Silencing a 6600GT?

[Noozer]

I've just installed an eVGA 6600GT AGP video card into my Multimedia PC. The
cooling fan is very loud (compared to the fan on the old Radeon 9550 card I
pulled out). How can I quieten this card? I'd like to be able to put a card
into the PCI slot next to the video card if possible.

How about...

- Resistor on the VGA fan?
- Aftermarket heatsink/fan combo? (Suggestions?)
- Disconnect the fan (Heatsink doesn't seem beefy enough to dispurse the
heat on it's own).
- ???

 

[kony]

I've just installed an eVGA 6600GT AGP video card into my Multimedia PC. The
cooling fan is very loud (compared to the fan on the old Radeon 9550 card I
pulled out).

Why? 6600GT is not very expensive anymore, but even so
siginficantly moreso than what a media PC needs. Further,
noise and heat- including for the power supply to run it.

If the case is a small one, the problem is even further
compounded.

How can I quieten this card? I'd like to be able to put a card
into the PCI slot next to the video card if possible.

Don't. You have the wrong card for the job.
You can get it quieter, IF you leave the PCI slot empty, by
attaching an aftermarket 'sink with larger metal or larger
fan and then lower RPM.

you could instead change it more towards the right card for
the job by significantly underclocking it... a lot. I
forget the stock speed, but cut it in half or so.

It is not ideal to depend on software settings to do such a
thing in a static, fixed hardware configuration. In other
words you could rely on coolbits, but far better to mod a
bios to the lower speed and then flash it. Any failure of
the software to reduce the speeds and you have a potential
overheating situation.

How about...

- Resistor on the VGA fan?
- Aftermarket heatsink/fan combo? (Suggestions?)
- Disconnect the fan (Heatsink doesn't seem beefy enough to dispurse the
heat on it's own).

First, you already seek a configuration that will be poor
for cooling at stock speed without ANY fan speed reduction.
No, you can't just slow the fan down.

AFTER you made necessary changes such that there is ample
margin in the cooling, that it stays much cooler than it
needs to, THEN you can look at reducing fan speed.

Aftermarket 'sinks that do much better, still require space
under them or even occupy the next PCI slot. There's just
not much a very thin and small fan can do with another card
butted up against the video. If this weren't the situation,
we'd already have cards set up this way... they dont' make
them loud for the heck of it but rather to handle worst-case
scenarios. What you propose is essentially one of these
worse-case scenarios, if anyone can reduce fan speed, it's
someone not trying what you aim to do.

Do not disconnect the fan. It is certain to damage the
card... maybe not today or this month but it might even in a
few days or same day.

We don't know exactly what your case is like, so there can
be no clear solution. "Maybe" if your case is large enough
to mount a fan blowing sideways inbetween the cards (mounted
at 90' to the card plane), you could put a large passive
'sink on it, have this larger fan running at low RPM and
underclock the card. You would need to check the card temps
to confirm it is cool enough, underclocked.

It would be easier to just sell the card and buy another.

 

[JohnS]

I've just installed an eVGA 6600GT AGP video card into my Multimedia PC. The
cooling fan is very loud (compared to the fan on the old Radeon 9550 card I
pulled out). How can I quieten this card? I'd like to be able to put a card
into the PCI slot next to the video card if possible.

How about...

- Resistor on the VGA fan?
- Aftermarket heatsink/fan combo? (Suggestions?)
- Disconnect the fan (Heatsink doesn't seem beefy enough to dispurse the
heat on it's own).
- ???

Ive seen this selling at several places. Kind of a pricey add on to
the 6600GT but if you are quiet freak like many are these days I guess
its worth it.

http://www.directron.com/avcnv6r2.html

Also Firing Squad describes in a review an MSI 6600GT

On one hand the MSI NX6600GT ships with a large copper cooler that
cools both the NV43 graphics core and its accompanying memory; it’s
the only card to cool both components in this roundup. MSI also uses a
quiet fan that’s barely audible, making it perfect for those of you
who would like to build a near silent PC. MSI also includes the best
software bundle around, with three modern games and a ton of
additional software programs and utilities. Finally, MSI rounds out
their NX6600GT card with the addition of video input capability
(VIVO), it’s the only card in this roundup to support this feature.


http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/nvidia_geforce_6600_gt_agp_roundup/page20.asp

Ive had no experience with either of these.

