Silent Cooler For 8800 GTS?

eddiemcgarrigle · 9 Feb 2007 at 15:51

I'm trying to put together a quiet rig as I'm completely fed up with my current setup which sounds like a small hovercraft. The loudest bit of equipment I've got picked out is the 8800 GTS which has a noise level of 45db compared to everything else which will be emitting 10-18db. So, are there any passive coolers out there for the 8800? I know I could buy the BFG ACS version but I'm loath to shell out an extra £100 when there could be cheaper options.

w3bbo · 9 Feb 2007 at 16:35

The decibel reading will be the highest when under load (gaming/3d intensive tasks). You will not get that all the time.

duncan888 · 9 Feb 2007 at 21:22

http://www.thermalright.com/a_page/main_product_hr03_plus.htm

dunno when this is out though.

Big.Wayne · 9 Feb 2007 at 21:31

duncan888 said:
http://www.thermalright.com/a_page/main_product_hr03_plus.htm

dunno when this is out though.

Looks good, especially like the bit that says

Cosmetically contoured design for that vanity look

HeX · 9 Feb 2007 at 22:01

TBH the 8800 is pretty damn quiet.

Big.Wayne · 9 Feb 2007 at 22:06

HeX said:
TBH the 8800 is pretty damn quiet.

For all we know u could be deaf!

HeX · 9 Feb 2007 at 22:29

Big.Wayne said:
For all we know u could be deaf!

Well its certainly no noiser than the X2 I had on my X1900XTX before this GTS

mattpj · 9 Feb 2007 at 22:59

My new tip for this kind of problem is use headphones....

Is it quieter than a x1950pro

Big.Wayne · 9 Feb 2007 at 23:05

mattpj said:
My new tip for this kind of problem is use headphones....

what about your friends who are sitting around watching a film with you?

Joe42 · 9 Feb 2007 at 23:55

I'm also on the lookout for an after market cooler for the 8800 series, can't buy one until there's a decent ultra quiet cooling solution for them.

So far i've seen nothing, and as far as i know there is nothing currently available.

That Thermalright cooler looks promising, and i'm hoping Arctic cooling are going to produce something soon with their usual excellent quiet fans.

I would say the OP is better advised getting something with a slow quiet fan on it than something passive, because if you get something with a fan you still won't be able to hear it if its a good quiet fan at a low speed, but the performance improvement over passive is huge even for a very slow fan.

The 88 series cooler is not loud by graphics card standards but i believe it is by quiet computing standards.

mishima · 10 Feb 2007 at 10:49

What worries me about the 8800's are the temperatures. Yeah, I'm looking forward to something from Arctic. Whats taking everyone so long?!

Massive Attack · 10 Feb 2007 at 11:33

can the VF-900s not cool these cards then?

mattpj · 10 Feb 2007 at 12:08

Big.Wayne said:
what about your friends who are sitting around watching a film with you?

sorry, was a joke. Using headphones would not be an acceptable problem solver surely! :eek:

Joe42 · 10 Feb 2007 at 12:58

Massive Attack said:
can the VF-900s not cool these cards then?

No mention of the 88 series on the product page so i would assume not.

What worries me about the 8800's are the temperatures. Yeah, I'm looking forward to something from Arctic. Whats taking everyone so long?!

The temperatures aren't as bad as you would think, gpus can go up to 127 or something before they throttle so the 80+ temperatures the 8800s run at shouldn't be a problem... although lower temps certainly wouldn't be a bad thing and might extend the life of it.

I think the time its taking them is longer than usual because the card is quite different from previous generation cards and because the stock cooler isn't diabolical like some cards so the market for replacement coolers is smaller.

Does the stock cooler attach with push pins or screws and a mounting plate?
If i use an aftermarket cooler i need to be able to fit the stock cooler back on if something goes wrong with it and it has to be rma'd.

Looking at the thermalright hr 03 plus i notice it has no cooling for the ram, the voltage regulators or any of the other components that the stock cooler cools. Even if they supply stick on heatsinks for the ram that still leaves many components without a heatsink. I've had a card die before because i fitted an aftermarket cooler that didn't cover the voltage regulators and they died from overheating, so i'm not too keen on the hr 03 plus.