sff graphics dilemma

[noah]

if you can remember i made a thread about a 9700pro from retek that died on me a montho or so ago.

well...................................its happened again, so getting a refund this time.

what do i go for, its for a mate, he plays a few games, watches movies and wants to spend upto £120inc.

options are:
9600xt
9800se
9800 vanilla
9800pro (stretching budget)
6600
6600gt (stretching budget)

the thing is normally id say 6600gt hands down, but im concerned about the heat. 2 9700pro's have bitten the dust....im worried.

the system is a shuttle sn95g5 with 512 pc3200 and 3200+ (winnie), another mate has the same and runs a 6800gt in it fine! so i'm not sure.........[yelps]HELP......please

[menthel]

I understand that it stretches the budget, but the 6600 gt will be the best option. They go well into a sff. You can run a 6800gt in a shuttle anyway, so a 6600gt should be no problem!

[scotty6435]

Agreed, the 6600GT will be the best card. It runs faster than even the 9800pro and isn't as hot. COoling is always tricky in SFFs but everyone finds their own best way. And make sure to get one with a temp sensor so you can safely undervolt the fan without burning it out

[shiato storm]

aria have 9700pro on special at the mo...

[noah]

so the 6600gt is cooler? good news as its obiously the most powerfull just a shame the 9700pro's are so hot as i was well impressed with it.

[steve threlfall]

9800pro or a 6600gt- it'l be worth stretching the budget as it should last a fair bit longer and its going to be a big increase in perofmance over the other cards

[noah]

thanks.............but it's about heat not just performance, is the 9800pro/6600gt cooler/hotter than a 9700pro (i heard the coolers on them are rubbish)?

[steve threlfall]

thanks.............but it's about heat not just performance, is the 9800pro/6600gt cooler/hotter than a 9700pro (i heard the coolers on them are rubbish)?

Well stock cooling on the 9800pro is exceelnt- quiet low profile cooler. As long as your not overclocking the card its great. I dont know much about the 6600gt tbh. I should think that unless the system temp in the shuttle is really high then there shouldn't be a problem.

[shiato storm]

my 6600gt sits at around 44C and then up to 47-49Cduring play...is that too hot for you? a bit of arctic silver 5 is also going to help!
its a good fast card that handles what you throw at it. the 9700pro, whilst still being good, is now looking a teeny bit old. that said you should be able to pick up a QUIET arctic cooler for it...you can certainly get one for the 9800's and its cooler than the stock ones too I'm told.
just so you know your options.
oh and mine is the XFX 6600GT agp...

[noah]

cheers, those sound like good temps for the 6600gt.

i wish i could fit an arctic cooler to this rig, but it's a shuttle so without some serious modding, i dont think it;s gonna happen

i think i'll try convince him to get the 6600gt (hopefully) or the 6600 if he's feeling stingy as ive heard its comparable to the 9700pro, which isnt a bad thing for £80 or so.

[StormPC]

How many watts on your Shuttle's PSU? With a S939 system and a high powered GPU you could be stressing that little PSU something terrible.

[noah]

silenx 250w i believe

but as i said, i have another mate with a similar setup but 6800gt and 2 sticks of ram and tha one works fine, even at lan's with crazy hot rooms!

[Knoxville]

9700pro running hot? I had one in an SN41 and an SN45 with no problems (no heat related ones anyway) Brilliant cards imo, although the 9800pro would be my choice given the option now.

[menthel]

How many watts on your Shuttle's PSU? With a S939 system and a high powered GPU you could be stressing that little PSU something terrible.

Not really, the shuttle psu's are of a very high quality can handle such loads, as i said earlier, they can handle a 3500+ and 6800gt easily!

[noah]

9700pro running hot? I had one in an SN41 and an SN45 with no problems (no heat related ones anyway)

really? maybe its just these retek ones. i checked the thermal paste and it was evenly spread and looked like arctic silver, although i didnt change it. the memory had heatsinks on as well. all over core and mem it was too hot to touch after 30 mins of gaming!! and i mean toasty. the airflow is good too!

[menthel]

I have a bog standard ATI reference 9700pro in my sn45g and have had no gfx stability problems.