I'm building a computer mostly out of parts I have laying around. I have the following goals for this machine, in this order:
1) Being a home theater PC to play Hulu and some 720 res content. I live on an Air Force base overseas so Hulu is pretty important
2) [email protected]
3) Possibly light gaming.
This computer will be attached to a 46" plasma TV.
Here are my parts so far:
Tri-core Athlon II, Rana core @ 3.0 Ghz (I'll see if I can unlock the 4th core in the processor)
4 GB Kingston Hyper-X DDR 800
An MSI Micro-Atx motherboard
A 7200 RPM hard drive
I have a GeForce 8600 GPU laying around, but I'm really looking for a fanless budget GPU that will be passable for older games or newer, less-intensive games at moderate settings. And of course to help out with video.
There's a fanless GeForce 220 on Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814134100
Or a fanless Radeon 5550:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161341
I may run Linux though and I hear ATI has less-optimized Linux drivers than Nvidia.
It's from ECS, which I believe is a second-tier brand. I had an ECS motherboard on a computer a while back though with no problems at all.
I'm concerned about heat on this GPU. I'll be putting it into a HTPC case which probably wont have the best air flow. But I dont have a case yet so maybe someone has a recommendation on that?
As far as I can tell no other company makes a 220 GPU that's fanless. Even most 210s have fans. Any advice?
Fanless GPUs
cebalrai
Elder III
I've never had a problem with ECS mobos.... never tried their GPUs though... For those 2 video cards I wouldn't worry much about heat, even in an HTPC they won't be running that hot. For gaming I think the 220 is a better option too.
cebalrai
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Elder III
I've never had a problem with ECS mobos.... never tried their GPUs though... For those 2 video cards I wouldn't worry much about heat, even in an HTPC they won't be running that hot. For gaming I think the 220 is a better option too.
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Elder III
Quote:
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Originally Posted by cebalrai
The ATI card uses DirectX 11 and the Nvidia only 10.1, no?
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Quaker
There are better cards than the HD5550 or GT220 available without fans:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...Size=20&Page=1
(Note: that's .ca so the prices are Canadian dollars, but I think the list is the same on .com)
There may be others of course.
I assume you want fanless because of the noise factor, but there are also many video cards that have especially quiet fans for use in HTPCs and/or low-noise aftermarket fans.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...Size=20&Page=1
(Note: that's .ca so the prices are Canadian dollars, but I think the list is the same on .com)
There may be others of course.
I assume you want fanless because of the noise factor, but there are also many video cards that have especially quiet fans for use in HTPCs and/or low-noise aftermarket fans.
Burst Cancel
The higher-end passive cards (4850, 5750, etc.) are not designed to operate in HTPC/low-airflow cases. If you're set on an HTPC case, you should stick to video cards that are designed to operate in that restricted environment; these cards come with low profile brackets and are often underclocked or otherwise tweaked for low power consumption.
cebalrai
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Quaker
There are better cards than the HD5550 or GT220 available without fans:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...Size=20&Page=1 (Note: that's .ca so the prices are Canadian dollars, but I think the list is the same on .com) There may be others of course. I assume you want fanless because of the noise factor, but there are also many video cards that have especially quiet fans for use in HTPCs and/or low-noise aftermarket fans. |
Most of those cards are too much for my needs. Also, the case and mini mobo are cramped so no giant heat sink.
I need a low-profile card... Any recommendations?
cebalrai