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Fanless Radeon 4650?

post #1 of 12
6/12/10 at 9:11pm
Thread Starter 
I like my Radeon 4650 in my 7MC, except for one thing: when everything's quiet all I can hear is that damned fan on the video. It's a small fan and thanks to the newer versions of Flash it runs hard much of the time when I'm running stuff like Hulu Desktop or Boxee.

I was looking online, and I cannot find a fanless version of the 4650.

Is there one?
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post #2 of 12
6/12/10 at 9:26pm
Get a HD5450, fanless and very low power consumtion + bitstreams HD audio and it`s cheap (45$)
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post #3 of 12
6/12/10 at 10:46pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by GreenEyez View Post

Get a HD5450, fanless and very low power consumtion + bitstreams HD audio and it`s cheap (45$)

Does it perform comparably to the 4650?

One of the old rules of buying video cards is that an older card that's a bit higher quality (x650 vs x450) is usually the way to go.
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post #4 of 12
6/12/10 at 11:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MeowMeow View Post

Does it perform comparably to the 4650?

One of the old rules of buying video cards is that an older card that's a bit higher quality (x650 vs x450) is usually the way to go.

Unfortunately not. I think it's closer in performance to a 4550. However, compromises have to be made if you want fanless. I believe there are smallish HD5570 fanless cards available. Might want to take a look at that. I believe its performance is similar to the HD4670.

By the way, are you using the HTPC for gaming? Because that's what the "rule" is for. If just using for simple media playback, you usually go for the lower end newer because it has features lacking in older models and usually has lower power consumption and heat output.
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post #5 of 12
6/13/10 at 12:32am
Here you go:

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/pro...px?pid=3402#ov

for $150 at newegg.com
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...YTE-_-14125328

You could also get a Zalman fanless cooler (VNF100) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-029-_-Product
for you 4650 and put it on (same cooler on this fanless HIS HD 4650 card),
http://www.hisdigital.com/un/product2-450.shtml
but I would just go with the fanless Gigabyte 5750 for a $100 more.
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post #6 of 12
6/13/10 at 6:33am
if you use your video card for strictly HTPC duties, the 5450 is more than enough. In fact, 5450 can do 1080i deinterlacing better than the 4650 due to bugs ATI will never work out on the 4000 cards.

If you do game, then 5550 is about the most comparable powered card in the 5000 series to yours. Don't bother with a last gen 4000 card, especially for similar prices as 5000 cards.

I'm not sure why the above poster would suggest a $150 card to replace your 4650. Seems like overkill and overbudget.
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post #7 of 12
6/13/10 at 9:00am
If he's using a 4650, he's probably a gamer in which the 5750 would be a great card. As stated by a few others, if he's only using it to watch movies, then a fanless 5550 or 5570 (like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131349 )
would be fine (probably about the closest current card to 4650 is the 5570).

Many people seem to suggest the bare minimum here, but it wouldn't have done me any good a year or so ago going with a x2 Athlon with the coming 3D wave coming out and the minimum will be a Athlon x3 440. By the way, if you can wait 6 months, I've read that ATI will be releasing HDMI 1.4 cards near the end of the year.
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post #8 of 12
6/13/10 at 9:05am
H264 MVC decoding for 3D content will be done on the GPU with hardware acceleration, software decoding on the CPU is fading out, the X2 will be just fine
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post #9 of 12
6/13/10 at 8:51pm
Thread Starter 
I'm not a gamer.

Here's how I use my HTPC:

1. Hulu
2. Live off-air ATSC.
3. Netflix streaming.
4. DVD player.
5. Blu-ray player.
6. Boxee.
7. Downloaded VOD programs.

What I need is a card that can handle all those roles. It's a Pentium Dual Core, the Wolfdale 6300. So, it handles most general tasks well. I can download, record and watch all at the same time no problem.

Aside from some tearing in Hulu and bit less tearing in Netflix, it works flawlessly. I actually think a lot of the tearing is a latency issue, because I'm using wireless on a Verizon DSL system -- not an optimal setup at all.
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post #10 of 12
6/13/10 at 9:07pm
A fanless 5550 or 5570 is all you need.
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post #11 of 12
6/13/10 at 9:08pm
5450 is all you need. it's half height and fanless. Make sure to get the DDR3 version. I can vouch for it.
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post #12 of 12
6/14/10 at 12:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MeowMeow View Post

I'm not a gamer.

Here's how I use my HTPC:

1. Hulu
2. Live off-air ATSC.
3. Netflix streaming.
4. DVD player.
5. Blu-ray player.
6. Boxee.
7. Downloaded VOD programs.

What I need is a card that can handle all those roles. It's a Pentium Dual Core, the Wolfdale 6300. So, it handles most general tasks well. I can download, record and watch all at the same time no problem.

Aside from some tearing in Hulu and bit less tearing in Netflix, it works flawlessly. I actually think a lot of the tearing is a latency issue, because I'm using wireless on a Verizon DSL system -- not an optimal setup at all.

I recommend either running cat5 from your router to your HTPC or going with the powerline networking. I use the powerline stuff and it works fantastic in my house, but others have had problems. Its suppose to depend on the wiring in your house.
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