Curse

cebalrai · May 25, 2010, 11:44 PM // 23:44

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?

Elder III · May 26, 2010, 02:23 AM // 02:23

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 · May 26, 2010, 03:49 AM // 03:49

Quote:

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.

The ATI card uses DirectX 11 and the Nvidia only 10.1, no?

Elder III · May 26, 2010, 01:24 PM // 13:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by cebalrai

The ATI card uses DirectX 11 and the Nvidia only 10.1, no?

doesn't matter because neither card has enough "raw horsepower" to handle DX11 features in current video games, let alone future ones.

Quaker · May 26, 2010, 03:17 PM // 15:17

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.

Burst Cancel · May 26, 2010, 04:55 PM // 16:55

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 · May 26, 2010, 11:23 PM // 23:23

Quote:

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 · May 28, 2010, 01:29 AM // 01:29

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...&Sku=A107-1099

What about that case? Anyone seen one?