Hi all,
The fan on my Radeon 8500 died, and trying to replace by a passive
cooler failed as it needed too much legroom...ah well always hated the
buzzing fan...
Could some kind soul please advise a card:
a) not breaking the bank;
b) passive cooler;
c) good pic for std Windows applications and photo's, no gaming here.
I am considering some ATI but which one has a passive cooler?

Thanks
Barend

Barend wrote:


> The fan on my Radeon 8500 died, and trying to replace by a passive
> cooler failed as it needed too much legroom...ah well always hated the
> buzzing fan...
> Could some kind soul please advise a card:
> a) not breaking the bank;
> b) passive cooler;
> c) good pic for std Windows applications and photo's, no gaming here.
> I am considering some ATI but which one has a passive cooler?

You may look at the ATI Sapphire Ultimate Editions, e.g.

http://www.sapphiretech.com/VGA/9600-xt-ult.asp

Roy

"Barend" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi all,
> The fan on my Radeon 8500 died, and trying to replace by a passive
> cooler failed as it needed too much legroom...ah well always hated the
> buzzing fan...
> Could some kind soul please advise a card:
> a) not breaking the bank;
> b) passive cooler;
> c) good pic for std Windows applications and photo's, no gaming here.
> I am considering some ATI but which one has a passive cooler?
>
> Thanks
> Barend

A cheap replacment may be the Ti4200, which is about 100$USD or so;
or a trendy one like ATI 9600XT, probably twice the above price.

The 9600XT is quite fast, but there is a nagging problem of blank (totally
black)
screen at cold boot; except one temporary fix is also turning power off of
the monitor. Please read other posts about 9600XT.

Max

"Barend" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi all,
> The fan on my Radeon 8500 died, and trying to replace by a passive
> cooler failed as it needed too much legroom...ah well always hated the
> buzzing fan...
> Could some kind soul please advise a card:
> a) not breaking the bank;
> b) passive cooler;
> c) good pic for std Windows applications and photo's, no gaming here.
> I am considering some ATI but which one has a passive cooler?

Personally, if your not going to do 3d gaming, dont pay for a card thats
designed
for 3d gaming.

IMO, the best 2D and dual/triple monitor support comes from the Matrox
cards,
and short of a full workstation card, your not going to find truer color
representation,
and sharper picture than from a Matrox.

just my .02 cents
>
> Thanks
> Barend

Barend wrote:
> a) not breaking the bank;
> b) passive cooler;
> c) good pic for std Windows applications and photo's, no gaming here.
> I am considering some ATI but which one has a passive cooler?

If you need no 3d performance for games, aware of ATI and nVidia
Graphics Adapter. Take a look at Matrox G550 -> best image quality, best
2d performance, best dual-head features => excellent choice.

Christian