Silent Powerful card?

So, three years ago i built my current rig, quite high spec.

I'm using a HD5850 and the thing sounds like it's trying to provide my entire street with power, i'm sick of it. These cards are apparently rather notorious for being loud due to a design fault with the fans.

I'm waiting until April to upgrade my mobo/cpu when ivybridge is released, i guess you could put me in the enthusiasts bracket.

So here is my question:

Is there such a thing as a powerful yet very quiet card? My budget is not limited of it hits both criteria.

I mainly use my rig for gaming; EVE, WoW and the CoD franchise dominating most of my time.

Thanks in advance.

Paul.

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Reply to Shrevus

if you wan't silent cards, you need to go for nvidia, ati cards are always louder.

i got a 560ti twin frozr II and the cooler is very silent, even at 100% still in a acceptable noise.

if you want something even more quiet, you should read about water cooling so you can [hide] most of fans.

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Reply to ricardois

Hmm if you want something dead silent have a look for a Passive cooled card. I believe you can get a passive cooled 6850.

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Reply to joeblogs

Shrevus wrote :

So, three years ago i built my current rig, quite high spec.

I'm using a HD5850 and the thing sounds like it's trying to provide my entire street with power, i'm sick of it. These cards are apparently rather notorious for being loud due to a design fault with the fans.

I'm waiting until April to upgrade my mobo/cpu when ivybridge is released, i guess you could put me in the enthusiasts bracket.

So here is my question:

Is there such a thing as a powerful yet very quiet card? My budget is not limited of it hits both criteria.

I mainly use my rig for gaming; EVE, WoW and the CoD franchise dominating most of my time.

Thanks in advance.

Paul.

Why not just replace the cooler on the GPU.

I have this : WOrks great, Silent as the grave and cools much better than any stock cooler, even without a fan. Fan is optional.

http://www.thermalright.com/produc [...] d=30&id=93

Thermalright spitfire.

When you upgrade to a new card you can just reuse it. I dont find it a waste of money at all. Even allows some impressive overclocking.

Just make sure the one you get is compatible with your card. VRM02 according to the compatibilty sheet.

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ Computers don't work, there are just degrees of not working.
Reply to Novuake

Shrevus wrote :

So, three years ago i built my current rig, quite high spec.

I'm using a HD5850 and the thing sounds like it's trying to provide my entire street with power, i'm sick of it. These cards are apparently rather notorious for being loud due to a design fault with the fans.

I'm waiting until April to upgrade my mobo/cpu when ivybridge is released, i guess you could put me in the enthusiasts bracket.

So here is my question:

Is there such a thing as a powerful yet very quiet card? My budget is not limited of it hits both criteria.

I mainly use my rig for gaming; EVE, WoW and the CoD franchise dominating most of my time.

Thanks in advance.

Paul.

What monitor resolution are you playing at?

ricardois wrote :

if you wan't silent cards, you need to go for nvidia, ati cards are always louder.

Not so. It always depend on the cooler in the graphics card. Non-reference cards can be quieter (whether nVidia or AMD) specially those with 2-3 fans.

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Reply to randomkid

randomkid wrote :

What monitor resolution are you playing at?

Not so. It always depend on the cooler in the graphics card. Non-reference cards can be quieter (whether nVidia or AMD) specially those with 2-3 fans.

Agreed. Only the reference designs can be judged like that. And few use that.

I love the Sapphire Vapor-x cards. Very nice and quiet. But few of them are satisfying on the power side. Maybe just the HD6970 Battlefield 3 edition. But its waaaayyyy overpriced.

------------------------------ Computers don't work, there are just degrees of not working.
Reply to Novuake

joeblogs wrote :

Hmm if you want something dead silent have a look for a Passive cooled card. I believe you can get a passive cooled 6850.

That wouldn't be worth the money to upgrade???

