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Fastest passive GPU

Gainward 580 imo

3gb http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-144-GW&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1812 £350
1.5gb http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-149-GW&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1812 £320

GX-144-GW_45527_600.jpg


Edit, just realised these aren't passive and have fans on the reverse side :/
 
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mranderson said:
Don't have any case fans, the PSU is fanless and I only have an SSD. CPU is also essentially passively cooled (noctua fan running at <900 rpm)
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You're going to reach a point where all the heat dumped into the case is going to build up without any means of extracting the hot air.
 
Passive coolers rely on the airflow in the case to dump heat. You're not going to get away with a totally fanless build.
 
If you want a powerful graphics card for gaming then I would recommend a card with a good quality active cooler over a passive one.

For example the gigabyte cards that use the windforce type cooler are very quiet indeed and are available on even the most powerful cards like the HD 7970 and GTX680.

Also bear in mind that most gaming systems will not be fully passive anyway (as you need decent case airflow even if you are using passive CPU and GPU coolers) and case fans and psi fans will make some noise.
 
Not building a gaming system but a silent HTPC that can handle the occasional game. It has been fanless with the exception of the GPU without any problems. Having airflow in the case doesn't mean that you need to have fans. Differences in temperature will create airflow.
 
mranderson said:
Not building a gaming system but a silent HTPC that can handle the occasional game. It has been fanless with the exception of the GPU without any problems. Having airflow in the case doesn't mean that you need to have fans. Differences in temperature will create airflow.
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Have you considered trying some large fans at very low RPMs?

Whilst temperature difference will create airflow, unless you've planned te case perfectly, it most likely won't be enough. This ofcourse depends on how long you intend to use it for each session.
 
I could tolerate a low noise fan if I had another component with moving parts (hard disk). At the moment however I am trying to stick to a fanless setup.
 
There is meant to be a passive 6850 (although it's pretty chunky) if you can find one. I wouldn't expect it to be at all cheap though. It'd be a good card, but you'd have to keep your eye on the temps in a largely fanless environment, as these sorts of cards are generally designed with some ambient airflow in mind.

Something like Nexus 120mm RealSilent running at 6v should be insanely quiet mind, to the point of virtually inaudible, much like my Nexus 430W PSU :)
SPCR (SilentPCReview) might be your friend in this quest :)

The 560Ti, assuming it is NOT cut down over the stock 560TI (clocks etc) over the 6850 would be faster, but even more expensive no doubt.

I am also running an exceptionally quiet HTPC (you barely hear it turn on in a silent room) so I understand what you're trying to achieve :)
 
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For those uses I would consider something like the Sapphire ATI Fanless HD7750 Ultimate.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-298-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1699

This is a HD 7750 -which is a very cool running, low power using graphics card (it doesn't go over 75W usage and doesn't need a direct power connection from the PSU) that is still decent enough to play games (though compared to more hardcore cards you will have to turn the settings down to get good framerates) - here is a review.

Therefore, for ~£100 you get a passively cooled card that can play games - plus unlike the gaming cards which have been modified to run with a passive cooler, this card doesn't dump a lot of heat into your case. Hence you won't necessarily require case fans to move the hot air out of the case (though this does depend on your case design and other components).
 
^- this is also a very good recommendation if you don't have to have the fastest passive card. The heat benefits are definately worth considering.
 
well the Gigabyte cooler on the GTX460 I have is not even close to being the loudest device in my build. Despite having tried a few different "silent" CPU coolers, they all make a lot more noise than the GFX card.

I've run a Freezer64 Pro at 70% and a Gelid Tranquilo at 60% and both are louder than the GTX460.
 
Both CPU coolers mentioned are way louder than the Noctua fan I had running with my CPU. The 7750 is an interesting alternative but the performance hit from a 6850 is probably too much. I don't expect the 7750 to be much faster than a 5750.
 
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