Fanless Video Card

Velcrow

Building a HTPC ( home theatre pc ) and am looking for an ATI AIW ( All in Wonder ) card that does not have a fan - I used to own a 9000 Pro AIW and had to replace the fan with a heatsink it was so noisey -Now I am building another htpc and don't need the hassel of replacing the fan - does anyone if there is an AIW card without a fan and if so where it could be purchased?

Thanks in advance for any info

Khannie

I know that you can underclock newer cards and stick a large heatsink on them.

I think Killian mentioned a passively cooled 9800 pro at one point. Is space an issue?

P.S. Get back to playing games!

RicardoSmith

Bit new...

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/ati_theater_550_pro/

Velcrow

Khannie wrote:

I know that you can underclock newer cards and stick a large heatsink on them.

This is what I did before but I want to see if I can save myself the terror of placing a scaple between the termal glue and the GPU :eek:

Khannie wrote:

I think Killian mentioned a passively cooled 9800 pro at one point. Is space an issue?

This is along the lines I am looking for, but the ones I see selling form ATI, Saphire and HIS all have fans - and those fans have a terrible noise frequency - so the noise travels even if you place it in a lead cabinet!!

Khannie wrote:

P.S. Get back to playing games!

Currently upgrading my broadband connection - I'm hoping that good ping will compensate for poor skill

Velcrow

RicardoSmith wrote:

Bit new...
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/ati_theater_550_pro/

Thanks RicardoSmith the problem with the theater 550 chip is that it does not support ATI Multimedia Center Software, you have to use cyberlink ( Ati branded ) software that is awful, no control over bit rates...blah blah blah... which is a pity.

So after some more reseach it seems that the 9200 AIW ( a radeon card that supports ATI MMC software and is passively cooled, fanless ) is the best bet but I can't find a stockest...any ideas welcome

or alternatives - don't call me a ATI fanboy ( but I am really )

ediz

I've got a plain 9600 (non-pro version) I got from dabs fairly cheaply and it's passively cooled, not sure if the whole line of them is passive because it was a third party non ATI card.


edit: just checked the ati site: http://www.ati.com/products/radeon9600/aiw9600/gallery.html it seems the 9600's are all passively cooled.

Khannie

if ediz is right (no reason to believe he's not) you'll find it easiest to get the 9600 new.

I would also suggest going to ebay for the older cards. Try putting an ad in the wanted section of the fs->hardware forum too.

Velcrow

Thanks Ediz / Khannie - yes the 9600 AIW looks like a good bet - but have not seen any european ( pal ) with correct RF connection - but let me keep looking - I know HIS do a 9200 AIW - will report back with any success

edit:
http://www.hisdigital.com/html/product_ov.php?id=104&view=yes

Vadrefjorde

The card you're looking for is this one here

AFAIK Sapphire are the only ones to make all in wonder cards that are cooled by a silent passive cooler. I think the heatsink is made by Zalman who come recommended.

The forums at www.quietpc.com are definitely worth a look also.

RicardoSmith

Velcrow wrote:

Thanks RicardoSmith the problem with the theater 550 chip is that it does not support ATI Multimedia Center Software, you have to use cyberlink ( Ati branded ) software that is awful, no control over bit rates...blah blah blah... which is a pity.

So after some more reseach it seems that the 9200 AIW ( a radeon card that supports ATI MMC software and is passively cooled, fanless ) is the best bet but I can't find a stockest...any ideas welcome

or alternatives - don't call me a ATI fanboy ( but I am really )

Thats good to know about ATI MMC. I read somewhere that people are using freeware software

Prior Of Taize

Im using a Thermaltake Giant II on my Powercolor x800 Pro and its completely noiseless....it has a very small fan (which almost seems useless) but it keeps my temperature 20 celcius lower than the stock cooling i had...its like a big silver brick on my card...for about €30 you cannot go wrong...

RicardoSmith

Prior Of Taize wrote:

Im using a Thermaltake Giant II on my Powercolor x800 Pro and its completely noiseless....it has a very small fan (which almost seems useless) but it keeps my temperature 20 celcius lower than the stock cooling i had...its like a big silver brick on my card...for about €30 you cannot go wrong...

I modded some of my older cards with CPU fans. What I found was that a fan even running very slowly and quietly was much more efficent than even the biggest passive heatsink. So if you can get one to fit...

Velcrow

Thanks lads / lassies ??

I don't want to mod this card so it will be an AIW 9200, 9600 ( All brands ) or a 9800 Ultimate from sapphrie. When I find the cheapest stock I will post it here.

I was also recommended trying 2 dedicated cards - eg Matrox Tv card and the fanless ATI of my choice - this would also allow me to run ATI's MMC software

RicardoSmith

http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=45037