£100-£200 Graphics Card With QUIET COOLING

[Andaho]

I'm really looking for the best value for money card in the price range of £100-£200 but also very concerned about quiet cooling, as I have my PC close to my bed, and often leave it on at night.

I've originally been looking at getting either a 7900, 7950 or a cheap 8800... But the main thing that I'm worried about with getting a 8800 is the huge heatsink/fan and exhaust cooling they use.

Also, it seems like over the last few weeks (while I've been waiting for 22 July to pass), that the 7900 and 7950 are starting to get really rare!!! - The 7950 seems like the best value card, but overclockers.co.uk aren't even selling them anymore, and scan.co.uk only have one 7950 - a 256MB card... Is having 512MB on a 7950 overkill?

Would it be worth me considering an ATI card (I have never had an ATI card before)

[Mad-Max]

8800GTS 320 is best card for value and if you look you can get it for about £170-£180 but it is quiet though.

Scan do have on "Today Only " 2 7900 GTX's

512Mb XFX 7900GTX, PCI-E (x16), Mem 1630 MHz, GPU 665 MHz, 24 Pipes, Dual DVI-I/HDTV £110.45 inc.vat

512Mb XFX 7900GTX, PCI-E (x16), Mem 1600 MHz, GPU 650 MHz, 24 Pipes, Dual DVI-I/HDTV £99.88 inc.vat

or if you want a 7950 they have this, but it's what you already said

256MB XFX 7950GT, PCI-E(x16), Mem 1460MHz, GPU 570MHz, 24 Pipes, 2 x Dual Link DVI-I/HDTV £111.63 inc.vat

[Andaho]

I was under the impression that the 7950GT would be faster than a 7900GTX for around the same price? I'm looking at getting a 22" Samsung 226BW and need to get a graphics card that's able to run games smoothly at it's native resolution of 1680x1050. I'm not a huge gamer, and the games I'm likely to want to play on my new PC (waiting for the E6750) will be C&C 3 and StarCraft 2 when it comes out.

I'm now considering the 8600GTS even though I'm not interested at all in dx10... any comments on the 8600GTS compared to these other cards?

[Andaho]

Ok, I gone off the 8600GTS again, after just reading a couple reviews - all the 8x00 range apart from the 8800 seem like complete crap and usless because when games take advantage of dx10, they're going to be power hungry games! After all this research I'm doing tonight, I'm swinging towards buying my first ATI card http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=492010

I like the sound of how the Hexus review says the fan slows down to 20% when idling and is practically inaudible.

Can anyone say if this would be a good card to buy, or advise me to get something else?

[NightshadowUK]

- 512MB Power Color RX1950 XT ~ £136.89

The above would be a better option as it'll be just a quiet (if not more so) and more powerful.

EDIT: Or while it's out of stock:

- 256MB Power Color RX1950 XT ~ £116.24

[notsobig]

Yeah, also consider these ones too before you make your final decision. But if you can afford 200 then my choice would be GTS tbh.

Sapphire Technology Radeon X1950 PRO 512MB GDDR3 PCIE Dual DVI 580/700
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx...de=1&InMerch=1
Sapphire ATI X1950XT 256MB GDDR3 VIVO dual DVI PCI-E Graphics Card
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/119441

[Andaho]

- 512MB Power Color RX1950 XT ~ £136.89

The above would be a better option as it'll be just a quiet (if not more so) and more powerful.

EDIT: Or while it's out of stock:

- 256MB Power Color RX1950 XT ~ £116.24

I've never heard of the make Power Color before - not suprising since I've never bought an ATI card before huh? I like how the Asus has a 3 year warranty - is the difference from a X1950Pro to X1950XT a difference that is worth paying £20 more for, with a 256MB card, and then an extra £20 on top of that for the 512MB version?

[Magnets]

Yeah, also consider these ones too before you make your final decision. But if you can afford 200 then my choice would be GTS tbh.

Sapphire Technology Radeon X1950 PRO 512MB GDDR3 PCIE Dual DVI 580/700
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx...de=1&InMerch=1
Sapphire ATI X1950XT 256MB GDDR3 VIVO dual DVI PCI-E Graphics Card
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/119441

If you want a quiet card, DO NOT buy the sapphire X1950XT (red fan).

The card runs very hot, i have changed the fan profile, and 50% will keep it around 74 degrees in some high-end games. The default fan profile will only run at 50% fan when the temp reaches 88 degrees.
The exhaust is really like a hair dryer.

50% fan is very loud.

It's a cheap card and performance is good, otherwise.

I'm not sure what the powercolor cards are like, but they have better coolers (much quieter from what i've heard). However they do not blow the hot air out the rear of the case, they blow it towards the motherboard. So increase the temps inside the case.

[Andaho]

If you want a quiet card, DO NOT buy the sapphire X1950XT (red fan).

The card runs very hot, i have changed the fan profile, and 50% will keep it around 74 degrees in some high-end games. The default fan profile will only run at 50% fan when the temp reaches 88 degrees.
The exhaust is really like a hair dryer.

50% fan is very loud.

