Video Card and Cooling inputs?

CaptainHaplo · 08-21-08, 07:04 PM

Ok - I am considering looking at another video card. I have used both Nvidia and ATI cards, though my last 3 cards have been ATI based. Therein lies the problem - all 3 have exhibited the same problem after a while - heatsink fan failure. Right now my 1650 pro is locking up - and I have already replaced the fan on it once. Did the same think with my last card - ended up replacing the cooling fan on that one as well. I know its not an issue of dust mainly because I keep my box clean, but also because none of the other fans in the box have had a problem.

At this point I am either going to go with a liquid cooling system, or swapping to an Nvidia card (I never had problems with them staying cool). If I go with an Nvidia card, whats the best bang for the buck in the 100-200 $ price range? Or should I go liquid cooling now (and thus making my 1650 last awhile longer) and then move that to a future rig when I build my next box?

If I go water cooling (which is where I am really leaning), the only thing I have seen fairly reasonably priced is a ThermalTake system. Anyone have a liquid cooled rig? Inputs welcome here. I figure this would be the way to go since, long term, I can move it to whatever hw I go to in the future provided I clean the copper sinks good and get a good match on the next cpu/gpu/bridge chip when I move. Any issues here that I should know about?
Thanks in advance!

Kloef · 08-21-08, 07:10 PM

8800GT 1GB is an incredible bargain,if your pc can support it..

CaptainHaplo · 08-21-08, 09:04 PM

Should I look into the 9600 series of Nvidia - or stick with the 8800? How about the 9800 - or on the ATI side - a HD series. I am really tempted to go with watercooling regardless of another card or not....

Brenjen · 08-21-08, 11:59 PM

I've been using a water cooled eVGA 7950 GX2 nvidia card for a couple years now (might be a year & a half) & that thing has shredded every game I've thrown at it including a WW-2 combat MMORG called Aces High. It's over clocked as far as it will go & has been the entire time I've owned it using Riva tuner. It's in a loop with my FX-60 dual core CPU (also over clocked to 3 GHZ) w/ an internally mounted radiator as well & my house gets 90F, sometimes over that & I've never had a single cooling issue.

EDIT: I'd recommend Danger Den for water cooling over thermaltake, buy your hose & water blocks from them & use a junkyard heater core from a car as the radiator; once you get it all hooked up use a 120mm fan to cool the radiator & use distilled water with a mix of water wetter in it. My temps as I edit this are 36C on one CPU core & 37C on the other & my GPU cores are both 44C

StandingCow · 08-22-08, 03:18 AM

I think water cooling might be overkill, and you can easily achieve cool temps without it, as long as you arent doing crazy overclocking.. or do you just want to give it a shot because you have never done it?

You can also buy aftermarket heatsinks/fans for your graphics cards, so you don't need to replace the entire card if the fan fails.

As far as graphics cards go, the HD4850 and 4870s are a great price/performance option.

Systemlord · 08-22-08, 04:18 AM

Water cooling isn't the answer, a better airflowing computer case is. The second most costly component during my new computer build last June 07 was the computer case, $330 dollars for a computer case does seem like alot. When you get the same temperatures inside a case as you do outside the case with a bunch of fans, thats awesome! I'm running an 8800GTX and these are supposed to run HOT, it idles at 52C and never go's above 68C max load. What case do you own? Mid size PC case are not enough for todays gaming systems in my opinion!

Brenjen · 08-22-08, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Systemlord

Water cooling isn't the answer, a better airflowing computer case is. The second most costly component during my new computer build last June 07 was the computer case, $330 dollars for a computer case does seem like alot. When you get the same temperatures inside a case as you do outside the case with a bunch of fans, thats awesome! I'm running an 8800GTX and these are supposed to run HOT, it idles at 52C and never go's above 68C max load. What case do you own? Mid size PC case are not enough for todays gaming systems in my opinion!

To each his own. I wouldn't trade my water cooling for a $330 case....especially with a bunch of fans

Your card runs Idle where mine runs max load heavily overclocked with four OC'd cores pouring heat into the loop. As far as what cools more efficiently; it's water cooling over fans all day long. As far as cost per centigrade of cooling, it's far cheaper to go with noisy fans usually unless you hodge podge a water cooling system together. You can get deals on the water blocks if you search around & a junkyard heater core will run somewhere in the area of $5 so really; it's possible to get water cooling on BOTH a CPU & a GPU for under $330

As the saying goes; You gotta' shop around.

