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need quiet GPU - 970 or ati?

realBabelfish

realBabelfish

realBabelfish

Soldato
Joined
23 Oct 2002
Posts
3,177
Hi guys,

my htpc died over weekend (its done ok for its age!) so time to upgrade.

think i will go with the "ReFlex Gigabyte Z97" Intel Core i5 4690K @ 4.2GHz Configurable Gaming Bundle

but i want a new GPU too. i just want something quiet that can play witcher and gta and fifa.

it seems the 970s are pretty quiet under load and they appear to out perform all the ATI cards of similar price.

any tips?

is the KFA2 GeForce GTX 970 OC Silent "Infin8 Black Edition" 4096MB really almost silent? are there cheaper cards that are just as quiet?

also, do all modern cards now output HD audio as standard? my 580 couldnt which meant output PCM which can have issues with some media, plus i would prefer my amp to decode rather than pc.

i dont mind a bit of noise when playing games but i want it to be as quiet as possible when just watching movies or using it with Kodi/xbmc.
 
most of the aftermarket coolers from the big companies are practically silent on load however there are a few that completely turn off their fans at idle, that is what I think the KFA card is trying to say?

I have the Gigabyte G1 970 and although you could still argue its silent in idle, Gigabyte do not stop their fans under a certain temp.

Not sure about your 2nd question regarding the audio. I use HDMI to my Harman/Kardon amp but it does come through as PCM.
 
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F1aw1ess said:
most of the aftermarket coolers from the big companies are practically silent on load however there are a few that completely turn off their fans at idle, that is what I think the KFA card is trying to say?

I have the Gigabyte G1 970 and although you could still argue its silent in idle, Gigabyte do not stop their fans under a certain temp.

Not sure about your 2nd question regarding the audio. I use HDMI to my Harman/Kardon amp but it does come through as PCM.
Click to expand...

cheers mate. when it comes through as PCM are you gaming or playing media? i have most of my son's blu-rays ripped as MKV so would like to output trueHD etc if i can.
 
both games and movies come through as PCM but ive never had any problems with the format and thought it sounds great so never played with it tbh.
 
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F1aw1ess said:
both games and movies come through as PCM but ive never had any problems with the format and thought it sounds great so never played with it tbh
Click to expand...

cheers. i find being able to bitstream HD makes life a bit easier in things like Kodi. i would be amazed if its not in there, it is for the mobile version. i prefer my amp to decode if possible.
 
yeah, im stuck between those 2 i think. seems MSI is silent at low use though so should be quieter and had additional 1 year guarantee. do you hear any whine on yours? whining noises do my head in and would be useless when being used as a HTPC
 
there are reports of more 970's having coil whine at very high fps than other gpu's recently, mine included but its only when you're hitting like 600fps in a menu and if come across it I just limit the fps by using a custom profile in rivatuner so it disappears.
 
I've got an MSI 970, its very quiet.
Runs cool too, in BF4 I thought it was broken because the fans weren't spinning.
It just hadn't reached its temp limit for turning them on that's all!

Edit: No coil whine either :)
 
its the same as the MSI one. there are some £30 cheaper but i really dont want a noisy one. i am a little concerned about all the whining on fans i hear about. im not that interested in OCing more a stable quiet operation, preferably silent when watching movies etc.
 
the majority are near enough silent under low use, depends how good your cooling is i guess... and if youre pushing it too far.
the EVGA's are very quiet and very cool from what iv seen so far, iv also had no trouble with my gigabyte card. never been hotter than 40degrees and the stock fan/cooler is basically in idle mode. my keyboard and mouse clicks are louder :)
 
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