 

[JohnS]

Why? 6600GT is not very expensive anymore, but even so
siginficantly moreso than what a media PC needs. Further,
noise and heat- including for the power supply to run it.

In general weve been giving that advice and its the right advice but
maybe hes switched both because of all the talk about BLU RAY and HD
files.

Theres lots of hype about it and Im still totally murky about this
area but there was lots of hype about how maybe in this one area its
different.

I think one article and Im not sure about this ---- said , decoding HD
files on the fly used up almost ALL your CPU power. Not sure which CPU
they meant. However they claimed with Nvidias cards from the 6600GT to
the 7800 series it offloaded the work to some degree as much as 50%.

I may be totally of on this but thats what I think I read so this may
be one area where some HT enthusiasts actually need high powered cards
to some extent if my understanding is correct which it may not be.

 

[JohnS]

Heres more stuff on it a post at another site:

A guy has problems playing 1080i HD files with his 9600
so its not just the CPU usage either.

And this guy responds.
------------------------------

First, the 9600 probably doesn't have the recommended memory bandwidth
for HD output of 10 gb/s MCE wants. Take the memory interface width x
the memory clock and divide by 8. Off the top of my head I would say
the 9600 has a 128 bit interface and probably something like 400mhz
clock on the memory (SDRAM). So approximately 6.4 gb/s memory
bandwidth.

Second. I don't think this older chip has onboard WMV acceleration of
the newer GPUs.


Also, to take advantage of the WMV acceleration you need newest WMP 10
downloads.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some stuff on CPU utilization review
http://htpcnews.com/main.php?id=6xxx_7

Anandtech talking about it in an older article
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2305&p=12



This is Nvidias hype for a 7800 but 6600s also have many of the
features.

NVIDIA PureVideo Technology
NVIDIA PureVideo technology is the combination of high-definition
video processors and video decoding software that delivers
unprecedented picture clarity, smooth video, accurate color, and
precise image scaling for all video content. It turns your PC into a
high-end home-theater. Feature varies by product.

Adaptable Programmable Video Processor
NVIDIA PureVideo is a programmable technology that adapts to new video
encoding formats as they are developed, providing a future-proof video
solution. Requires supported video software.

High-Definition MPEG-2 and WMV Hardware Acceleration
Smoothly playback all MPEG-2 and WMV video˜including WMV-HD˜with
minimal CPU usage so the PC is free to do other work. Feature requires
supported video software.

Advanced Motion Adaptive De-Interlacing
Smoothes video and DVD playback on progressive displays to deliver a
crisp, clear picture that rivals high-end home theater systems.
Feature requires supported video software.

Video Scaling and Filtering
High-quality scaling and filtering technology delivers a clear, clean
image at any window size, including full-screen HDTV resolutions up to
1080i.

Video Color Correction
Corrects differences in color characteristics of RGB monitors and TV
monitors through NVIDIA PureVideo's ProcAmp Color Controls settings,
such as Brightness and Contrast. The display gamma correction ensures
videos are not too dark, overly bright, or washed out regardless of
the video format or display.

Integrated HDTV Encoder
Provides world-class TV-out functionality up to 1080i resolution.

 

[kony]

Heres more stuff on it a post at another site:

A guy has problems playing 1080i HD files with his 9600
so its not just the CPU usage either.

And this guy responds.
------------------------------

First, the 9600 probably doesn't have the recommended memory bandwidth
for HD output of 10 gb/s MCE wants. Take the memory interface width x
the memory clock and divide by 8. Off the top of my head I would say
the 9600 has a 128 bit interface and probably something like 400mhz
clock on the memory (SDRAM). So approximately 6.4 gb/s memory
bandwidth.

I don't know about MCE's
supposed-requirements/recommendations/etc, but this seems a
bit bizarre. 1080i should easily be possible at 29.97 FPS.
After all, the card can even play games at higher res if we
need not be concerned about specifics such as eyecandy
levels.

Second. I don't think this older chip has onboard WMV acceleration of
the newer GPUs.

Well, I despise WMV. It's sorta a sick joke that it even
exists instead of standard MPEG4 and I'd never spend a cent
on supporting it.

