Quiet graphics card

[ianf]

EDIT: the title should be QUIET graphics card :D


Hi, I'm building a PC for audio work but it would also be nice to play games (e.g. when making audio for games!) - I'm looking for under £100, and am struggling to justify anything over £75.

I was wondering if you could suggest any graphics that fit my needs. I was looking at:
Asus ATi Radeon HD 3650 512MB PCI-E Silent - £64.21

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Graphics+Cards/PCI-E/ATI+Radeon+3000+Series/Asus+ATi+Radeon+HD+3650+512MB+PCI-E+Silent+?productId=31318

or a Sapphire 3450 512MB one that doesn't seem to be on this site.

It doesn't HAVE to be silent but since I don't know how to tell which actively-cooled cards are quieter than others, I felt it was the safer option.

Everyone seems to say that 1 good card is better than 2 crossfired medium cards, but I can't find any silent cards better than the Asus 3650 (this is, if i find a spare £60 later to get a second one).

Thanks for any help!

[Lynx]

I would get the HD 4850, it can run any game avaliable on high settings, the HD 4830 is a worthy compromise found under £100 that is streets ahead of the HD3650.

[ianf]

Cheers for the super quick reply.
They both look good but there are none (on this site at least) with passive cooling. Should I scrap that idae and just bear the fan?

The rest of the cooling is:
-Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 7
-Nexus Real Silent 120mm fan (with PMW)
-Nexus Frizzbee Silent Harddisk Cooler

So maybe the graphics card fan sound is negligable in this situation?

[Lynx]

You wont be able to find many graphics cards at all that are passive, not with the power some require nowerdays. Get a dual slot one and you wont notice the noise as much as a single slot card, and if im honest i dont hear my card due to having music on all the time lol.

[Monkey]

I would get the HD 4850, it can run any game avaliable on high settings, the HD 4830 is a worthy compromise found under £100 that is streets ahead of the HD3650.
Someone on the forums said that the 4850 could run fallout 3 on full settings, but when i play it on my a870 on full settings aa and af and vsync all on it goes down to 30fps somepoints outside

Any idea why?

[ianf]

Well the PC is for audio work so noise is imporant. I think I'll just go for the 4830 though. Sometimes is useful to have someone tell you what to get rather than trying to understand the whole market :) Thanks

[Lynx]

They were running it at 1024x768 or 1280x1024 while your running at 1980x1080 or something.

[Monkey]

One thing i thought i should mention, if your doing audio work and your concerned about noise due to poorer sound quality cause by noise, get a dedicated soundcard

And one with gold jacks, if you can afford a decent one it really pays

[Monkey]

They were running it at 1024x768 or 1280x1024 while your running at 1980x1080 or something.
Ahh good point... im running at 1920x1200 by the way

Never seen a resolution of 1980x1200 :P

[jonwoad]

and I've never heard of an a870 :P

[Lynx]

I was thinking of the HD resolution 1920x1080. But yeh as i said your resolution is far higher, You dont need AA with that resolution.

[Monkey]

Weird, im sure i corrected that :P

[ianf]

One thing i thought i should mention, if your doing audio work and your concerned about noise due to poorer sound quality cause by noise, get a dedicated soundcard

And one with gold jacks, if you can afford a decent one it really pays

Yeh a good sound card is the only thing I have at the moment :)

However, I meant noise coming from the PC... just the sound the PC generates (rather than the quality of the audio playback). I'd like the quietest possible environment, within reason. So do you think I should go for a 4850 and bear the additional noise, or the 3650 I suggested and bear the poorer graphics (since I won't be playing games THAT often)?

EDIT: Also how's your 1TB Samsung drive? It's one I was considering.

[coiler]

Someone on the forums said that the 4850 could run fallout 3 on full settings, but when i play it on my a870 on full settings aa and af and vsync all on it goes down to 30fps somepoints outside

Any idea why?


yeah your running at huge res!

I use 1280 x 1024

[coiler]

and I've never heard of an a870 :P

I know is that some kind of Airbus?

[jonwoad]

how about getting some reallllllllllllllllllllllllly long cables and putting the base unit in another room? :)

[Monkey]

Yeh a good sound card is the only thing I have at the moment :)

However, I meant noise coming from the PC... just the sound the PC generates (rather than the quality of the audio playback). I'd like the quietest possible environment, within reason. So do you think I should go for a 4850 and bear the additional noise, or the 3650 I suggested and bear the poorer graphics (since I won't be playing games THAT often)?

EDIT: Also how's your 1TB Samsung drive? It's one I was considering.
Thats why i mentioned it, noise from your pc interferes with recording devices, thats why you want a good souncard, (which you already have) to dull out the background noise