Adrian - You Can Answer this - Quiet Graphics Card

[GeekFunk]

Originally Posted by empire23

i don't see why you would even need a X800GTO, as the R480 is a known heat maker. Compound that with your egg poaching Pentium D, i don't think it's going to be viable at all. Even with alot of air moving through the case (which then comes the problem of noise), i'm sure as hell it isn't going to be a bed of daisies.

I selected the Sapphire Radeon X800 GTO Ultimate because it was nearly silent. In fact, I couldn't find another X800 that was quiet.

I started this thread asking for suggestions for silent or near silent graphics cards.

Suggest something that fits your needs and limits, maybe a 6600GT with a HDMI connector or a X1600XT with VIVO? and that processor lol, try going AMD instead and underclocking it while using a passive cooler

I have looked at the Radeon's that support ATI's AVIVO technologies, and the X1600 is one of them, with the X1300, X1800, and X1900 being the others.

I like the X1600. In fact I've made up my mind that I will exchange the X800 I have for an X1600 if I can find a quiet brand.

So, can anyone suggest a quiet Radeon X1600?

[GeekFunk]

Originally Posted by ZuePhok

ouch! get that P-D off ur list. it's HOT!!
with such a small case, you will get throttling issue..

the intel stock heatsink is noisy. (the media sample is as loud as the 60mm 7.2krpm fan)
if u want something quiet, I think u will probably have to look for an aftermarket solution.

you should consider AMD instead.

I know that the P-D is a heater.

But, note that I'm going to use a microBTX motherboard and case. This system utilizes a special heat sink and fan device called a thermal module, which is supposed to very efficient and quiet. It were Intel's design goal and motivations for developing the BTX form factor.

So, I'm committed to the BTX and, accordingly, to the Pentium D and its foibles. As the man said, there are no BTX's for Athlons.

By the way, I love the Athlons.

[GeekFunk]

Originally Posted by Ishtim

There is alot of good info on this here....
http://www.formfactors.org

...also the Intel site has technical specs and heating topics coverered in great detail as to using BTX form factor and case temperatures.

d/l this......
http://download.intel.com/design/Pen...s/30750602.pdf


IMO, just at a glance it looks like P-D CPU and BTX combo will be hard to keep cool and quiet at the same time.

Hmmm, is there a water cooled system in someone's future?

Ishy Tim

I'll soon find out if a BTX system will tame the Pentium D's heat and noise issues.

Have you seen the BTX thermal module that encloses the CPU heat sink and fan? It is huge, and is one of the unique design features of BTX.

I have spent a lot of time at the websites that you link to.

However, as someone has mentioned, BTX hasn't taken off, and I suspect that they will all be gone soon.

So, I'll probably have a very rare system after awhile.

If anyone is interested, ExtremeTech.com built a BTX system in December 2004, and posted a piece about it. Look for it under the "Build It" link.

I'm still looking for a relatively quiet Radeon X1600.

[ZuePhok]

Originally Posted by Chai

But there's no BTX AMD motherboards.

there is if u find hard enough.
i took this picture last year

[ZuePhok]

Originally Posted by GeekFunk

I know that the P-D is a heater.

But, note that I'm going to use a microBTX motherboard and case. This system utilizes a special heat sink and fan device called a thermal module, which is supposed to very efficient and quiet. It were Intel's design goal and motivations for developing the BTX form factor.

So, I'm committed to the BTX and, accordingly, to the Pentium D and its foibles. As the man said, there are no BTX's for Athlons.

By the way, I love the Athlons.

regarding the cooling module, it really doesn't matter what sort of heatsink or design you use, even with the best air cooler the P-D can still break 70c easily. unless your ambient temp. is very very low.

forget about what Intel wanted us to hear when they introduced it, the BTX standard is merely just a solution to combat the heat (for their OEM partners cuz there where Intel get all the $$$. ) and with Conroe coming second half of this year, ATX will stay for long long time. it's weird to hear the performance of a PC is limited by its case. but then again, it's your PC and as long as u are happy with it, then everything is cool

if you want absolute quiet X1600, the asus EAX1600XT SILENT/TVD/256M is the one to get. do make sure to direct some airflow to the back to the card. BTX design doesn't support passive VGA cooler very well as the CPU is no longer on the upper part of the board. Such cooler depends on the air flow generated by the CPU fan.