EDIT: But I will agree with standing cow; unless you're over clocking, water cooling really isn't neccesary.

08-21-08, 07:04 PM	#1
CaptainHaplo Silent Hunter Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 4,404 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 0	Video Card and Cooling inputs? Ok - I am considering looking at another video card. I have used both Nvidia and ATI cards, though my last 3 cards have been ATI based. Therein lies the problem - all 3 have exhibited the same problem after a while - heatsink fan failure. Right now my 1650 pro is locking up - and I have already replaced the fan on it once. Did the same think with my last card - ended up replacing the cooling fan on that one as well. I know its not an issue of dust mainly because I keep my box clean, but also because none of the other fans in the box have had a problem. At this point I am either going to go with a liquid cooling system, or swapping to an Nvidia card (I never had problems with them staying cool). If I go with an Nvidia card, whats the best bang for the buck in the 100-200 $ price range? Or should I go liquid cooling now (and thus making my 1650 last awhile longer) and then move that to a future rig when I build my next box? If I go water cooling (which is where I am really leaning), the only thing I have seen fairly reasonably priced is a ThermalTake system. Anyone have a liquid cooled rig? Inputs welcome here. I figure this would be the way to go since, long term, I can move it to whatever hw I go to in the future provided I clean the copper sinks good and get a good match on the next cpu/gpu/bridge chip when I move. Any issues here that I should know about? Thanks in advance! __________________ Good Hunting! Captain Haplo

08-21-08, 07:10 PM	#2
Kloef Weps Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Netherlands Posts: 360 Downloads: 30 Uploads: 0	8800GT 1GB is an incredible bargain,if your pc can support it.. __________________ http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/

08-21-08, 09:04 PM	#3
CaptainHaplo Silent Hunter Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 4,404 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 0	Should I look into the 9600 series of Nvidia - or stick with the 8800? How about the 9800 - or on the ATI side - a HD series. I am really tempted to go with watercooling regardless of another card or not.... __________________ Good Hunting! Captain Haplo

08-22-08, 03:18 AM	#5
StandingCow Weps Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 355 Downloads: 17 Uploads: 0	I think water cooling might be overkill, and you can easily achieve cool temps without it, as long as you arent doing crazy overclocking.. or do you just want to give it a shot because you have never done it? You can also buy aftermarket heatsinks/fans for your graphics cards, so you don't need to replace the entire card if the fan fails. As far as graphics cards go, the HD4850 and 4870s are a great price/performance option. __________________

08-21-08, 11:59 PM	#4
Brenjen Machinist's Mate Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: I live in The U.S. South Posts: 127 Downloads: 44 Uploads: 0	I've been using a water cooled eVGA 7950 GX2 nvidia card for a couple years now (might be a year & a half) & that thing has shredded every game I've thrown at it including a WW-2 combat MMORG called Aces High. It's over clocked as far as it will go & has been the entire time I've owned it using Riva tuner. It's in a loop with my FX-60 dual core CPU (also over clocked to 3 GHZ) w/ an internally mounted radiator as well & my house gets 90F, sometimes over that & I've never had a single cooling issue. EDIT: I'd recommend Danger Den for water cooling over thermaltake, buy your hose & water blocks from them & use a junkyard heater core from a car as the radiator; once you get it all hooked up use a 120mm fan to cool the radiator & use distilled water with a mix of water wetter in it. My temps as I edit this are 36C on one CPU core & 37C on the other & my GPU cores are both 44C

08-22-08, 04:18 AM	#6
Systemlord Gunner Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 99 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Water cooling isn't the answer, a better airflowing computer case is. The second most costly component during my new computer build last June 07 was the computer case, $330 dollars for a computer case does seem like alot. When you get the same temperatures inside a case as you do outside the case with a bunch of fans, thats awesome! I'm running an 8800GTX and these are supposed to run HOT, it idles at 52C and never go's above 68C max load. What case do you own? Mid size PC case are not enough for todays gaming systems in my opinion!