[ceejay]

Hi

In another thread I was exploring - with the help of the crew here - a possible config for a QUIET HTPC. In doing some more research I came across this, which I thought might be interesting. Its a review of a particular card (Asus GTS450) but what's most interesting, I think, is the comparison of a number of different cards this reviewer has tested. The following link jumps in at page 26 of the review (!), power consumption: the next page is dBA at 1m with the card in an otherwise fanless system.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/...CU/26.html

Under load, he'e getting figures of 25 to 51dBA! Granted, this review is aimed more at gaming than HTPC but the principles are the same...

The moral of the tale, I think - if you seek a quiet PC - is to look for one with a lower power consumption (as long as it meets your processing need, of course!). Whether the fan is on the GPU or you are using case fans is (almost) irrelevant - the heat still needs to be got out of the case somehow.

Unfortunately manufacturers are very shy about quoting power consumption for their cards - a few do but most seem not to.

Regards
Ceejay

[HansP]

are you gonna use your HTPC also as a normal PC or something ?

for only movies u can just take a passive cooled card ?
about 256mb ram for GPU is enough , make it 512 and you got more than enough !

[Waveknight]

I'd personally vouch for a passive GT210. It's performed admirably so far, plus it was only about £25.

[joethefox]

maybe a passive GT210 cannot be enough for a temporal spatial deinterlacing process of a 1080i content... this kind of content on my GTS450 consume 65% of it's power. I own an asus directcu GTS450 (not the top one) and I can confirm that it is absolutely silent, until the fan is under the 40% of it's speed (about 63 °C). The fan exceed the 40% of it's speed only when a game is executed. Otherwise this graphic card is absolutely silent, even during a deinterlacing process of a 1080i video.

This is my setup http://forum.xbmc.org/showpost.php?p=704...tcount=221