What is the most powerful fanless Nvidia card?

E

EarthBrain

Limp Gawd
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What is the most powerful fanless Nvidia card?

ATI has so many but I don't see much for Nvidia cards.
 
You might be able to run a GTX260 passive if you slap an aftermarket heatsink on it. You'll need decent case airflow though.
 
Prolimatech makes a pretty good GPU heatsink, which can be used passively.
http://www.crazypc.com/products/prolimatech-mk-13-510012.html

If you have a case with good air flow, I bet the gtx460 would work, possibly underclocked, with this, or a similar heatsink. Hard to tell though, the reviews here: http://www.crazypc.com/products/prolimatech-mk-13-510012.html show the 5870 to get too hot with passive cooling.

Since there's not much out there concerning most powerful card with passive cooling, there's going to be a lot of research to be done and trial and error. If it were me, and I need a powerful card with passive cooling, I'd buy a gtx460 and buy the best passive cooler I could find. Test it, and if it still ran too hot, underclock the GPU.
 
Why fanless? Noise or space? There are options available for low db, and low profile fans.
 
Monkey34 said:
Why fanless? Noise or space? There are options available for low db, and low profile fans.
Click to expand...

I hate noise.

I currently have the 260 GTX and the fan noise is so bothersome. I now want to replace it with a good nvidia passive card. I want to do some 3D gaming and movie watching so Nvidia is my best bet.

That passive heatsink looks pretty good. I just don't know how how to install it on the 260 GTX. Is it easy to do?
I currently have this card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127361
 
Stick this on your videocard.

83145472.jpg
 
Buy a GTX460, get some aftermarket heatsink, and put on a 800rpm 120mm fan. Passive = pain in the ass that isn't worth it. The cooling difference between passive & inaudible fan is huge. I think Scythe even sells 500rpm 120mm fans, and you can probably check SPCR for their real db rating... it'll probably be <17db.
 
What case do you own?? Maybe you should invest in a case with sound dampening foam...
 
bexamous said:
Buy a GTX460, get some aftermarket heatsink, and put on a 800rpm 120mm fan. Passive = pain in the ass that isn't worth it. The cooling difference between passive & inaudible fan is huge. I think Scythe even sells 500rpm 120mm fans, and you can probably check SPCR for their real db rating... it'll probably be <17db.
Click to expand...

Or get a GTX 460 with the stock HSF. I can personally attest that you can't hear the fan over my Scythe FDB 120mm fans running at 800 RPM (and those suckers are near-silent).

Even in a game, the stock cooler remains at the same speed - the fan never ramps-up because the stock cooler is just that good! Nvidia really did this one right.

Here is a GTX 460 card with the stock cooler:

768MB model:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130562

1GB model:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130570
 
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