Seeking quiet mid level graphics card

[ilmaestro]

I decided to get a mid-level graphics card recently and was deciding between the ATI 700 and the GeForce 6600 GT. Ultimately I settled on the GT and after reading some reviews on various manufacturers, I went and picked up a PNY verto GeForce 6600 GT card yesterday. So far I'm happy with the card's performance, but for a guy who is used to a very quiet machine (just one case fan), the addition of this card is causing more noise than I'm ready for and I'd like to look for an alternative solution.

So, does anyone know if the PNY 6600 GT card is particularly louder than the cards made by some of the other manufacturers, or am I probably not going to notice the difference much. I think I'd like to stick with a 6600 GT card, but I definately want less noise. My only real requirement for a card is that is must be PCIe. I have a few weeks to return this card, so I'd like to look at my options.

Thanks
Jonathan

 

[WW2Planes1]

you could always replace the fan.
I'm sure someone will suggest the Arctic Cooling Silencer series. I'm not sure which one will fit your card.

Also, Anandtech did a roundup of PCIe 6600GT cards here which included a sound level comparison.

 

[ilmaestro]

Thanks for the response. I did check out that article. It was pretty good. Unfortunately the PNY wasn't in the mix, so I'm not sure where it stands amongst the others.

Can you give me any idea how much a fan could cut down on the sound? Purchasing a new fan isn't a bad idea, but I have the option of simply returning the card and getting a different one, so if there is a better choice I might as well do that.

jonathan

 

[orchiduk]

Gigabyte 6600GT PCI-E with passive cooling: http://www.giga-byte.com/VGA/Products/Products_GV-NX66T128VP.htm#

The RAM is clocked a bit faster than normal too

 

[Lemodular]

Originally posted by: WW2Planes1
you could always replace the fan.
I'm sure someone will suggest the Arctic Cooling Silencer series. I'm not sure which one will fit your card.

Also, Anandtech did a roundup of PCIe 6600GT cards here which included a sound level comparison.

I replaced my stock HSF with this Arctic Silencer NV6 rev. 2 It's VERY quiet, and cools very well. Worth every penny.

I believe the Zalmans also makes a quiet HSF (sorry dont know the model offhand)

 

[imported_fatal]

Quote: The Gigabyte GV-NX66T128VP made an outstanding impression on us. The card is very fast thanks to its fast memory modules and higher memory clock rate, and absolutely silent thanks to its passive cooling.

Full card reviews here http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050404/index.html

 

[ilmaestro]

Originally posted by: Lemodular2
I replaced my stock HSF with this Arctic Silencer NV6 rev. 2 It's VERY quiet, and cools very well. Worth every penny.

I believe the Zalmans also makes a quiet HSF (sorry dont know the model offhand)

Thanks for your response.

What manufacturer's card do you have and how does the sound level previouly compare to now with the Arctic silencer?

 

[ilmaestro]

Originally posted by: fatal
Quote: The Gigabyte GV-NX66T128VP made an outstanding impression on us. The card is very fast thanks to its fast memory modules and higher memory clock rate, and absolutely silent thanks to its passive cooling.

Full card reviews here http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050404/index.html

Originally posted by: orchiduk
Gigabyte 6600GT PCI-E with passive cooling: http://www.giga-byte.com/VGA/Products/Products_GV-NX66T128VP.htm#

The RAM is clocked a bit faster than normal too

Thanks for the responses!

Passive cooling sounds cool I hadn't seen that mentioned of any of the cards. Do you know if any of the other manufacturer's cards include passive cooling? Before you guys posted, I was reading and started to lean towards the Leadtek, but I am also seeing lots of glowing buyer comments about the gigabyte card.

Judging from the anandtech article, the Leadtech is actually a bit quieter than the Gigabyte. So... if the gigabyte is silent, I'm hoping the Leadtek is REALLY silent. Also, judging from the anandtech article, I'm inclined to lean towards the Leadtek since it should run cooler than the gigabyte.

Can anyone throw in any more info regarding this stuff? It's all much appreciated.

jonathan

 

[Lemodular]

I have an XFX card, I had the original loud but cool factory fan. They have sinced replace the cooler with a quieter design. The noise level of the new AC cooler is virtually silent. I use a tube to isolate sounds within my system and it is definately the quietest moving part. I also have a 120mm fan at the PSU.

The cooler alowed me to OC my card to stable 577/1.17 and achieved a 3Dmark score of 4090. I want to eventually edge it to the 600Mhz mark.

 

[ilmaestro]

Originally posted by: fatal
Quote: The Gigabyte GV-NX66T128VP made an outstanding impression on us. The card is very fast thanks to its fast memory modules and higher memory clock rate, and absolutely silent thanks to its passive cooling.

Full card reviews here http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050404/index.html

I was reading through that review and just realized that by "absolutely silent", they meant it. I am new to this game so I didn't realize completely what passively cooled meant. It does mean though, if I'm correct, that the card relies on my case fan to cool itself? The dell dimension that this thing would be intended for doesn't have a particularly loud fan, so I'm guessing there's not a ton of cooling going on in there... but the thing doesn't seem hot. Can anyone throw some information in regarding how a passively cooled card could be expected to perform heat wise in a typical dell case?

jonathan

 

[MDE]

The Zalman cooler mentioned before is the VF-700 Cu (or AlCu)

 

[ilmaestro]

Originally posted by: MDE
The Zalman cooler mentioned before is the VF-700 Cu (or AlCu)

Yeah, it's looking like my small'ish dell case doesn't even have a decent spot for an add-on fan, so I think I'll be safer just going with a card that has a mounted fan.