Differences between active and passive cooling (gfx)?

Post by **senji** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 1:31 pm

So I'm looking into getting a new graphics card (on a ~50€ budget) for my pc.

-AGP
-Pixel Shader 3.0/DirectX 9.0c support

I currently have an Ati AIW Radeon X800XT.

What I'm looking at is a GeForce 6200 card, it's in my price range, but comes in both active and passive cooling ( http://www.club3d.nl/index.php/products ... s/item/348 http://www.club3d.nl/index.php/products ... s/item/271).

Are there any other notable differences/issues between active and passive cooling?

Post by **Benn** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 1:55 pm

Active = a fan
Passive = no fan

Post by **senji** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 2:38 pm

Thx4help Benn.

I don't know if my question was not clear enough or you are just saying how much this thread rox.

But basically, fan = allows card to heat up more/work faster?

Post by **Buster** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 2:44 pm

senji wrote:But basically, fan = allows card to heat up more/work faster?

More like the fan stops it from heating up by blowing cooling air onto a heatsink. Passive ones use a larger heatsink but no fan, means it will use the air inside your case to cool the heatsink. If your case air flow is good it could work just as well.

The big advantage of passive is that there is no fan, so there is no fan noise, something many people want in a PC as the GFX card fans can be quite loud at times, especially when added onto the CPU + other existing case fans.

Ingo · Post by **Ingo** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 5:11 pm

It's hot air away rather than cold air on isn't it? If they are the same price and you dont intend to clock it then get the passive.

Fatalist · Post by **Fatalist** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 7:40 pm

I-C already have enough fans

Villa · Post by **Villa** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 9:43 pm

Fatalist wrote:Villa already has enough fans

/thread

Villa · Post by **Villa** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 9:44 pm

Senji, is your PC really old?

Fatalist · Post by **Fatalist** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 10:00 pm

Villa wrote:
Fatalist wrote:Villa already has aidz
/thread

truth.

Post by **senji** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 10:33 pm

I think I bought it in 2003 or early 2004.

Zim Zum · Post by **Zim Zum** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 7:26 am

Senji stretch your budget a little and try and get one of these:

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Qu ... 7,42220000

The ATI 3650. This is slightly more powerful than an 8600GT and will piss all over the 6200 which really isn't worth paying money for. It will let you play company of heroes at max details with a good framerate depending on what CPU you have and how much RAM.

Villa · Post by **Villa** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 11:32 am

States it needs a 450w PSU which I don't think the average PC had back in 2003.
Senji, check your power supply and see what it can handle?

Post by **senji** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 1:30 pm

Good call Villa, quick google seems to tell that my PSU is 250w.

Guess I'm out of luck trying to upgrade a stone age computer.
Mind you, the graphics card would be the final thing I'd add to this machine, basically it runs all the games I want to play on the PC right now.

50-60e is the most I'd invest into the card, anything above that doesn't seem worth it (heck even 50e is probably not, but I kind of want to see how long I can make this comp last :p ).

Post by **Calix** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 1:35 pm

Pretty impressive that it's can run coh at all to be honest.

My living room pc is from 2005 and can barely even load the menus

Villa · Post by **Villa** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 4:08 pm

What is your current gfx card please?
I might be able to help you.