Pick the Community Brain-Trust Time: Video Card

[Jason Dunn]

Ok gang, here's the deal: I just upgraded my Media Center 2005 PC from having an ATI 9600 Pro video card to an nVidia 6600 card because I had read that the video scaling on nVidia cards was vastly superior to ATI cards, and because I was sick of the fickle driver issues I was seeing and wanted an nVidia card to match up with the nVidia MPEG2 decoder I'm using on my MCE 2005 PC.

http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/loud-ass-xfx-video-card.jpg

The problem is that the XFX card I bought (http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1212072&CatId=933) is so incredibly loud. It's easily doubled the overall volume of my MCE PC, which is maddening. I need to replace it ASAP with a passively-cooled video card (no fans), but I also want it to be nVidia based and as powerful as possible for the occasional game. Asking my local computer store for the most powerful video card they had that had no fan was like asking for water that isn't wet, so they were of no help. After-market cooling option aren't possible because I have essentially zero extra space in the Shuttle XPC that this card needs to fit into.

I need it to have one DVI slot and be AGP-based. I think something like this XFX card (http://tinyurl.com/e3kc2) may be my best option, but I wanted to tap into your brains to see if I was missing a better option. Any advice?

[sojourner753]

I remember trying to fit a fanless Gigabyte 6600 gt into my Shuttle Xpc, but it just wouldn't work.
I also have a hauppauge 500 dual tuner card in there.

The problem was that it was wider both from the front and back.

I'd love to have one less moving part, but I just didn't hare the space.

[David Horn]

Jason - if I remember the clock speed on nvidia cards can be adjusted through the video settings if you apply a registry tweak. It might be worth disconnecting the fan and underclocking the card. Start up a game and keep a close eye on the card temperature for an hour - it might be OK.

My Geforce4 Ti4600 runs just fine with the fan disconnected.

[Jason Dunn]

I also have a hauppauge 500 dual tuner card in there. The problem was that it was wider both from the front and back.

I have the Hauppauge 500 dual tuner card as well, so yeah, it's tricky to find a video card that will fit. :?

[Jason Dunn]

Jason - if I remember the clock speed on nvidia cards can be adjusted through the video settings if you apply a registry tweak.

Hmm - interesting idea, I'll give it some thought. :-)

[Mike Temporale]

I also have a hauppauge 500 dual tuner card in there. The problem was that it was wider both from the front and back.

I have the Hauppauge 500 dual tuner card as well, so yeah, it's tricky to find a video card that will fit. :?

Cool. Nice to know I got a good tuner card. I just picked up the 500 off ebay. Now I just need a free night to crack open the Media Center and upgrade the tuners. :mrgreen: I hope everything goes smoothly.

I don't have a shuttle, so I can't comment on the space difference, but my system has the ATI x300 Series Radeon card. If that helps at all. I'm sure you're not looking to go back to ATI, right? ;)

[Jason Dunn]

It might be worth disconnecting the fan and underclocking the card.

Ok, I tried that this morning and was surprised at the results. With the fan on, the card's temp was 60C. The "core slowdown threshold" for the card? A whopping 145C! So when I disconnected the fan and it rose to 70C, no worries. I fired up a WMV HD video file that would stress the GPU, and temp only rose to 75C. So I daresay that has solved my problem - thanks so much for the idea, I wouldn't have though of such a "hardware hacking" idea on my own. ;-)

[David Horn]

My pleasure. :)

[craigf]

I installed a passively cooled Gigabyte 6600 GT in my gaming rig and nearly burnt it up playing BF2 on medium settings. So, I installed a side-panel mounted 120mm fan pointed directly at the GPU and hooked the fan up to a front-mounted fan controller (little knobs...so cute) that fits in a 3.5" bay. Now, when I'm not gaming, the fan is off (2D Windows use doesn't even break a sweat on it) and the system is reasonably quiet. When I want to game, I crank up the fan, which doesn't bother me since I have my headphones on. A win-win.