new video card advice

[Hazerd]

Can always put one of these under it if you have the room, while not the greatest, it does help.

PCI Slot Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835888309

[Ziggy]

You should still be mindful of what you're pumping through the card. Passively cooled cards don't tend to deal with heavy workloads well ... even if their chipsets can handle it, the cooling is usually completely insufficient.

I was gonna say the same thing. After dealing with a few fanless cards, I will never buy one again. They're just not worth it. Even if the card is properly cooled, you'll have all that extra heat in your case. You're much better off just getting one with a fan. If you stick with a good brand name, you shouldn't have to worry too much.

Can always put one of these under it if you have the room, while not the greatest, it does help.

Yeah, I've used those before. It really defeats the purpose of a fanless card if you end up having to add a fan for it anyways. A while back I got a fanless card for my brother's computer. I ended up putting a similar PCI exhaust fan(Thermaltake IIRC) in there to pull out the extra heat generated by the card. After a few years, the fan died, so I actually replaced it with the one you linked. After about a month or two, my brother told me that PCI slot fan started making loud noises. I know it was highly rated on NewEgg, but most people tend to rate things in the first weeks of owning it, before it dies. Actually, this reminds me, I'll have to go on and rate it!

But yeah, it defeats the purpose of a fanless card if you have to add a fan for it. You're better off just buying a video card with a fan.

[Hazerd]

I also had a PCI Fan at one point, but ditched it when i built a new and better computer, also he doesnt have to get that exact model, i was just linking to the one with the most reviews

My rig:

Intel Core-i5 [email protected] (Sandy Bridge)
Sapphire HD 7850 2GB
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3
8GB G.Skill DDR3 1600
Corsair TX650w
Win 7 Ultimate 64bit
CM Elite 431 Plus (Case)
Seagate 500gb and WD 500gb HDD

Love building computers, have built 3 for myself since 2004, just built this one this March.

[marurun]

I bought a Gigabyte HD6670 recently that has a 100mm fan on it. It isn't whisper-quiet, but it is relatively quiet, and it doesn't get any louder under load. This and a CPU-fan replacement have turned my PC down quite a bit. It's now just a very low hum, even when I'm thrashing it.

Forgot to add that it was only $95 retail (I got it for $75 after a rebate).

http://www.microcenter.com/single_produ ... id=0377501

And holy crap this thing got cheaper in the past 3 months...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814125403

[D.D.D.]

I see a general consensus that fanless aren't a great option for gaming... I've had 3 video cards with fans become noisy and squeaky just after a year hence why I was leaning towards a fanless.
Well, if I were to get a card with a fan, what would y'all suggest in the $100 range but with a fan that isn't one of those tiny fans (the tiny ones have died on me consistently)?

[RyaNtheSlayA]

I see a general consensus that fanless aren't a great option for gaming... I've had 3 video cards with fans become noisy and squeaky just after a year hence why I was leaning towards a fanless.
Well, if I were to get a card with a fan, what would y'all suggest in the $100 range but with a fan that isn't one of those tiny fans (the tiny ones have died on me consistently)?

AMD 6770s are pretty good cards and tend to sit around 115 at this point.

[sabrage]

I picked up a 6850 for $150 almost 9 months ago... Surely you can find one on sale for much cheaper?

[Cronozilla]

Fans are very easy to lubricate and it only takes a second.

However, if that's an issue, it sounds like you need better filtration on the case itself to stop all the gunk from getting in there in the first place. Fans die because of resistance from physical debris ... like dirt and hair.

Having a thermally sounds case and fan setup will do wonders in terms of noise. If you keep everything cooler, the fans will have to do less work.

Cleaning your case out regularly would also help.

[isiolia]

I picked up a 6850 for $150 almost 9 months ago... Surely you can find one on sale for much cheaper?

You'd think, but not really. The 6850 seems to be doing the same thing the 4850 did - hang around for a long time and continue to outperform AMD's new offerings at the same price point.

They're still around $150 before rebate, or around $120-135 after rebate. Unless you're talking used.

[D.D.D.]

Fans are very easy to lubricate and it only takes a second.
However, if that's an issue, it sounds like you need better filtration on the case itself to stop all the gunk from getting in there in the first place. Fans die because of resistance from physical debris ... like dirt and hair.
Having a thermally sounds case and fan setup will do wonders in terms of noise. If you keep everything cooler, the fans will have to do less work.
Cleaning your case out regularly would also help.

I clean my case out once a month (it's about 1.5' off the floor too) and I've never had a case fan (120mm) nor a CPU fan go out or get squeaky on me. For filtration, I have a screen on the intake side and that gets cleaned every other day. It might seem OCDish but I hate dust (allergies too).

6850

Saphire for $120ish

6770

and $70 to $90ish depending on brand

This is the part of PC gaming that I don't like... too many options even in the same price range.