Looking for a quiet 7800

antikewl · 13 Jan 2006 at 11:33

Hello

I'm looking to upgrade my rapidly aging Asus 6600GT Extreme with something a little more powerful to allow me to run games well at 1920x1200. I own an Asus A8N-SLi Deluxe so I'd like to stick with an Nvidia card.

The things is that I want a graphics card that's quiet! Is there such a thing as one that's powerful *and* quiet? I was looking at the XFX cards as I've heard good things about them but I've just read that they're noisy as hell with their fans often running at 100%.

Any other suggestions?

chaparral · 13 Jan 2006 at 11:41

My two leadtek 7800gtx 256mb are nice and quiet..

clone · 13 Jan 2006 at 11:45

I had 2 bfg 7800gtxs and they were very quiet,now have a BFG7800 gt that to is also very quiet.

tbz_ck · 13 Jan 2006 at 11:50

antikewl said:
Hello

I'm looking to upgrade my rapidly aging Asus 6600GT Extreme with something a little more powerful to allow me to run games well at 1920x1200. I own an Asus A8N-SLi Deluxe so I'd like to stick with an Nvidia card.

The things is that I want a graphics card that's quiet! Is there such a thing as one that's powerful *and* quiet? I was looking at the XFX cards as I've heard good things about them but I've just read that they're noisy as hell with their fans often running at 100%.

Any other suggestions?

In my opinion, without an aftermarket cooler like the Vf700CU there isn't quiet AND powerful.

Get the cheapest GT you can find and add the Zalman in. It still works out cheaper than a XFX and you can overclock it like stink anyhow.

Mines at 490/1180 now without breaking a sweat heat wise. There's more in there but thats where I'm up to for now....

fullfat · 13 Jan 2006 at 11:59

ive got a bfg 7800gt, on eof the first models and its perfectly fine for me

antikewl · 13 Jan 2006 at 12:10

Thanks for all your comments, guys. Based on your responses, and on reviews I've read elsewhere, I'm going to give the BFX 7800GTX OC 256Mb a go.

Cheers!

a1ex2001 · 13 Jan 2006 at 12:11

Another vote for buying the cheapest card you can and getting a Zalman or Artic cooler as I've read so many complaints about the noise and mine is by far the loudest thing in my case, in a game it's louder than my EV0 33 with the fan turned up full!

chaparral · 13 Jan 2006 at 12:16

The BFG 7800gtx oc has a very loud fan that runs 100% all the time..

I sold my loud BFG hairdryer to buy my leadtek 7800gtx..

http://www.penstarsys.com/reviews/cooling/graphics/bfg/7800s/7800_cool_3.htm

Taken from this BFG7800gtx review.

Cons

Very heavy

Much louder than a stock fan

Not available as an aftermarket product

antikewl · 13 Jan 2006 at 12:23

Lol. Back to the drawing board...

1ofaKind · 13 Jan 2006 at 12:23

I've seen and used a Leadtek 7800 GTX Extreme 256mb and it was well quiet and I was well impressed. The difference between this and other 7800's is that is has a similar or same heatsink / fan as the 512mb cards - only downside is it uses dual slots due to the large cooler.

antikewl · 13 Jan 2006 at 12:43

The Leadtek sounds interesting. It hasn't had quite as many good reviews as the BFG and XFX cards but it's certainly quieter. Probably dues to having such a large heatsink!

The size doesn't bother me as I like to keep a slot free next to the gfx card anyway.

chaparral · 13 Jan 2006 at 13:19

If your looking at paying the high price for the leadtek Extreme 256mb...You most likely be better off this paying the extra bit more and get the faster 7800gtx 512mb.

Price: £279.95 (£328.94 Including VAT 17.5%) Leadtek 7800GTX 256MB
Price: £339.95 (£399.44 Including VAT 17.5%) Leadtek 7800GTX Extreme Edition 256MB
Price: £394.95 (£464.07 Including VAT 17.5%) Leadtek 7800GTX Extreme Edition 512MB

ACPCUP · 13 Jan 2006 at 13:35

Get a BFG 7800 and put a Zalman V700-CU on it. They are superb and very very quiet!!

antikewl · 13 Jan 2006 at 13:48

ACPCUP said:
Get a BFG 7800 and put a Zalman V700-CU on it. They are superb and very very quiet!!

The only reason I haven't gone for this option yet is because I'm not too comfortable with dismantling the cooler on a gfx card. It *probably* invalidates the warrantee.

How easy is it to do?

That said, I'm going to have to replace the chipset fan on this A8N mobo before it craps out so I'll get some practice with that...!

chaparral · 13 Jan 2006 at 13:51

I think the Extreme daul slot cooler will be better then the Zalman V700-CU for noise and cooling..

antikewl · 13 Jan 2006 at 13:52

chaparral said:
If your looking at paying the high price for the leadtek Extreme 256mb...You most likely be better off this paying the extra bit more and get the faster 7800gtx 512mb.

Price: £279.95 (£328.94 Including VAT 17.5%) Leadtek 7800GTX 256MB
Price: £339.95 (£399.44 Including VAT 17.5%) Leadtek 7800GTX Extreme Edition 256MB
Price: £394.95 (£464.07 Including VAT 17.5%) Leadtek 7800GTX Extreme Edition 512MB

I didn't want to pay more than £300 +VAT so I'm kind of stretching my budget already with that. :/

chaparral · 13 Jan 2006 at 13:57

I would go for the standard leadtek if i was you...All the leadtek 7800gtx are quiet..
And you save yourself £60 over the Extreme model..

tbz_ck · 13 Jan 2006 at 13:59

chaparral said:
I think the Extreme daul slot cooler will be better then the Zalman V700-CU for noise and cooling..

Well the zalman is silent on 5V and a comfortable low volume on full whack. Temp wise, I haven't seen mine go above 50C yet, and thats with the thing on silent......

VF700Cu is superb. It is also easy to fit. If the GTX is anything like my GT, then the OEM cooler unit is screwed on rather than pushpins. Unscrewing and cleaning is simple, and the Zalman assembly is a work of genius.

antikewl · 13 Jan 2006 at 14:31

I think I'd rather get one that's out-of-the-box quiet(ish) rather than mess with the heatsink. Esp when buying such an pricey card!

Chapparal: I think you're right about getting a standard Leadtek GTX. I could spend that extra few quid on taking my gf out for dinner or something.

Is the extra £60 needed for the extreme edition not worth it in terms of performance gain?

tbz_ck · 13 Jan 2006 at 14:38

I would have thought the standard one will overclock to extreme levels anyway. Just with the extreme ones you are getting the guaranteed clockers and better cooling.

Anyway, with this thread, you might want to avoid leadtek anyway !

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17509430