[mythtv-users] Another Nvidia card question

[Gabe Rubin]

On Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 1:28 PM, Joe Hickey <jfwd at phlobus.net> 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.

This is good to know.  I will not go the passive route.

The thing is that the CPU, which is fairly close to the graphics card
has a temp of around 60 degrees when the GPU is over 100.  I think the
issue is that there are two cards next to the 220.  The one closest is
a firewire card that does not block much airflow but the other is
PVR-350, which also can get hot to the touch.  My only option for
getting better air flow is to remove one of the cards, but both serve
as my capture.  Unless anyone can recommend a good firewire card that
can fit in a PCI Express x1 card as that is a free slot and I can then
leave a gap between the 220 and PVR-350.  I imagine that would have
better air flow.