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ Computers don't work, there are just degrees of not working.
Reply to Novuake

if you are looking for an upgrade, the twin fan from gigabyte as well as the twin frozr model from msi are fantastic cooler models. just whichever card you plan on getting. what is your budget?

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------------------------------ "The kids can call you Ho-Ju"
Reply to FlintIronStagg

Novuake wrote :

That wouldn't be worth the money to upgrade???

no it would not. a twin frozr or multiple fan model from gigabyte would be all OP needs its just about how much he is willing to spend. OP can get pretty much any card in the multiple fan cooler models and get a nice bump in performance with near silence

------------------------------ "The kids can call you Ho-Ju"
Reply to FlintIronStagg

Novuake wrote :

Why not just replace the cooler on the GPU.

I have this : WOrks great, Silent as the grave and cools much better than any stock cooler, even without a fan. Fan is optional.

http://www.thermalright.com/produc [...] d=30&id=93

Thermalright spitfire.

When you upgrade to a new card you can just reuse it. I dont find it a waste of money at all. Even allows some impressive overclocking.

Just make sure the one you get is compatible with your card. VRM02 according to the compatibilty sheet.

This could be a good solution as the HD5850 still runs most games on high settings.

randomkid wrote :

What monitor resolution are you playing at?

Sorry I should have mentioned this. 1920x1200, 2 monitors.

FlintIronStagg wrote :

if you are looking for an upgrade, the twin fan from gigabyte as well as the twin frozr model from msi are fantastic cooler models. just whichever card you plan on getting. what is your budget?

I have around £200 ($320).

Thanks for the quick replies.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Shrevus

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127588
there you go.
a significant upgrade over the 5850 with the amazing twin frozr model cooling.
thats a great price, and those cards stay very cool and quiet. The 2gb will help with your multiple monitor setup as well

------------------------------ "The kids can call you Ho-Ju"
Reply to FlintIronStagg

MSi twinfrozer is one of the best(if not the best) cooling design.it's cool and quiet enough.and if you want really cool and silent card then go for watercooling!

Reply to hellfire24

Ok, i think i have enough info to go on, it's crazy how out-of-the-loop you can be after a couple of years!

Thanks again for the replies.

Reply to Shrevus

Shrevus wrote :

Why not just replace the cooler on the GPU.

This could be a good solution as the HD5850 still runs most games on high settings.

I missed this reply. I think its the best one.
If the problem is just noise, then the aftermarket cooler should be the most cost effective solution.

Shrevus wrote :

Sorry I should have mentioned this. 1920x1200, 2 monitors.

I presume you game on only 1 monitor. If yes, then no performance issue there as you mentioned.

Shrevus wrote :

I have around £200 ($320).

Why not save some more & buy a 3rd monitor & a 2nd card for Eyefinity?

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Reply to randomkid

randomkid wrote :

Why not save some more & buy a 3rd monitor & a 2nd card for Eyefinity?

You've planted a seed now, damn you...

Desk space is my nemesis. I have 2x24 inch monitors and a HAF 932, combined with the usual peripherals it's like sardines in a can!

The HAF has an insatiable lust for dust, if i put it on the floor I have to clean it once a week almost.

Reply to Shrevus

His Iceqx.

------------------------------ Nap time!-amdfangirl
Reply to amuffin

^ +1

Reply to hellfire24

Ironically i was just looking at one:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] ubcat=1752

Reply to Shrevus

if price is the winner then the iceq will do nicely
i still would go for the twin frozr

------------------------------ "The kids can call you Ho-Ju"
Reply to FlintIronStagg

A bit quieter than the frozr cooler. http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/for [...] ew-15.html

------------------------------ Nap time!-amdfangirl
Reply to amuffin

After much deliberation and reading of various reviews i bought the following:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] -MS&tool=3

Thank you to all who responded, the advice was much appreciated.

Reply to Shrevus

Very nice choice, was glad to be of service

------------------------------ "The kids can call you Ho-Ju"
Reply to FlintIronStagg

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