Graphics card for htpc (zalman hd160xt)

[casper]

My Zalman HTPC has got quite long in the tooth and needs a major upgrade. I intend to install an Ivy Bridge motherboard and processor and go for the quietest low profile cooling possible (Air Cooling). The HTPC case is quite tight and the graphics card cannot go more than 2cm beyond the back edge of the motherboard because the harddrive cage gets in the way. I do nearly everything on this PC including some gaming so want to go for decent performance, with quietness a must and preferably a GPU which will dump most of the heat out the end of the board so the HTPC case does not heat too much. I'm really looking for sugestions for a compact GPU which is quiet and dumps heat out the back. I have done some searching on the subject and the EVGA GTX670 pops up as a possible. Does anyone have any other suggestions that would meet the requirements. Also feel free to suggest quietest moderately low profile cooler for 1155.
Would really appreciate some input

[Ghoshyuk]

Hey,

If I was you since the new drivers are out for the 7950 I would take that over the 670 now as it is around £80 cheaper but now outdoes the 670, and the MSI 7950 would fit snug into that case or if you wanted to spend more I'd go for a 7970 as they are priced the same as the 670 but are a dam sight better and you can get a less lengthy 7970 mare by sapphire.

And for a good low profile cpu cooler a friend of mine got the Noctua NH-L9i Low Profile CPU Cooler from scan.co.uk and he said its a cracking littler cooler and its silent.

Also you should consider getting new fans for the actual case as I have a zalaman z11 and the zalaman case fans I found to be very loud.

Good luck dude

[casper]

Hey,

If I was you since the new drivers are out for the 7950 I would take that over the 670 now as it is around £80 cheaper but now outdoes the 670, and the MSI 7950 would fit snug into that case or if you wanted to spend more I'd go for a 7970 as they are priced the same as the 670 but are a dam sight better and you can get a less lengthy 7970 mare by sapphire.

And for a good low profile cpu cooler a friend of mine got the Noctua NH-L9i Low Profile CPU Cooler from scan.co.uk and he said its a cracking littler cooler and its silent.

Also you should consider getting new fans for the actual case as I have a zalaman z11 and the zalaman case fans I found to be very loud.

Good luck dude

Many thanks Ghoshyuk i'll certainly give the 79xx range some consideration and yes i was going to put Noctua low noise fans in the case. My primary reason for choosing the EVGA 670 was because it had a pusher fan which expelled most of the heat out the back of the board to the outside world rather than into the case. I had anticipated that it would allow me to run the case fans at very low speed and hence remain nearly silent. Are there any 79xx's that have a pusher fan configuration? Your advice is much appreciated.