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Need to upgrade from 7900GTO to a SILENT card

wjfcomputers

wjfcomputers

wjfcomputers

Associate
Joined
12 May 2005
Posts
134
I'm looking to upgrade my graphics card from a 7900gto.

I am currently using an MSI 7900GTO @ GTX and it is SILENT. By silent, I mean it is genuinely inaudible. The only time it makes a noise is when the system powers up, it then remains silent even when playing games.

I have even tested it by stopping the fan with my finger and there is no difference. I suspect that it is faulty and that the fan should kick in when playing games but it has lasted me for almost 2 years now so I can't complain.

I would like to upgrade to an 8/9 series Nvidia card (had bad experiences with ATI/AMD drivers) but I need the new card to be silent as I use my PC for TV.

I can see some good deals on the 8800GT/GTS cards but I'm concerned that they will be noisy.

Can anybody recommend me a suitable card to upgrade to?
 
if you are able to stick on aftermarket cooling to a gfx card then your possibilities are endless.

are you comfortable with putting on aftermarket cooling to a card? if not there are a few cards out there that have very good cooling solutions on them as stock.
 
I went from a 7900GTO to an aftermarket-cooled 8800GT and was very pleased with the results both noise and performance-wise.
 
Thanks for the replies.

I would prefer not to modify the graphics card. I wouldn't mind if the graphics card was noisy during games, as long as it is quiet during normal use and when watching TV.

Any recommendations for cards currently on sale at OcUK?
 
Or MSI do a 8800 (& 9600) "Zilent" with Zalman coolers. I can't say about the 9600 but the 8800 is inaudible above the whisper of my CPU/case/PSU fans. OC don't stock them though.
 
I use a 8800GT with the Accelero S1, like you my previous card was a 7900GTO, great performance and very quiet.

Well that's kind of a lie as the 8800GTX came after the 7900GTO, when the 8800GT launched I sold my 8800GTX because the performance wasn't that much different and made a cheeky profit. :p
 
The 7 series sounds like it's behaving like both my 8 series cards.

When you power up, the fan takes a test run up to 100% for 1-2seconds, becoming audible, then throttles back to idle (60%), and disappears below the noise level of the dust hitting the front grills ;)

They run hot those NV cores and the fan will generally not bother accelerating again until the core is getting really REALLY hot (the exception being my 8800GTX OC2, which brings the fan in as low as 70 degrees, presumably as a preventative measure to combat the daft overclock).

In normal operation, I have never made the fan go above idle. On the GTXoc2, it cuts in when using ati-tool, when running that raytraced ball benchmark (name escapes me) and when doing the 2nd feature test in 3dmark vantage (which, I may add, pins it to 100% instantly and keeps it there until the test ends). The 8800GTS340oc can't be persuaded to go above idle no matter what, until you mess with the clocks.

So, for my money, if the 7 series is fine to your ears, an 8 series will also no bug you at all. And if it does, there's a whole thread full of madmen above this who have offered a dozen good ways out of it.
 
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