[mythtv-users] Another Nvidia card question

[R. G. Newbury]

On 03/09/2012 04:28 PM, Joe Hickey wrote:
> On Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 3:59 PM, Gabe Rubin<gaberubin at gmail.com>  wrote:
>> My question is, will a passively cooled card (i.e., a card with a
>> heatsink) solve this problem?  I came close to buying a Zotac GT430
>> because it seems to do all the fancy vdpau stuff I want, it has a
>> heatsink as opposed to a fan, and the heatsink is narrow enough that I
>> can have a card next to it.  But I don't want to go this route if
>> there is still a good chance that this card will overheat too.
>
> Fanless cards typically run somewhat hotter than the ones with a fan,
> relying solely on airflow in the case to keep the temperature within
> spec.  My guess is you'd be worse off with a fanless card.
>
> Sounds like your case fans + gpu fans + cpu fans are not working well
> together, i.e. if you are blowing hot air from the cpu fan right next
> to the gpu, it's not going to cool well, or if you have an intake fan
> that is sucking in already hot air from some other component.  Either
> way you have a cooling problem that a passive card is most likely
> going to make worse, rather than better.


I agree with this assessment. You would likely be better off taking the 
money you would use on the GT430, and using it to buy a better case. 
That may mean a bigger case, as most of the well set up, cool and quiet 
cases are not particularly small. But larger does mean more area for 
airflow in and out, and larger (quieter) fans.

Otherwise you might look into changing the cooling setup up you 
presently have. Change the CPU cooler, or its fan. Add more case fans, 
or upgrade to 120mm from 90mm. I noted quite a change on my desktop when 
I installed an Antec Kuhler 920: there was a drop in sound, and an 
amazing drop in the CPU, GPU and case temps, since the radiator does a 
great job in moving the hot air out of the case.

There ARE liquid cooling addons similar to the Antec and Corsair units, 
to do the same thing to GPU's. Worth looking it to.

Geoff

-- 
              R. Geoffrey Newbury