Looking for a quiet graphics card

[kaelyn]

I quite often run my pc at night so I'm looking for a quiet graphics card that will not disturb me, I currently have a BFG GTX 260 and the stock fan on it is quite noisy, I tried replacing it with a gelid icyvision but due to the lack of pwm fans it was pretty loud when plugged into the graphics card and the only way to control it was plugging it into the motherboard and I'ld rather not faff on doing that!

My budget is up to around £180 and I prefer Nvidia though I may be tempted if there is a bargain, the games I play are the sims 3 and world of warcraft occasionally, I'm looking into getting the pc version of skyrim so something that could run that at ps3 graphics or better would be fantastic.

If possible I would like to purchase from scan due to their awesome customer service and free shipping.

Thank you all for your help

[scaryjim]

How quiet? Gigabyte do a completely passive 6770 which is about the same performance as a GTX260, if you didn't mind not getting a performance upgrade... Don't know if scan currently stock it, but they may be able to order it for you if you contacted them...

[ik9000]

The Gigabyte superoverclock series are really quiet. Some types are slightly louder than others. I got the GTX460SO and it is whisper quiet even while gaming at night. I went off the Anandtech and Hexus test info to compare card types, then scrabbled around to find tests of the actual model I wanted. Generally the SO series perform better than other cards in their class and with lower noise to boot. Prob worth also adding my case is well ventilated (and with carefully selected quiet fans) to start with which will also help reduce the work of the GPU fans.

[ik9000]

How quiet? Gigabyte do a completely passive 6770 which is about the same performance as a GTX260, if you didn't mind not getting a performance upgrade... Don't know if scan currently stock it, but they may be able to order it for you if you contacted them...

the problem with passive cards is if you want them to do hard work (gaming) they get hot and you still need to cool them somehow. So your case fans become more important, otherwise they throttle and you get stuttering. Like my passive Geforce 5200 which has a hissy fit on a regular basis.

[kaelyn]

If possible I would like to recieve a performance upgrade out of it, I can play everything fine in my current card but a little more wouldn't help of course

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Ebuyer sell a passive HD6850 1GB:

http://www.ebuyer.com/272570-powerco...50-1gbd5-s3dhg

[scaryjim]

the problem with passive cards is if you want them to do hard work (gaming) they get hot and you still need to cool them somehow. So your case fans become more important, otherwise they throttle and you get stuttering. Like my passive Geforce 5200 which has a hissy fit on a regular basis.

I know, I had an FX5200 that did excctly the same thing, but the FX5200 was a pile of steaming droppings, not a proper, well engineered gaming GPU - and it had a 1 inch square piece of aluminium stuck on the chip, not 1Kg of copper, heatpipes and fins. I was just pointing out that if you want *absolutely* silent then it's still possible in a gaming-class card.

[scaryjim]

Ebuyer sell a passive HD6850 1GB:

http://www.ebuyer.com/272570-powerco...50-1gbd5-s3dhg

Is that just to tease me about not having enough money for my passive gaming build...?

Nice looking card: wonder if I could get NoFan and PowerColor to sponsor a build log...

[GeorgeStorm]

Can't you just lower the fanspeed using afterburner etc?

Otherwise I'd look at almost any card with an aftermarket cooler of some sort, since that's one of the biggest advantages to going for one over a reference card, the reduction in noise (and potentially better cooling)
For instance, my GTX570 Phantom which I had, was far quieter, and cooler than the GTX460 stock I had before.

And btw, what would you do with your 260? (may be interested in buying)

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Is that just to tease me about not having enough money for my passive gaming build...?

Nice looking card: wonder if I could get NoFan and PowerColor to sponsor a build log...

I wish I could someone to sponser me for a build - building with minimal budget is pretty crap. You just look at my marvelous mini-ITX rebuild. Most of it was done with metal shears and a hack saw...! Would love to have one of those snazzy fronts like this amp:

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/pro...-amp-2000-revb

Install some larger fans to quieten up the rig.

I have been hankering over an Proxxon IB-E for months.

Time to get the hack saw out again!!

[jigger]

Ebuyer sell a passive HD6850 1GB:

http://www.ebuyer.com/272570-powerco...50-1gbd5-s3dhg

Nice card, I would love that.

[kaelyn]

Can't you just lower the fanspeed using afterburner etc?

Otherwise I'd look at almost any card with an aftermarket cooler of some sort, since that's one of the biggest advantages to going for one over a reference card, the reduction in noise (and potentially better cooling)
For instance, my GTX570 Phantom which I had, was far quieter, and cooler than the GTX460 stock I had before.

And btw, what would you do with your 260? (may be interested in buying)

The graphics card already idles at quite high temperatures, I wouldn't want to risk a burn out

I'm quite interested in the gigabyte OC cards I've seen mentioned here, the 460oc is relatively cheap though I am also tempted by the 560 as well, would there be a huge performance difference between the two?

I would sell my 260 on, there are no pcs of my relatives that need upgrading so it would be redundant, I already put the stock cooling back on then slapped the icyvision up on ebay because it was doing my head in.

Us girls can be temperamental you know

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The graphics card already idles at quite high temperatures, I wouldn't want to risk a burn out

I'm quite interested in the gigabyte OC cards I've seen mentioned here, the 460oc is relatively cheap though I am also tempted by the 560 as well, would there be a huge performance difference between the two?

I would sell my 260 on, there are no pcs of my relatives that need upgrading so it would be redundant, I already put the stock cooling back on then slapped the icyvision up on ebay because it was doing my head in.

Us girls can be temperamental you know

The HD6850 1GB and GTX460 1GB have virtually the same performance. However,the HD6850 1GB consumes less power than a GTX460:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4002/a...asus-xfx-msi/7

This is why an HD6850 1GB can come in a passively cooled version and the GTX460 1GB cannot.

[GeorgeStorm]

What kinda temps would you consider high?
The 460 is a very nice card indeed, am currently using my 2nd one having sold my first on, upgrading, but now downgrading back to one

[riding moon]

Will this do it's passive?
Zotac GeForce GT 430 passive, 512MB DDR3, VGA, DVI, HDMI (ZT-40605-10L)

there is a double slot one two
Zotac Fanless GeForce GT430 1GB DDR3

[ik9000]

Ebuyer sell a passive HD6850 1GB:

http://www.ebuyer.com/272570-powerco...50-1gbd5-s3dhg

Is that just to tease me about not having enough money for my passive gaming build...?

Nice looking card: wonder if I could get NoFan and PowerColor to sponsor a build log...

Nice card, I would love that.

I looked at getting that myself a few weeks back. According to the reviews on ebuyer the card runs hot under load - over 100C. Not sure it would go well in my old HP case with poor cooling (not my main machine) so I thought better of it. A passive Geforce5200 struggles enough in there as it is.

I'm quite interested in the gigabyte OC cards I've seen mentioned here, the 460oc is relatively cheap though I am also tempted by the 560 as well, would there be a huge performance difference between the two?

560 will fare better than the 460, but both will be better than 260 and run 1920x1080 ok. You'll prob have slightly better mileage out of the 560 however.