[GeekFunk]

Here's an update.

As I thought, the Sapphire Radeon X800 GTW Ultimate is too long for the Silverstone LC15 BTX case.

The space between the end of the thermal module to the inside edge of the back of the case is 6 3/4 inches. The Sapphire card is 7 3/8".

So, I'm looking for a graphics card that is about 6 13/16 inches or shorter.

More specifically, I'd like a Radeon X1600 XL of any brand so long as it is within the specifications.

I've read through a lot of the technical documents about the BTX. It appears that the design guides for the microBTX are strict with respect to the dimensions of motherboards and cases.

ZuePhok

The Asus EAX1600XT would be a nice card except that the heat pipe wraps around the end edge of the card, which is exactly where I need the space. There is no room for the heat pipes because the aluminum fins of the heat sink inside thermal module are in the way.

It could work if I could wrap the heat pipes over the top of the card. In this setup, a PCI Express x16 riser card is used to install the graphics card so that the card is horizontal in the case with plenty of room above and below the card. So, the heat pipes would on the side of the card instead of over the top when in a normal vertical position.

[GeekFunk]

Here's another update on the search for the suitable graphics card for a microBTX box and motherboard.

There are six Radeon X1600 XT models that are available: Sapphire, Powercolor, Asus, MSI, Connect3D, and HIS.

Asus is out because the heat pipes makes it too long. HIS is out because the heatsink and fan look too big.

I emailed Sapphire, Powercolor, HIS, and MSI asking each how long their models were.

Powercolor said its Bravo was 6 3/4 inches. Just right.

Sapphire said its #100146-BL was 7 1/2 inches. I didn't believe it. It would be longer than the Sapphire X800 GTO Ultimate that I sent back because it was too long. I replied asking for a verification. Sapphire confirmed. So, Sapphire is out.

Connect3D and MSI haven't replied yet.

I ordered the Powercolor model.

Low Profile TV tuner cards

One of the unique characteristics of a microBTX that folks will run into with some microBTX cases is the use of low profile cards.

Almost all low profile cards are sold with full height brackets for ATX systems. You will need to get low profile bracket to make the card a true low profile card.

The Dvico FusionHDTV 5 Lite tuner in the retail box includes a low profile bracket with which you can replace the full height bracket that comes preinstalled. It just involves removing two screws to do the replacement.

The Powercolor T55-P03 Theater 550 Pro tuner retail box does not come with a low profile bracket. You can buy a low profile bracket from Powercolor or sometimes from the store that sold it to you. PC Alchemy has them for $ 3.00.

[GeekFunk]

The Powercolor X1600 XT Bravo is 6 1/2 inches. This is the length of the PCB, excluding the bracket and connector part.

Incidentally, I'm taking notes as I put this box together. This box will have some of the latest technologies.

For example:

1. Intel's VIIV digital media, which is, more or less, a marketing scheme composed of various of Intel and third party parts, including Pentium D dual core processor and the Intel D945G motherboard;

2. ATI's Radeon X1600 which supports AVIVO and DirectX 9.0c;

3. Dual boot with Windows Media Center 2005 and Windows XP x64 with functional TV tuners;

4. True low profile TV tuner cards, one of which is a rare PCI Express x1 tuner;

5. A Western Digital Caviar SE16 SATA hard drive that supports Native Command Queuing; and

6. A microBTX system with all its peculiarities.

I wonder if anyone is interested in reading a piece about putting this system together.

[Adrian Wong]

Hehe.. By all means, please do keep us updated.