Best Card with NO FAN (can't stand the noise)?

[Don Enderton]

What is the best AGP card which does NOT come equipped with a built in fan?

I have a 64 mb GeForce ti4200 with DVI and TV out, but am only using the
analog out for now.

The fan's normal sound resembles a *distant* but steady air raid warning
tone (I use that comparison to describe the frequency or pitch of the fan
noise). This is an OEM product made by nVidia for Dell, which supplied it
in my new computer a little over a year ago. I can hear the fan outside the
room, in the hallway, and around the corner in the next room.

Dell has shipped me replacement, refurbished, identical cards and they are
identically noisy.

So I'm in the market for a card with NO fan, just a heat sink, and am
willing to pay a performance penalty to get it.

I don't play any games more demanding than Flight Simulator 2004, which is
not particularly demanding.

I have two other fans on the computer, one of which also causes a noise
problem of its own, but the video card fan is the biggest culprit.

The label on the fan says "Millennium Electronics" and the model number
appears to be MFAN-1076-A, described as 12 volts DC 0.07 amps. It is inside
a sort of square metal heatsink which seems to be bonded to the surface of
the graphics chip.

 

[jdc1]

What is the best AGP card which does NOT come equipped with a built in fan?

I have a 64 mb GeForce ti4200 with DVI and TV out, but am only using the
analog out for now.

The fan's normal sound resembles a *distant* but steady air raid warning
tone (I use that comparison to describe the frequency or pitch of the fan
noise). This is an OEM product made by nVidia for Dell, which supplied it
in my new computer a little over a year ago. I can hear the fan outside the
room, in the hallway, and around the corner in the next room.

Dell has shipped me replacement, refurbished, identical cards and they are
identically noisy.

So I'm in the market for a card with NO fan, just a heat sink, and am
willing to pay a performance penalty to get it.

I don't play any games more demanding than Flight Simulator 2004, which is
not particularly demanding.

I have two other fans on the computer, one of which also causes a noise
problem of its own, but the video card fan is the biggest culprit.

The label on the fan says "Millennium Electronics" and the model number
appears to be MFAN-1076-A, described as 12 volts DC 0.07 amps. It is inside
a sort of square metal heatsink which seems to be bonded to the surface of
the graphics chip.

Look into video card heat sinks (tube cooling win no fan).

 

[Ken Maltby]

Watercool

 

[John David Carter]

What is the best AGP card which does NOT come equipped with a built in

fan?

ATI 9600 non-pro...

 

[James]

What is the best AGP card which does NOT come equipped with a built in fan?

I have a 64 mb GeForce ti4200 with DVI and TV out, but am only using the
analog out for now.

Look into a Zalman ZM80A-HP. It's a VGA Heatpipe Cooler. The website
is http://www.zalman.co.kr/english/product/zm80a-hp.htm and can be
purchased almost anywhere on the web.

 

[Andrew Poyser]

just wondered the Zalman heat pipe cool for the VGA card, is it butter than
the stock fan ie would i be able to overclock more maybe?

 

[Ben Pope]

just wondered the Zalman heat pipe cool for the VGA card, is it butter
than the stock fan ie would i be able to overclock more maybe?

I can get to 450MHz on my 9800 without artifacts and the airflow in my case
is appalling.

Ben

 

[J.Clarke]

What is the best AGP card which does NOT come equipped with a built in
fan?

I have a 64 mb GeForce ti4200 with DVI and TV out, but am only using
the analog out for now.

The fan's normal sound resembles a *distant* but steady air raid
warning tone (I use that comparison to describe the frequency or pitch
of the fan noise). This is an OEM product made by nVidia for Dell,
which supplied it in my new computer a little over a year ago. I can
hear the fan outside the room, in the hallway, and around the corner
in the next room.

Dell has shipped me replacement, refurbished, identical cards and they
are identically noisy.

So I'm in the market for a card with NO fan, just a heat sink, and am
willing to pay a performance penalty to get it.

I don't play any games more demanding than Flight Simulator 2004,
which is not particularly demanding.

I have two other fans on the computer, one of which also causes a
noise problem of its own, but the video card fan is the biggest
culprit.

The label on the fan says "Millennium Electronics" and the model
number appears to be MFAN-1076-A, described as 12 volts DC 0.07 amps.
It is inside a sort of square metal heatsink which seems to be bonded
to the surface of the graphics chip.

If the Sapphire 9800 Pro Ultimate won't do for you, take a look at the
Sapphire 9600 Pro Ultimate, which is also fanless, but has a smaller
heat sink and is plenty fast.

 

[hb]

Look into a Zalman ZM80A-HP. It's a VGA Heatpipe Cooler. The website
is http://www.zalman.co.kr/english/product/zm80a-hp.htm and can be
purchased almost anywhere on the web.

Be carefull about going this route. I got one a month ago ($30), after
after installing it discovered the piercing whine of the video card fan was
masking a piercing whine from the hard drive. Replaced the hard drive
($100), but now notice that the refrigerator in the next room is quite noisy
as well. Lord knows where this will end.

