City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

What GFX card can handle ultra with low temps and low fan speed?

726418

By 726418,
Posted on: 2012-05-13 23:57 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs

 

Posted

I'm looking for a new GFX card that can handle ultra mode with low temps and low fan speed at 1680x1050. Anything from 150.00 at the low end and 300.00 if the gains are pretty big.
Right now I have an XFX 5770 with the egg cooler, but temps reach high 90's with the fan speed at 70-80%. The game looks great with the 5770 in ultra mode. It's the temps and noise that I hate. I've been playing at quality settings to keep the temp and fan noise to a minimum.
I upgraded my AMD PII 955 rig to a i5-3570k. It would be nice to take advantage of my new CPU. My new build is below.


i5-3570k/Corsair H100
Asus Sabetooth Z77
8GB Corsair Vengeance
XFX 5770
WD Velociraptor 600 GB
Corsair HX620
Corsair 700D

 

Posted

Well generally cool running and slow fan speeds are opposing requirements but there are ways.

You have a few options here

1 buy an aftermarket card which has been designed for quiet or silent running.

2 buy a standard card and replace the cooler with an aftermarket one designed for quiet or silent running - for silent they are generally passive and there may be space issues so the case you are using and what other hardware is installed may be relevant.

3 watercool the system including replacing the GPU coolers with waterblocks (very few cards are available with waterblocks off the shelf so this will probably require you to install them yourself)

Options 2 and 3 are likely to give better results than 1 but require more work to install and will invalidate the warranty for you graphics card.

In any event the general layout of the system should be checked first - make sure the case is adequately cooled with minimal obstraction to airflow.

Large fans turning slower will move as much air and be a lot quieter so if you have the option to install larger case fans then do so.

Make sure your fans blow air the same way - generally in at the front and out at the back. You also don't want your CPU fan or PSU fans opposing the airflow. In many cases the CPU will have its air supply vented directly from a seperate inlet fan which is good.

Keep your drives seperated and out of the path of the main inlet fan, and tuck cables away, routing behind the motherboard if possible. If you are using a modular PSU remove extraneous connectors - if the cables are all captive bundle them up and cable tie them out of the way.

If you are looking to build a cool running quiet system your choice of case becomes much more important. A poorly designed case can easily have your system running 10 or even 20 degrees hotter than a well designed one. A bigger case is usually better for cooling but there are exceptions.

Mind of Gaia lvl 50 Defiant's first Mind/Storm 'troller.
Deadly Doc 50 Dark/Dark Corr
and lots more on Pinnacle,Union and Defiant