem to have hdmi output, at least the adapter isnt in the box (though it says hdcp ready). its designed to be a gaming card, not a fitted htpc card. there are MUCH better choices out there for htpc's, even if you have to sacrifice a little fps. Sure, you can use it for a htpc but its not going to perform like a power-saving, video accelerating and proper output card.

 

[kaborka]

It is SO nice to have a quiet card! One thing: The two T-shaped clips that are part of the Accelero radiator setup were loose on mine and fell off during installation. The review at HardOCP said it didn't seem to matter, so I left them off. Anyone else notice this?

 

[nyker96]

that looks like accelero s1 to me.

 

[Mucker]

I tried the DVI to HDMI adapter (that came with my 3870) with my 8800 GT. Hooking it up to my Panny 50 inch plasma, it worked most excellently. Obviously no sound through the HDMI, but the image was fantastic and the nVidia driver made scaling a snap. I don't know about video, but a big thumbs up for gaming when using an adapter. The DVI-D to HDMI dual link adapters can be found on ebay for about $6 or a DVI-D to HDMI dual link cable for $11.

As for the S1 performance, I have one on 8800GT

fanless
idle 39C
load 52C

68F ambient with Antec 900 case

 

[v8envy]

Originally posted by: kaborka
It is SO nice to have a quiet card! One thing: The two T-shaped clips that are part of the Accelero radiator setup were loose on mine and fell off during installation. The review at HardOCP said it didn't seem to matter, so I left them off. Anyone else notice this?

Mine also fell off. BUT I made sure to reattach them. Without the clips the only thing holding the radiator to the fan are the two nylon push-pins holding the heatsink onto the GPU. There's definitely a chance for the heatsink to pull away from the GPU that way. Why chance it?

BTW, this is definitely an accelero S1 cooler with an accelero 'turbo' module. It's even labeled as such. ECS puts their own sticker on the bottom.

43C idle/58C load passive mode here. 29C/43C with the turbo module.

 

[marcplante]

remember people that if you use the right credit card you add a year to any factory warranty. Check with your provider and think about changing cards if you don't.

 

[kaborka]

marcplante: Big thanks for that reminder. I had forgotten about that. I used Citi "virtual" cc's for this and recent woot purchases. I checked my terms, and I DO have the extra 12mo coverage.

v8envy: I did not attach the fans yet, but next time I get into the case I'll look to see if I can figure out where the T-clips go.