Thank you for the warning - I will avoid that one like the plague

Power Color don't seem to have any information about a warranty on their site, and don't mention anything about the "arctic cooling" in the specs of their cards. - I'm guessing that the perfomance difference will be very minimal between the Pro and the XT, so really I'm just looking for the most quiet.

[Magnets]

Power Color don't seem to have any information about a warranty on their site, and don't mention anything about the "arctic cooling" in the specs of their cards. - I'm guessing that the perfomance difference will be very minimal between the Pro and the XT, so really I'm just looking for the most quiet.

The cooler on the powercolor is an Arctic cooling accelero X2 i believe, a review here, google for loads more.

For a guide on the performance difference, look at tomshardware VGA charts here

[Andaho]

The cooler on the powercolor is an Arctic cooling accelero X2 i believe, a review here, google for loads more.

For a guide on the performance difference, look at tomshardware VGA charts here

Oh excellent - I really like the look of the power color card now - although Toms VGA chart has a X1950XT with 1800MHz mem, when both the 512mb and 256mb power color have only 1400MHz mem - or is that a mis-print by scan?

[notsobig]

If you want a quiet card, DO NOT buy the sapphire X1950XT (red fan).

The card runs very hot, i have changed the fan profile, and 50% will keep it around 74 degrees in some high-end games. The default fan profile will only run at 50% fan when the temp reaches 88 degrees.
The exhaust is really like a hair dryer.

50% fan is very loud.

It's a cheap card and performance is good, otherwise.

I'm not sure what the powercolor cards are like, but they have better coolers (much quieter from what i've heard). However they do not blow the hot air out the rear of the case, they blow it towards the motherboard. So increase the temps inside the case.

You probably have to control fan speed with atitool(keep temp at -- thingy). I have same red fan cooler on my x1800xt but I can hardly hear anything while in 2d mode. In 3d mode yes it's as noisy as my desktop fan + me singing lol but I'm usually gaming while in 3d so that doesn't bother me much. I'm actually very fond of this cooler except red haired woman printed on it. I'd rather take blonde

[KowShak]

I've got an x1950 XT with an accelero and its pretty much silent, you can't hear it over the noise of my Arctic Freezer or my 120mm fan in my PSU.

Either of the two Power Color cards linked above come with that same heatsink.... the performance of the 512MB card won't be much greater than the 256MB....

[cptwhite_uk]

The X1950XT 256Mb @ £114 from Scan. Linked above. That's a great buy, and should be fairly quiet set-up with the third party cooling. Otherwise it's 8800GTS time...

The pro is NOT in the same league of the XT, I have one of both in different machines. However they both offer great performance at the prices they're selling at.

[Blitzen]

- 512MB Power Color RX1950 XT ~ £136.89

The above would be a better option as it'll be just a quiet (if not more so) and more powerful.

EDIT: Or while it's out of stock:

- 256MB Power Color RX1950 XT ~ £116.24

You are joking right???

ATI cards are ALL notoriously loud....where on earth do you get your information from???? The clouds?

OP....the fact remains go for the 8800GTS 320mb (any of them).
They are:
1. Available for well under £200 now
2. Very quiet (my EVGA one is inaudible)
3. Alot faster than any 1950pro
4. The ATI cards all run ridiculously HOT aswell..........they have never released one with good cooling and the 1950's are just as bad there.
5. DX10
6. More efficient
7. Run anything you like at 1600x1200 maxxed out (no ATI card can do that-even the flagship ones as their AA is useless).


The 1950Pro/XT's are decent enough and are good value...........but they arent in the same league as the 8800GTS's which are only £50 more.

Power Color don't seem to have any information about a warranty on their site

This is becasue they are in Taiwan and any RMA's have to be sent back there.
I had an X850XT Powercolor card. Its was absolute sh!t. Died after 7 weeks and they wanted it returned to them......what a load of rubbish. I would never use them again.

[NightshadowUK]

You are joking right???

ATI cards are ALL notoriously loud....where on earth do you get your information from???? The clouds?

OP....the fact remains go for the 8800GTS 320mb (any of them).
They are:
1. Available for well under £200 now
2. Very quiet (my EVGA one is inaudible)
3. Alot faster than any 1950pro
4. The ATI cards all run ridiculously HOT aswell..........they have never released one with good cooling and the 1950's are just as bad there.
5. DX10
6. More efficient
7. Run anything you like at 1600x1200 maxxed out (no ATI card can do that-even the flagship ones as their AA is useless).

Ooooo, someone's twitchy...

- I linked to X1950XT's, not Pro's.

- They're fitted with AC Acceleros which (so the clouds tell me) are very quiet. Miles quieter than any 8800 stock cooler.

- In most cases they're only just behind 8800GTS performance.

- My X1950XT with a VF900 runs in the same temp range as my mate's 8800GTS.

- As it stands both nVidia's 8800 series and (to a lesser extent) ATi's 2900 suck in DX10.

- My X1950XT can run most things maxed out and with AA in 1680 x 1050.

I'm not saying the 8800GTS isn't a faster card, I'm saying your arguement is flawed and that for what 'Andaho' needs (i.e. quiet cooling), the X1950XT's I linked to are the best choice.