Don't know if anyone else out there values a quiet PC like I do, but I'll put this out there anyway.
I'd been wanting to upgrade my vid card for a while, but I can't stand many of the ones I hear that sound like a mini-jet engine spooling up. Most of my PC time is spent doing photo editing/processing and I like to listen to music while I work, and I don't want to have to crank up my music to drown out the noise of my PC.
Well with this in mind I finally went and got a passively cooled ATI HD 4850;
this one to be exact. So far I'm loving it.
I moved one 120mm fan from the front of my case, (where it was doing not much I believe since it was blocked by the sideways facing HDD cage) to the side vent so it can blow directly onto those fins. I set up this fan to be controlled by the Speedfan software. I also have 120mm fans blowing out the back and top of my case.
Outside of AH the card sits at 40-42°C, without the side fan even on. Running AH the side fan kicks on, but only up to 50% (500-600rpms and still virtually silent) and holds the temp steady at 45°. I checked all this on the graph in Speedfan and the temp never went above 45° in 2 hours on AH tonight.
Runs everything on in AH w/ AA slider in the middle and Hi res textures at 1920x1080 with no problems at all so far.
Just for fun later I turned the side fan off manually and ran AH for another 1/2 hour, without the fan the temp went up to 50° and held steady, still well within the safe zone I feel, but I'll leave the fan there anyway since it never got loud enough to hear.
This card got some negative reviews on Newegg saying it overheated, and some folks here
poo-pooed the idea when I asked about silent vid cards, well they are wrong. Those people who had overheating issues with this card must have cases with absolutly zero airflow. My case is just a lowly Rosewill, and with just the 2-120mm fans at the top and back, and the side vent I have no such issues.
As a bonus, with that fan now controlled by Speedfan (ie shut off when not playing AH) my PC is even quieter then it was before the new video card.
Just thought I throw this out there for anyone who enjoys AH, yet values silence like me. It was about $30 more then the fan-cooled 4850 cards, but well worth it to me.
PS. having just experienced the advance graphics for the first time, I have to say I really like it. Doesn't make me any better at the game
but it looks much nicer.
