How can I silence my GTX 280?

Nick1881 · 14 Dec 2009 at 18:44

My system is near silent on idle, in game I can hear the GFX fan spinning away.

What cooler would you recommend to make it very quiet?

Do any of the after market quiet coolers still allow SLI? I would like to have the option to go SLI in the future if possible.

If not then I'll just have to go for one that won't leave room for SLI, then when I need more power it will be new card.

Thanks

neo-omega · 14 Dec 2009 at 18:46

If you want near-silence then naturally the only way to go would be to watercool it. Alternatively see if there are any aftermarket coolers that would fit.

95thrifles · 14 Dec 2009 at 18:48

Water? lol

Nick1881 · 14 Dec 2009 at 18:49

I don't want water cooling again.

Looking around the Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme seems to allow for SLI, is this worth a try? Anyone have any experience of one?

edit - ouch £48

95thrifles · 14 Dec 2009 at 18:53

out of curiosity, why?
Im thinking of going WC for same reason, quiet gfx cards down

Nick1881 · 14 Dec 2009 at 18:55

Why no to water? Or why I want it quieter? lol

I have had water cooling before, it's too much hassle and I now have a small case that I don't want to mod and go crazy with.

I want it quiet because I play a lot of COD4, and when I'm listening carefully for an enemy all I can hear is the little fan spinning lol.

Disjunto · 14 Dec 2009 at 19:00

get some decent headphones and turn volume up... does the trick for me

neo-omega · 14 Dec 2009 at 19:00

Have you considered getting headphones with good noise cancellation? I know it isn't exactly ideal but hey it's an alternative solution.
How old is the card? Maybe the noise is due to a bit of dust buildup on the fan input?

95thrifles · 14 Dec 2009 at 19:04

Yeah I was wondering why no to WC again, why you'd decided to move away from it? as I say Im looking into it myself, just bought new case ready LL A71FB to replace my 1200 with fans replaced by S12s, lowered case noise but I still get overly loud annoyance when gfx cards spin up

Nick1881 · 14 Dec 2009 at 19:09

I have Senn HD555 headphones, don't like having them too loud as I want to still have hearing when I'm 50

I think water cooling requires a bit of patience, I have none

I could never get all the air out so it would make annoying gurgling noises, also I had a LL A71 and it was massive, barely fitted under my desk. I'm much happier with the ease of air cooling and my tidly little fortress.

Disjunto · 14 Dec 2009 at 19:15

still want to hear when your 50? why? your hands will be to broken to game by then, no use boing able to hear

Nick1881 · 14 Dec 2009 at 19:20

Disjunto said:
still want to hear when your 50? why? your hands will be to broken to game by then, no use boing able to hear

Lol, my dad is 55 and his hands still work, he is a mechanic, he is starting to go deaf though.

jorzeh · 14 Dec 2009 at 22:19

silent cooling is genreally expensive sadly..

Nick1881 · 14 Dec 2009 at 22:22

jorzeh said:
silent cooling is genreally expensive sadly..

Doesn't have to be silent, just quieter.

Any others apart from the Arctic Cooling Accelero that allow SLI?

If not what else is good for about £30?

95thrifles · 14 Dec 2009 at 22:37

I had the akasa neo vortexx's on my old 4870s, they were good (very quiet), need separate RAM sinks though, not sure on compatability, sry

Nick1881 · 14 Dec 2009 at 22:42

I'm gonna have to loose the possibility of SLI.

Short list

Thermalright HR-03-GTX £36 + 92mm fan
Scythe Setsugen £39 (does look good)
Akasa Freedom Force

95thrifles · 14 Dec 2009 at 22:49

or water, lol, only joking

blaineoliver · 14 Dec 2009 at 22:50

Hammer.

KillBoY_UK · 15 Dec 2009 at 12:38

i did a couple of things to keep the temps and the fan speed down on my GTX 280 , one stick a quiet 120mm fan end of the card so its blowing air to the fan on the GTX280 , that and reducing the core volts to 1.1v dose wonders to the temps and the card remains at 40/45% in games that are nto to demanding like MW1/2

thevet · 15 Dec 2009 at 12:39

use a hammer