Whats the Best Fanless ATI card?

[Thingi]

Whats the Best Fanless ATI card? It's to go in my Shuttle which is running *underclocked & undervolted* = XP2400+ @1.25v @ 1750Mhz.

I've done a 5volt mod to my ti200 fan and it's still too noisy cos' this machine is purely for DVD's / Music in the living room. What I want is a Fanless APG card which is still decent. Nvidia is not an option because of the rubbish TV out quality on every Nvidia card I've had.

Question is which darn card??? 8xxx, 9000 or 9200 - which are the chopped down cards - i.e. missing ram bandwidth / missing pipelines? I'd even go for a 9600 if there's a Zalman type fanless solution (I don't mind underclocking it to get it stable but my shuttle is pretty cool with the mod's I've done anyway).

thingi

[Steven4563]

hmm i wonder if this could fit in your shuttle http://www.zalman.co.kr/english/product/ZM80C-HP.htm without the fan :)

[Freezermug]

I run my ATI 9500 non pro with that zalman (no fan) you linked to and have had no problems at all. Even large scale raids (10+ ungodly hours of lag) in daoc with no artifacts or heat problems.

I think it would depend how the card is oriented in the shuttle. The bottom of the card the heatsink doesnt really stick out that far. Its only the side of the card where the gpu is that it really sticks out. It takes up another slot in a normal case.

[Yuriman]

My friends 9600 survived for a whole day without any cooling, it just locked up in games. It produces less heat than any of the above mentioned. Many even come with passive heatsinks stock.

[CamH]

I think the best fanless ATi card would probably be the 9800 Pro Ultimate by Sapphire. It comes with a big Zalman heatpipe on it.

[shiltz]

Originally posted by Thingi
Nvidia is not an option because of the rubbish TV out quality on every Nvidia card I've had.

just an FYI but the rubish TV out quality isn't cause it's Nvidia, it's because all TV's except for Hi definition TV's have jack for resolution and run at something like 320X240 resolution.

[Mr. Chambers]

Originally posted by shiltz


just an FYI but the rubish TV out quality isn't cause it's Nvidia, it's because all TV's except for Hi definition TV's have jack for resolution and run at something like 320X240 resolution.

compare an ati card's tv-out side by side with an nvidia card.. huge difference, ati has always had better tv-out IQ..

[Nero]

Sorry guys, but a Zalman *will not* fit in a Shuttle SFF. You can mod it to fit your Shuttle, but even if you do, IIRC you will also lose the other PCI slot. Go to the SFF Tech Forums (http://forums.sudhian.com/index.cfm?FTVAR_SUBCAT=68&nocookies=y&subcatname=SFF%20TECH) and search around. There has been a lot of discussion lately about this very issue. You're best bet is going to be to get a 9600. It doesn't use much power, and there are passively cooled models that will fit.

I actually had a ZM80C on my 9800 before I got my SN45G, and I looked around the net to see all the different ways people had modded their shuttles to make it work. I found a couple good solutions, but I gave up when I actually put my card in and found that it would not only stick out the side a good amount, but that the heatsink on the back side of the cooler interfered with the PCI slot (which I needed).

[Jay23]

Originally posted by Mr. Chambers


compare an ati card's tv-out side by side with an nvidia card.. huge difference, ati has always had better tv-out IQ..


He's correct. :) I've seen the performance of the nvidia cards on TV .. horrible compared to my aiw 9700 pro..

[pvc_and_frost]

def think that a 9600 with a good sink will work very nicely.....
crazy idea, but stick a peice of copper between the core and the case.....hehehe

[R4z0r4mu5 Pr|m3]

most 9600 non-pro models come with just a heatsink with no fan, i like the sapphire OEM version with the heatsink that's a good bit bigger than the core and pushpins

[9mmCensor]

would a low profile HS (and mabey fan) work...
like these (http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/scan/se=CPU%20Cooling/se=Low%20Profile%201U%20-%20Socket%20478/mp=menu_search.html)

[Thingi]

Well I've decided to plump for the Sapphire Radeon 9600XT Ultimate Edition. It's exactly what I was after - passively cooled without being too huge. There's no way the Zalman type heatpipe solutions will fit in a shuttle, but this baby will fit perfectly. The pics attached are for the non-XT version - I'm praying the XT version has the same cooler - otherwise I'm going to have to go for the non XT version in the pics below.

http://www.avault.com/hardware/images/sappradeon3.jpg
http://www.avault.com/hardware/images/sappradeon6.jpg
http://www.avault.com/hardware/images/sappradeon4.jpg
http://www.avault.com/hardware/images/sappradeon5.jpg

BTW, TV output IS a major issue with Nvidia cards - it basically sucks compared to the Radeon VE I used as a test card years ago.


thingi

[Falcon-K]

my roomate runs a 9800 pro and it runs great in a shuttle xpc, so u dont need a fanless card

[Nero]

Falcon-K, he WANTS a fanless card because it doesn't make any noise, not because he thinks it's all he can use.

Thingi, good luck! I hope the backside heatsink doesn't interfere with your PCI slot (should you need it). It looks quite flat, which is good, but I'd still be wary if my PCI card has a ton of capacitors all over it.

[Falcon-K]

ok...i guess i dont consider those fans that loud...i cant hear my 9700 pro at all really...but i would just get a 9200 then

[TruckyJ]

The 9600np cards are fanless (at least the saphire cards are). You can get them refurbed for $89 quite easily as well. This card has plenty of power to run large video files and DVD's.