Having said that I can unhesitatingly recommend the Zalman HeatPipe.
Really good, easy to follow instructions, includes extra/spare parts. And
you can safely run at stock speeds - so no performance penalty provided your
not an overclocker.

 

[Ben Pope]

Be carefull about going this route. I got one a month ago ($30), after
after installing it discovered the piercing whine of the video card fan
was masking a piercing whine from the hard drive. Replaced the hard drive
($100), but now notice that the refrigerator in the next room is quite
noisy as well. Lord knows where this will end.

LOL.

I replaced all the fans in my system with quiet ones and noticed that the
vid card was the loudest.... then got the zalman and the HD is the
loudest... it is a Raptor though. The GXP120 needs replacing for a fluid
dynamic bearing model... and it looks like WD are bringing out a larger,
faster and quieter range of Raptors... grrr...

Now thinking of replacing the power transistors/regulators/whatever they in
the PSU with SOI ones to reduce the heat that generates and maybe uprate
it's current output.

Aiming for a quiet PC is an endless task...

Ben

 

[harry wong]

Get a 9600 non-pro (get the VisionTek- they produce the ATI cards and their
own is the same in different packaging). As long as you're not planning to
run HF2 the card is great.

The 2D graphics is also excellent, and I've been using Matrox for the past 5
years before this card.

 

[Ben Pope]

Get a 9600 non-pro (get the VisionTek- they produce the ATI cards and
their own is the same in different packaging). As long as you're not
planning to run HF2 the card is great.

Hehe, I'd heard Sapphire were producing ATIs cards... Now VisionTek.

Most people follow the reference design, which is, at a minium, the layout
of the PCB. So they all look pretty much the same.

It'll play HL2 ok, but eye-candy will obviously be less than max.

Ben

 

[Lester Piglet]

Why not replace the standard cooler with a Zalman fanless solution?

 

[Tim Miser]

Sapphire makes a line of high end dx9 cards that have no fan. Their
Ultimate Edition has fanless solutions for the 9800 Pro, 9700 Pro, and 9600
Pro.

You can go to the Sapphire website for more info or go to Pricewatch if
you're ready to purchase.

-Tim

 

[J.Clarke]

I ended up buying an ATI Radeon 9200. It probably produces less heat
than the non-Pro 9600 (which also has no fan) and it performs well
enough in Flight Simulator 2004 to satisfy me.

More important, now my Dell Dimension 4500 produces (this is
subjective) about 1/3 the noise as before; that is, the nVidia
Geforce4 ti4200 card with fan was responsible for about 2/3 of the
perceived noise from the computer. And for 100 percent of the higher
pitch noise, which now is gone altogether.

I wish I had figured this out a year ago. I've been suffering from
that video card fan noise since last August when I didn't have to.

I hope computers can be quiet again, like they all used to be five
years ago and more. Computers should work, but they should not be
heard. Designers and manufacturers, take note.

If personal computers don't get quieter, when it's time to replace my
current machine, guess what? I won't buy a new computer.

You might want to check out <http://www.silentpcreview.com>. It's
possible to build machines with very good performance today that are
very quiet. You just have to know how to go about it.

 

[Don Enderton]

I ended up buying an ATI Radeon 9200. It probably produces less heat than
the non-Pro 9600 (which also has no fan) and it performs well enough in
Flight Simulator 2004 to satisfy me.

More important, now my Dell Dimension 4500 produces (this is subjective)
about 1/3 the noise as before; that is, the nVidia Geforce4 ti4200 card with
fan was responsible for about 2/3 of the perceived noise from the computer.
And for 100 percent of the higher pitch noise, which now is gone altogether.

I wish I had figured this out a year ago. I've been suffering from that
video card fan noise since last August when I didn't have to.

I hope computers can be quiet again, like they all used to be five years ago
and more. Computers should work, but they should not be heard. Designers
and manufacturers, take note.

If personal computers don't get quieter, when it's time to replace my
current machine, guess what? I won't buy a new computer.

-- Don

 

[Tim Miser]

Don, there are many people like you who built soundless computers. As a
matter of fact, Sapphire created their ultimate series just because they saw
there was a market for it. There are a few websites that sell a lot of
quiet pc accessories so you can even take it further such as a water cooled
pc cooling device and similar devices.

-Tim

 

[Lester Piglet]

I think I would have stuck with the 4200 and a zalman, a much cheaper
solution and a better card for your flightsim.

 

[Replicant]

If personal computers don't get quieter, when it's time to replace my
current machine, guess what? I won't buy a new computer.

-- Don

Well, you could buy a Mac G5 instead, but kiss hardcore gaming goodbye
if you do. I had a look inside a G5 and it's a work of art. Very quiet
- and cool running. If browsing the internet, business apps, graphics
apps, programming, and the occasional game is what you need then a Mac
G5 is a good choice. I like my choice of PC games too much though so
won't be switching myself.

 

[Replicant]

I think I would have stuck with the 4200 and a zalman, a much cheaper
solution and a better card for your flightsim.

Yep, the R9200 has nothing over the GF4 Ti4200 and the older Zalman
heatpipe is all you would need, and those go for cheap compared to the
new Zalman heatpipe.