[mythtv-users] OT: unplugging the fan of the grafic card

[Robert Denier]

In general, the fan is there for a reason.  If you unplug it, it might
fry.  Whatever you do, never run it without a heat sink.  I suppose you
could monitor the  temperatures with an infrared thermometer and try to
see if normal myth usage will get it that hot.

You might also be able to find a passive heat sink that will do the job
in certain cases. directron.com?  Of course modifying the card will
likely void the warranty..  Also, you may be able to find a quieter fan,
or possibly run the fan at a slightly reduced voltage.  Be careful with
reduced voltages, since if you get too low the fan may not reliably
start.  Obviously with a reduced voltage the fan spins less fast and you
get less cooling..

Personally, I'd look around for a card withoug a fan.  For SDTV even a
Geforce 2 MX would likely work.  For HDTV you might need something a
little faster, but I suspect you could still find one.  The radeon 9000
I have in my myth box is decent and it has a passive heat sink, although
most people seem to prefer nvidia here, since the driver support seems
to be better, particularly if you use tv out.  I suspect the 9000 is
fast enough for hdtv, but well I don't have an hdtv source yet, and my
amd xp 2000+ probably isn't anyway.

-Robert

On Thu, 2005-10-13 at 09:56 +0200, Yann Lehmann wrote:
> I am planning to build a MythTV system, and would like to install a
> NVidia grafic card for software decoding of the recorded shows.
> 
> The newer cards almost always have active coolers (with fan). Does
> software decoding use the "heat producing" features of the gpu, and if
> not, can I just unplug the fan to get a silent system ?
> 
> Thank's
> Yann
> 
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