quiet pci-e card 256 ddr3,any advice

gamer

Any advice re, i,m looking for a 256meg pci-e card around 150euro.i,m looking for a card to run cod4,unreal tournament3,bioshock etc IS THERE any card thats well designed,or are they all pretty similar in regard to sound.I,M NOT looking for a silent card,just one that doesnt make excessive noise.Should i just get a geforce 8600gt.Will that work on any mobo that has pci-e slot.This is my first pci-e card ,so,ive no idea as regard their sound level.

TerrorFirmer

3850 at the moment is fantastic for the mid range, they finally got it right, 150 euro, and will kill the 8600GT, it's too late to be looking at that class of card with an interest in gaming really. Depending on the size of your monitor, the 256mb 3850 will possibly run those games you've listed at high settings, for a larger monitor though, you'd be looking at the 3870 (50 euro more) at the same settings.

some cards generate more noise then others, not quite sure about the 3850 at this stage, will have to wait to hear what people say. For the most part though, if you're playing a game, you wouldn't notice the noise a card generated. I still have an X1800XT which is one of the hotter running and louder cards produced and I never really even notice it.

As for pci-e, any card will work in a pci-e slot, provided it's full size. It can deliver alot more power then the agp slot could so you can get cards up to 8600GT level that are powered entirely from the slot. If you want something totally silent while still offering some performance, you can get the 8600GT readily available in passive cooling or the X1950Pro, which is a much better card but harder to find passively cooled.

Sqaull20

Agree with Havok get a HD3850,brillant card for such a low price..

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=342319

€167 Delivered

If you can stretch your budget by an extra €20 I would get a 256mb 8800gt,performance is very similar to the much more expensive 512mb models,only a few frames between them and you are guaranteed that all games available will play smoothly on the 8800gt without any problems at all....

The 320mb 8800gts can play all of todays without any problems including Crysis,the 256mb 8800gt

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=708666

€195 Delivered





http://www.techpowerup.com/?44877

And thats standard clocks 600/1800mhz,this one is 675/1950 with room to spare...

TerrorFirmer

The only problem is that that is somewhat misleading, Half Life 2 isn't the best game to bench a 512mb card against it's lower brother. Try running Ghost Recon 2, Crysis, and the results should pull away far sharper.

Sqaull20

HavoK wrote: »

The only problem is that that is somewhat misleading, Half Life 2 isn't the best game to bench a 512mb card against it's lower brother. Try running Ghost Recon 2, Crysis, and the results should pull away far sharper.

True...

But I dont there will be much of a difference.if any at 1280 × 1024,this is gamer's first card....I dont think he will be playing 1600 × 1200 everything set to max etc...

I think its a steal for moderate gamers

gamer

i,d be happy to play cod4/bioshock at 1024res/1200res no aa,at moderate settings,if i get 30frames per,on my 20inch monitor.I got 4200x2 mobo,2gigram, nvidia 7300,card i presume i will need a faster card to play new games like cod4 smoothly even at 1024x768 res.I dont think my display go,s over 1200x1000 anyway.THIS card is silent unlike my 9700pro agp card.IN january ,ill look round at what cards are avaidable,i just got winxp installed today.

TerrorFirmer

At those sort of resolutions, a 3850 will play COD4 at high settings effortlessly...and at a far higher frame rate then 30. I'd say at 150 the 3850 hits a good spot for you.

The 7300 is hilariously poor (not AS bad if its the GT) but would run COD4 at 1024x768 lowish settings relatively OK I would imagine.

gamer

Just curious, would the 7300 card 256meg, play trailers in TRUE HD,ie 1080p hi definition format,or will i have to get a new card for that.
I BOUGHT,Mobo,CPU,PSU,ram on adverts.ie ,so basically the 7300 cost,me nothing,so i,,ll probably buy a card for 200euros+.As I wanna buy a card that, will not need to upgraded ,ie will last for 2 years.IF i get 50 fps on cod4 medium settings,no aa,ill be happy ,as my monitor resolution is limited anyway
From what i,ve seen the pci-e cards are much,quieter ,use less power than the agp cards.
i think i,ll just start saving 4 a 320meg/8800gts,you make a\good case 4 it.

TerrorFirmer

Yes you could use the 7300. Newer cards take the load off the cpu though by doing the decoding themselves. But generally any card will do, hardware decoding on the card is not necessary.

I definitely wouldn't get a GTS at the moment, there is a revision arriving shortly . If your monitor is 19" or below, a 3850 at 150 euro will perform excellently, running Call of Duty 4 at high settings flawlessly. An 8800GT can be gotten for 230-250 and while at the moment it'll offer little detectable difference against a 3850 at lower res, it'll last the few years far better.

But again the GTS revision is coming out very soon, so keep an eye out for that.