Help choosing graphics card please

[UK_Apollo]

I'll shortly be buying a new PC from OcUK. Main usage will be Office apps & email with video editing. Almost never any graphically intensive games.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.66GHz (1333FSB)
Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C4 800MHz Dual Channel Kit
Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 5000AAKS SATA-II 16MB Cache
Samsung SH-S203BEBN 20x20 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA ReWriter
Antec Sonata III with Earthwatts 500W PSU
Windows XP Home SP2

So, I'm looking for a DX9 PCI-e graphics card that is:
a) quiet
b) cheap (less than £70 inc VAT)

Are the "silent" cards which use passive heatsinks any good? I've read that they get very hot (90C) - is that ok for decent lifetime?! It'll be a Sonata III case.

Which are the quietest fan-cooled graphics cards?

ExRayTed on the general hardware forum kindly recommended:
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO 512MB DDR2 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-E) £56

How does that compare with:

Asus GeForce EN7600GS Silent HTD 256MB DDR2 HDTV/DVI (PCI-E) £47
OcUK GeForce 7600 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-E) £59
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-E) £61
OcUK GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-E) £63

Recommendations please!

(The reason I haven't gone with a cheaper mobo with onboard graphics is that this machine may get converted to a games machine later in life through the addition of a better graphics card, like a GeForce 8800GTS.)

Thanks,
Apollo

 

[UK_Apollo]

Best at the mo for that price is x1950 @ £70.49

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-063-OK

Or you could wait till Monday for the 8800gt apparently prices will be good and it will be worth saving the extra £'s for as its supposingly on par / better than the GTS -- it will be around £100 for the 256 version --- im gonna get one !

Thanks for the reply Pulsar_GTI. I've heard that the x1950 is rather noisy though. What do you think?

This isn't for a games machine, so I don't think spending £100 on a powerful card is worth it?

Apollo

 

[UK_Apollo]

Greebo and Kermit, thanks very much for the advice.

Greebo, I can't find any passively cooled 8600GT's for sale at OcUK at £70 or under. If you could post some links that would be fab!

Kermit, I like the sound of the passively cooled cards, but am concerned about a 90C component heating up the inside of the Sonata, which only has one case fan. Do you think I should be worried about that? Ideally I'd like to buy a quiet fan-cooled, middle-of-the-road graphics card, but don't know which ones are quiet, and which noisy.

To reiterate, my priorities are a) quiet and b) cheap (£60 ideal, £70 max). No games (except train sim or FS2004 possibly, which don't push the gpu) and I don't need DX10.

Any more advice chaps?

 

[UK_Apollo]

Unfortunately thats against the rules.

If its not for gaming, then id say the 2600pro aswell, or the 8500 GT.

no, no, no, links to the OcUK shop...you see, I don't think there is such a card, unless I've missed it somehow. I know links to competitors aren't allowed here.

You'd go for the 2600PRO rather than the 2600XT?

 

[UK_Apollo]

I appreciate you taking the time to help me out.

Looking at the OcUK shop, these options are available for HD2600 cards under £70:

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO 256MB DDR2 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (11117-01-10R) £53

Asus ATI Radeon EAH2600 Pro HTDP Silent 256MB DDR2 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £54

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO 512MB DDR2 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (11117-02-10R) £56

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (11110-00-20R) £61

Asus ATI Radeon EAH2600XT HTDP Silent 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £65

HIS ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro iSilenceIII 512MB DDR2 HDTV/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £70

As you can see, there are a mixture of PRO's and XT's, fans and passive. Given this choice and a "fairly quiet" operational requirement, which gives best performance?

Cheers!
Apollo

 

[UK_Apollo]

Thanks for the replies guys, especially Kermit, I appreciate the work you've put in to help me. Those screen shots and data are really useful. I'll let you know if / when I come to a conclusion on which to get! (or I may yet have some more pesky questions!!)

 

[UK_Apollo]

Thanks to all that helped me choose.

In the end it came down to a choice between the HD2600 and the Ge8600, with the ATI winning out because they're: a) cheaper b) lower power consumption c) quieter cooling d) I don't *need* the extra power of the 8600.

I then had to decide between passive or fan cooled. I went for fan-cooled because I just couldn't totally convince myself that the single fan in the Sonata case would provide enough air-flow, and I didn't want to add a second fan. The card I've gone for is:

Asus ATI Radeon EAH2600XT HTDP Silent 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £65

...I read a review which said it's fan cooling was super quiet "inaudible above case fan", so I'm hoping that proves to be true!

With a fair wind I'll be building the PC on Tuesday.

Apollo