Also, to take advantage of the WMV acceleration you need newest WMP 10
downloads.

Well, ok. I see no reason for WMP10 either. Standard
player, standard codec, should suffice and I'd never buy
into any proprietary requirements.

So, I don't necessarily consider anything playing on WMP, or
using WMV, a valid test. MCE is yet another variable that
can't be of any usefulness in a valid CPU test, unless it's
just running in bare XP mode with all the MS extensions shut
off. Heh, leave it to MS to convince us we need to buy a
new PC, of course including a new windows license.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some stuff on CPU utilization review
http://htpcnews.com/main.php?id=6xxx_7

Anandtech talking about it in an older article
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2305&p=12



This is Nvidias hype for a 7800 but 6600s also have many of the
features.

I see your point, 6600 may be useful for HD but I wonder if
underclocking it is much of a penalty as I dont' see it
easily implemented in a HTPC with cooling issues.

 

[Noozer]

Why? 6600GT is not very expensive anymore, but even so
siginficantly moreso than what a media PC needs. Further,
noise and heat- including for the power supply to run it.

Because Quake 3 and NFS MW run like crap on the 9550?

you could instead change it more towards the right card for
the job by significantly underclocking it...

It is the correct card for the job. Stop telling me what I should do.

 

[Noozer]

In general weve been giving that advice and its the right advice but
maybe hes switched both because of all the talk about BLU RAY and HD
files.

Actually, being the media PC, it's hooked to a 57" TV, which is great for
driving games *IF* your video card can cut the mustard.

 

[JohnS]

I see your point, 6600 may be useful for HD but I wonder if
underclocking it is much of a penalty as I dont' see it
easily implemented in a HTPC with cooling issues.

Actually Im not sure about any of this. I see bits and pieces here and
there. But I dont see this big consensus of articles and posts saying
do this and get that for HDTV playback - yet.

Im just anticipating a groundswell of interest. People are already
doing it capturing HDTV and posting it but its not the huge thing
lower res movie and TV files are. I think when Blu Ray starts coming
out with HD DVD this March and if studios start pressing commerical
films and TV series in HDTV format on new disks then interest will
explode and youll see lots of people playing such captured and copied
files on their desktops and HT systems from hard disks other than then
their TIVOs I mean.

Plus I havent dabbled in it trying to record it and play back such
files. I actually can now since I got a cable box with firewire output
so maybe I will test it out since I have two 9600 cards and a 400mx
laying around.

I usually cant understand peoples obsession with silence , quiet in
regards to their systems probably cause I live in such a noisy area.
However I was working on two older systems I gave to people - KT333
and KT133 and those fans are screamers. Yeesh. They sound like mini
vacuum cleaners. They are ANNOYING.

With all the hassles on those aging systems - since Im the guy
maintaining them for some people I know , I finally got sick of it and
ordered two newer combos - 2800 semprons and NForce3 boards to finally
get rid of those old boards and CPUs . Its the basic FRYs cheapo deals
so Ill finally find out how bad those ECS boards are.

 

[kony]

Because Quake 3 and NFS MW run like crap on the 9550?

I can only address the details you provide. If you had made
mention of gaming, that would be an entirely different
situation... but you did not, AFAIK?

It is the correct card for the job. Stop telling me what I should do.

My post addressed what you had written, and your desire to
second-guess a cooling system in a poor environment when you
had not expressed need for gaming. I told you what it
*appeared* you should do, because it was relevant to your
post.

I still don't feel it is a good idea to just slow down, let
alone stop the fan on your card, nor to put another PCI card
next to it. What you "want" doesn't change the basic
fundamentals of a sound system, including cooling. Since
you had expressed a desire to slow down the fan, I posted
what was a resonable suggestion, to use a card producing
less heat.

 

[Noozer]

I've just installed an eVGA 6600GT AGP video card into my Multimedia PC.

The
cooling fan is very loud (compared to the fan on the old Radeon 9550 card I
pulled out).

Man... the options for cooling one of these card is pretty limited.

Basically, you can choose the Zalman solution, which sticks out from the top
of the card over an inch - hope it fits your case... OR you can hack
together an old CPU heatsink and stick it on IF you're luck enough to have a
seperate heatsink on your AGP bridge chip.