Quiet 9800PRO

[Ruined]

If I manage to sell my FX on eBay for $300 or more (I wish), I will pick up a 128mb 9800PRO to tide me over until the next round of cards, plus to put a newer ATI card to the test. In case of the rarity of that sale happening (not selling for less as I refuse to take a hit for same-gen technology), what is the quietest actively cooled ATI card? Also, anyone ever have problems with the Ultimate passively cooled card? Just wondering as it seems like a lot of heat would build up with no fan and eventually cause stability problems.

[GlowStick]

Well For sapphires Ultimate 9800pr (the one with the zalmanc) you can put a fan on it, ive seen ones in stores that come with it. It costs 10$ from newegg, xoxide etc anyware.

Other than that, the refrence heatsink/fan on the 9800pro's are not that loud, cant give you an exact db rateing though, not sure of it.

[Ruined]

Originally posted by GlowStick
Well For sapphires Ultimate 9800pr (the one with the zalmanc) you can put a fan on it, ive seen ones in stores that come with it. It costs 10$ from newegg, xoxide etc anyware.

So is it necessary or not to put a fan on it anyway?


Other than that, the refrence heatsink/fan on the 9800pro's are not that loud, cant give you an exact db rateing though, not sure of it.

Really? I heard a 9800PRO which sounded quite loud. I'm looking for a card that can't be heard over the P4 CPU fan.

[GlowStick]

Just you you I did some tests!

First of all, i unplgued all my case fans, and my powersupply fan, however the fan on the bottom was still going i cant stop that.

Now the only thing i could hear was my Stock P4 fan and my hard drive and the video card fan.

Next at great risk to my finger and hardware : O i stoped my P4 fan.

Your right, the radeon's ran dose make a quite distinct weeeeeeeeeeen sound to it, but my p4 fan is drowning it out, but if i listen for the exact pitch i can recognize it.

Well weather the sapphire ultimates work, id assume so since they sell em heh?

my god, i cant belive how loud my stock p4 fan is, i think i need a zalman heh.

Heh hope this helps you out, if there is some otther test you want me to run just ask.

[Ruined]

Hopefully the price will drop on the sapphires once the 9800xt comes out... And I'm very sensitive to frequencies/whines, that is likely what I heard.

[Skuzzy]

Glowstick, you'd be screaming too if you were spinning around at 5500+ RPM. :D

[GlowStick]

Originally posted by Ruined
Hopefully the price will drop on the sapphires once the 9800xt comes out... And I'm very sensitive to frequencies/whines, that is likely what I heard. Then i really feel Sapphires Ultimate Silent solutions are perfect for you, factory Heatpipe cooling : P

also, have you considerd getting a zalman flower heatsink for yoru p4, i plan to get one, its like 30 - 40bucks and very silent.

[Ruined]

Originally posted by GlowStick
Then i really feel Sapphires Ultimate Silent solutions are perfect for you, factory Heatpipe cooling : P

also, have you considerd getting a zalman flower heatsink for yoru p4, i plan to get one, its like 30 - 40bucks and very silent.

No, actually I don't mind the P4 CPU fan, it doesn't seem to whine like some of the videocard fans, just a whooshing noise which I'm not sensitive to. IMO everyone should use the MSI Twinflow on their FX5900 series. It's awesome: active cooling, yet ultra-quiet (quieter than CPU fan), and no whining.

The real question is, will someone actually buy my non-ultra FX for $300. Pretty doubtful. Then again, the MSI FX cards seem to go for a higher price than other brands.

[The Baron]

ALMOST done with my review of the 9600 Pro, and it seems like the only thing you lose (at least with the lower-end card) is a bit of overclocking headroom. However, I don't think it's an actual Zalman part, just one that looks very similar. I don't know whether you can put a fan on it--as far as I know, you can't on the 9600 Pro (which kinda sucks, because DAMN that thing would overclock like mad).

Still, it's silent, and this 9600 Pro has probably become my favorite video card with the exception of the Voodoo2. :p

[Ruined]

I have no desire to overclock my stuff anyway.

[stncttr908]

Maybe it's my abundance of case fans, but I can't hear the card at all. Come to think of it, when I only had 2x80mm in there I couldn't either. I don't remember hearing it with the side off even. Not sure where you're getting this "loud 9800 Pro" thought from.

[The Baron]

GPU fans are always really high RPM, so if your ears are sensitive to higher frequencies, you will be able to hear the GPU fan over the CPU fan.

[bkswaney]

My Retail Pro is quiet. In my opinion all the oem fan cards are very quiet.
Well, unless u get one with a screwed up fan. ;)

[B&R]

sapphire 9800p is not loud and so is 9800np. I suggest you pick up a 9800 non pro and save some money.

[bkswaney]

Originally posted by B&R
sapphire 9800p is not loud and so is 9800np. I suggest you pick up a 9800 non pro and save some money.

The NP's memory do not OC well at all.
If u plan to OC get a pro. My memory topped out at 640 on the NP I had.
My Pro clocks at 750 no problem. :)

[Red Dog]

good luck, there are 126 Fx's on e-bay at this moment.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2 F&krd=1&from=R8&MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&ht=1&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&query=nvidia+fx

[Ruined]

Originally posted by Red Dog
good luck, there are 126 Fx's on e-bay at this moment.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2 F&krd=1&from=R8&MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&ht=1&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&query=nvidia+fx

I don' think I'm really that bad off (though my starting bid is higher than all the rest), as there are only 16 GeForce FX5900 cards on eBay. For comparison, there are 126 R9800PRO cards on eBay.

[CapsLock]

this is a very neat new cooling solution from HIS.

http://www.ocprices.com/index.php?action=reviews&rev_id=183&page=4

apparently you can buy as an aftermarket too, fits all 9800's.

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/de/produkte/vga_silencer/

hopefully this is what the 9800 xt has. :)

Caps

[GlowStick]

Originally posted by Red Dog
good luck, there are 126 Fx's on e-bay at this moment.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2 F&krd=1&from=R8&MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&ht=1&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&query=nvidia+fx 99% of them are new, you dont use Ebay to buy USED prodcuts... grr.

[Ruined]

Eh, forget it, I cancelled the auction. It will be too much of a pain in the ass and money lost to switch at this point to what essentially will be a stopgap card for NV40/R420. Bring on the Det50s :)