#296957 - 13/04/2007 08:00
Noisy video card
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5683
Loc: London, UK
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My desktop PC sounds like a hovercraft, so I'm looking to change a few things in it.
It's easy to find CPU fans and stuff like that (it's an AMD X2 with the stock AMD cooler on it).
Where I'm having problems is finding a good review site that'll tell me the noise levels of video cards. I'm sure that at least half of the noise is coming from my current card.
Any suggestions?
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-- roger
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#296959 - 13/04/2007 08:23
Re: Noisy video card
[Re: Roger]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 13/07/2000
Posts: 4180
Loc: Cambridge, England
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#296960 - 13/04/2007 08:32
Re: Noisy video card
[Re: Schido]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5683
Loc: London, UK
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Quote:
replace the video card fan with a zalman cooler?
The card's busted anyway, and I'm too lazy to RMA it. I'm looking at replacing it with a 320Mb 8800GTS card, 'cos they're reasonably priced for the performance, but I'd like it to be silent.
I could, of course, see if I can find a no-fan cooling solution for that, but the only one I've been able to find so far is for the 8800GTX.
_________________________
-- roger
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#296961 - 13/04/2007 08:32
Re: Noisy video card
[Re: Roger]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 06/02/2002
Posts: 1904
Loc: Leeds, UK
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I'd go with the idea of replacing the fans, I have used Quiet PC in the past, they are quite expensive but carry good stock and always quote the noise levels. I use alot of Zalman stuff, in fact it's 2 of their 120mm fans that keep my server room cool and quiet. They still shift a good amount of air but are almost silent. I have found the same thing with most of their products, none of them I have had failed to keep the stuff cool while keeping the volume to a minimum. Cheers Cris.
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#296962 - 13/04/2007 08:47
Re: Noisy video card
[Re: Roger]
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old hand
Registered: 14/04/2002
Posts: 1172
Loc: Hants, UK
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I have an AMD X2 and the CPU fan was running fast and very noisy. I wasn't using any case fans, so I fitted a 12cm at the rear and an 8cm at the front and the CPU fan hasn't spun up to the noisy state since then. I used Nexus fans from a local company since I was buying a new hard drive at the time.
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#296963 - 13/04/2007 09:41
Re: Noisy video card
[Re: Cris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5916
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
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Don't buy their 40mm fans and expect them to be super quiet though, it seems no one makes very quiet 40mm fans.
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#296964 - 13/04/2007 11:50
Re: Noisy video card
[Re: Schido]
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addict
Registered: 01/03/2002
Posts: 599
Loc: Florida
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The Zalman video card coolers a make a lot less noise that the factory heatsink & fan combo and I would recommend getting one. I personally got a XFX GeForce 7950GT Video Card that had no fan just a big heatpipe/heatsink for my HTPC. As for the CPU I would recommend getting the ZALMAN 9700 LED and for any other 80mm fans I would recommend ENERMAX UC-8EB or EVERCOOL EC-EGF-8.
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Chad
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#296965 - 13/04/2007 12:00
Re: Noisy video card
[Re: Roger]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14493
Loc: Canada
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Quote:
Any Suggestions?
Purchase a fan-less video card?
That's what I *always* do.
But then I'm not out to have 6000000fps on the video games I never play. 
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#296966 - 13/04/2007 12:37
Re: Noisy video card
[Re: Attack]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
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I had a Zalman heatsink and fan replacement for one of my past video cards. The noise difference was incredible. The only downside was that the combo was so monstrous, I had to remove my video card every time I took my pc home from college and carry it separately. It probably would have cracked the motherboard otherwise  There was a definite improvement, though. I highly recommend their products. I've been using a copper Zalman HSF on my CPU for a couple years now, and it's worked like a charm and is probably the quietest fan in my case.
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Matt
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#296967 - 13/04/2007 13:20
Re: Noisy video card
[Re: Roger]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/05/2001
Posts: 2616
Loc: Bruges, Belgium
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For video card cooling, look no further than Arctic Cooling. These coolers are excellent, completely noiseless, easy to install and only cost a fraction of what Zalman coolers cost.
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Riocar 80gig S/N : 010101580 red
Riocar 80gig (010102106) - backup
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#296968 - 13/04/2007 13:52
Re: Noisy video card
[Re: Attack]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5683
Loc: London, UK
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Quote:
...for any other 80mm fans I would recommend...
I'll look into the separate coolers. I still need to get a new video card, though -- mine has vertex memory corruption even at low temperatures, and I was too lazy to get it replaced while it was in warranty. At least, I think it's out of warranty now, I'm too lazy to check
I've got two computers, each with space for 2x120mm fans, so I've ordered 4 of those and two temperature-controlled fan controllers, all of it by Scythe, which seemed to get good reviews in my research this afternoon.
_________________________
-- roger
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#296969 - 13/04/2007 14:16
Re: Noisy video card
[Re: Roger]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 06/04/2005
Posts: 2026
Loc: Seattle transplant
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Quote:
Any suggestions?
Too radical?
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#296970 - 13/04/2007 14:22
Re: Noisy video card
[Re: Robotic]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5683
Loc: London, UK
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Quote:
Quote:
Any suggestions?
