[mythtv-users] cheap vdpau card

Brian Wood beww at beww.org
Fri Feb 26 21:11:20 UTC 2010


On Friday 26 February 2010 01:54:44 pm Calvin Dodge wrote:
> Recent experiences have really soured me on video cards with fans (2
> with fans dead or nearly so in just a few months of use).
> 
> That's why my most recent video card purchase was an MSI fanless GT210
> card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127454),
> which is $35 after MIR.

I agree, I dislike fans not because of the noise, but because the 
manufacturers keep insisting on using the cheapest fans they can find, which 
have a reliability factors measured in negative numbers.

But I won't give up a fan if the price is losing a slot. Most if not all of 
the fanless video cards I'm aware of will block an adjacent slot. If that 
blocked slot is a standard PCI slot, it's especially annoying, since PCI slots 
are becoming a rare commodity on modern motherboards.

Quiet reliable fans are available, and I'd happily pay a premium to get one on 
a card, but the makers are so price-oriented they won't even consider offering 
such an option.

The main market for after-market video cards is gamers, and since a decent fan 
won't help you "Dominate the Competition", they are not offered.

Remember consumer electronics is made to be sold, not used, and most folks 
aren't aware of, and/or don't care about, whether the fan will fail within a 
fortnight.


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