Help choosing graphics card

UK_Apollo

UK_Apollo

UK_Apollo

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Joined
20 Aug 2007
Posts
11
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?!
Which are the quietest fan-cooled graphics cards?

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
 
ExRayTed said:
Welcome to the forums :D

This ought to do ya nicely http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-154-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

It'll be fine in windows,and as you're not going to be playing loads of games temps won't be a problem in a reasonably well ventilated case.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the welcome! I'm a long time forum lurker and regular customer at Overclockers, despite my post count!!

Can you comment on how much noise is generated by the Sapphire HD2600 PRO's fans please? Is it fairly quiet?

Would you get the HD2600 Pro (£56) rather than any of the following?
Asus GeForce EN7600GS Silent HTD 256MB DDR2 HDTV/DVI (PCI-Express) £47
OcUK GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) £63
OcUK ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/DVI (PCI-Express) £70

All comments welcome.
 
The 1950 is louder than the others by a fair margin.Other than that the others you've linked to will be fine.I suppose it really boils down to brand preference.I prefer ATI (even though I have nvidia at the moment) simply because their drivers always seem to be more robust and stable for me.I've had nothing but grief getting my 8800 stable.

You could try posting in the graphics card section of the forum to get more opinions on the three cards you've narrowed it down to.
 
Thanks again for your help ExRayTed.

If the X1950 is quite loud I'll knock it off the list, and I'll ask in the graphics forum for more opinions on the others.

Cheers,
Apollo
 
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