Too radical?
Who can say? Tom's Hardware won't let me get to the US site from here, and the search engine on the UK site is hosed...
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-- roger
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#296971 - 13/04/2007 14:27
Re: Noisy video card
[Re: Roger]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 06/04/2005
Posts: 2026
Loc: Seattle transplant
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_________________________
10101311 (20GB- backup empeg)
10101466 (2x60GB, Eutronix/GreenLights Blue) (Stolen!)
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#296974 - 13/04/2007 15:50
Re: Noisy video card
[Re: Roger]
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addict
Registered: 01/03/2002
Posts: 599
Loc: Florida
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Here is a list of all the fanless PCI Express x16 cards Newegg sells. Do you play any games needing a fast video card? Or are you using this PC to watch DVD's?
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Chad
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#296975 - 13/04/2007 17:25
Re: Noisy video card
[Re: Roger]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
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This is what I did.It is in conjunction with a rather nonstandard case design of my own (see other photos in that group), but the PC is very very quiet, enough so that I can record vocals and guitars at 24-bit in the same room without worrying about the PC noise.
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#296976 - 14/04/2007 06:16
Re: Noisy video card
[Re: Attack]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5683
Loc: London, UK
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Quote:
Do you play any games needing a fast video card?
Yeah, this is my gaming/development rig. I need a fast CPU and a good graphics card.
I've opted for a replacement nVidia 7900 card (with less RAM than the broken one), with an Arctic Cooling replacement cooler. I've also opted for an Arctic Cooling CPU cooler. Along with the extra fans, and the fan controller, I should be able to keep the noise and the heat down.
I'm also going to evaluate whether I can reduce the number of disks by opting for larger capacity drives, thus reducing the heat generated there, too.
Quote:
Or are you using this PC to watch DVD's?
Given my abortive attempt to use a Hush PC for this, I'm reluctant to get my fingers burnt again, but I'm looking at the mCubed HFX Mini.
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-- roger
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#296977 - 14/04/2007 06:19
Re: Noisy video card
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5683
Loc: London, UK
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Quote:
It is in conjunction with a rather nonstandard case design of my own
Is that thing FCC-certified for RF emissions?
_________________________
-- roger
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#296978 - 14/04/2007 13:22
Re: Noisy video card
[Re: Roger]
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addict
Registered: 01/03/2002
Posts: 599
Loc: Florida
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Quote:
Yeah, this is my gaming/development rig. I need a fast CPU and a good graphics card.
I've opted for a replacement nVidia 7900 card
If you can you may want to cancel the order for the 7900. I know a few friends that just started having problems with their 7900 and the card slowly got worst. I think the problem was something wrong in the specs from Nvidia. I would recommend getting a 7950 as they went to new ram and these problems went away.
Quote:
Given my abortive attempt to use a Hush PC for this, I'm reluctant to get my fingers burnt again, but I'm looking at the mCubed HFX Mini.
In my HTPC I have an AMD X2 5400+ with the XFX 7950 GT. I have this card so I can use the NVidia Pure video codec combined with Zoomplayer and AnyDVD to go directly to the movie (IE skip ads). This has been the best DVD setup I've used and I've tried quite a bit of them. The PC can be heard but not over the lightbulb fan for my TV.
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Chad
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#296979 - 14/04/2007 15:47
Re: Noisy video card
[Re: Roger]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
Is that thing FCC-certified for RF emissions?
I got yer certification right here.
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#296980 - 20/04/2007 04:39
Re: Noisy video card
[Re: Roger]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5683
Loc: London, UK
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Quote:
I've got two computers, each with space for 2x120mm fans, so I've ordered 4 of those and two temperature-controlled fan controllers, all of it by Scythe, which seemed to get good reviews in my research this afternoon.
To clarify: the fan controllers aren't actually temperature-controlled, but they do display the temperature from four different probes. I fitted two of the fans in my server yesterday, and put probes on the CPU heatsink, on the northbridge heatsink, and on two of the hard disks.
Fitting the fans was the hardest part -- they came with some singularly useless screws, and no instructions. Fortunately, I had some of these rubber fan mounts, which came with the case, so I used those instead.
The fan controller allows the fans to vary between ~1000rpm and ~1500rpm. It's fairly quiet (but still noticable) at 1000rpm, and a bit noisier at 1500rpm. Fortunately, it's a nice low pitch, so it's not intrusive, unlike the wailing banshee that is my desktop PC. I've not connected the CPU fan to the controller, just the two 120mm case fans. Maybe I should.
Temperatures are good, even at the lower speeds: ~33C for the CPU, ~44C for the northbridge, and ~25C for the disks.
I didn't have enough rubber mountings to do both computers, so I've ordered some more, and I'll do the other computer next week when they arrive.
_________________________
-- roger
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#296981 - 23/04/2007 05:28
Re: Noisy video card
[Re: Roger]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5683
Loc: London, UK
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Quote:
but they do display the temperature from four different probes.
...as long as you don't get thermal compound from dirty fingers all over the tape used for attaching them.
Anyone know what kind of tape I need to use to attach the probes? I'm assuming that Sellotape (referred to as Scotch Tape in the US) wouldn't be good enough.
_________________________
-- roger
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