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Passive GTS 450 vs. passive HD5770

post #1 of 19
9/15/10 at 11:54am
Thread Starter 
How would these passively cooled cards manage in HTPC use? (case cooling must be active, right?)
  • Sparkle GeForce GTS 450 passive
  • Gigabyte Radeon HD5770 passive
DTS / True-HD recognition in AV receivers? Heat issues? Power consumption? I wrote some basic specs to my blog already but I need more information to choose between these two beauties. Are there other choices for HDMI 1.4a? Does any iGPU support it yet?
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post #2 of 19
9/15/10 at 12:05pm
If you are thinking of 3D video, you'd better wait for HD 6xxx (October-) instead of going with HD 5xxx. Needless to say, HD 5770/HD 67xx/GTS 450 are overkill for HTPC.
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post #3 of 19
9/15/10 at 1:01pm
Unless you're playing game those are both way overkill. I'd look at a passive 5550 or 5570.
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post #4 of 19
9/15/10 at 7:26pm
OP this article compares your typical HTPC video cards and how they would work with videos and power consumption: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/vid...ics-cards.html

Note the great results for the HD5550, then check the prices on the passive units at Newegg.com.

1GB DDR2 version: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161341

512mb DDR5 version: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161343

Note that the card is bottlenecked by default, so 1TB of (slower) memory would mean nearly nothing with that card, whereas the DDR5 card has more memory bandwidth and faster memory chips, which "may" come in handy with certain use. <--- someone please correct me if i'm missing something with these statements.
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post #5 of 19
9/15/10 at 8:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sjetski71 View Post

OP this article compares your typical HTPC video cards and how they would work with videos and power consumption: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/vid...ics-cards.html

Note the great results for the HD5550, then check the prices on the passive units at Newegg.com.

1GB DDR2 version: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161341

512mb DDR5 version: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161343

Note that the card is bottlenecked by default, so 1TB of (slower) memory would mean nearly nothing with that card, whereas the DDR5 card has more memory bandwidth and faster memory chips, which "may" come in handy with certain use. <--- someone please correct me if i'm missing something with these statements.

Note that there is one with the best of both, but it is not passive.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102903

From what I've read, as stated above, the speed takes priority over size for video memory, so GDDR5 is better (and to avoid DDR2 memory, go with DDR3 min.), size only helps with higher rez. monitors. But if you want both then check the card I posted, and it's got the crossfireX terminals if you want to game and can get two cards.
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post #6 of 19
9/15/10 at 8:54pm
I've found the large fans used on today's cards are MUCH quieter than the little 60mm fans used 3-4 years ago.
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post #7 of 19
9/15/10 at 11:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Servicetech571 View Post

I've found the large fans used on today's cards are MUCH quieter than the little 60mm fans used 3-4 years ago.

True. Those who don't believe this still insist on passive cooling with unhealthy GPU temperature > 80°C.
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post #8 of 19
9/16/10 at 5:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

True. Those who don't believe this still insist on passive cooling with unhealthy GPU temperature > 80°C.

Fans don't run full blast unless you are gaming/card under heavy load. For HTPC use the fan will never get loud enough to be an issue. Some entry level graphics cards (under $50) can get away with passive cooling but that's about it.
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post #9 of 19
9/16/10 at 5:48am
FWIW, the GGDR5 versions use significantly more power at idle and during blu-ray playback.
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post #10 of 19
9/16/10 at 6:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Servicetech571 View Post

I've found the large fans used on today's cards are MUCH quieter than the little 60mm fans used 3-4 years ago.

However, they're still too noisy if you want a HTPC that's actually quiet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

True. Those who don't believe this still insist on passive cooling with unhealthy GPU temperature > 80°C.

Not if you have a properly designed HTPC with decent airflow.
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post #11 of 19
9/16/10 at 6:13am
Decent airflow requires a fan eventually. I am wondering why not blow air directly to the GPU, that's a cheaper (smaller heatsink) and more efficient solution. Well, some people don't believe how quiet and efficient some of the active coolers are (such as Arctic Cooling Accelero L7).
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post #12 of 19
9/16/10 at 6:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stereodude View Post

However, they're still too noisy if you want a HTPC that's actually quiet.

Then you have to ditch all the fans of the system including PSU, hence no airflow at all, with PSU inside/GPU/CPU temeratures all > 80°C.
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post #13 of 19
9/16/10 at 6:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

Then you have to ditch all the fans of the system including PSU, hence no airflow at all, with PSU inside/GPU/CPU temeratures all > 80°C.

Uh, no... Some 120mm fans spun very slowly can be silent while providing adequate airflow. My HTPC is completely inaudible from my seat even with all audio muted. My passive 5570 gets up to a whopping 50C during blu-ray playback. The CPU loafs along at 26C.
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post #14 of 19
9/16/10 at 9:24am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for all the options. Other passive cards mentioned here, do they have HDMI 1.4a support? I'm really looking a passive choise with that, and i'm not going to wait for HD6XXX serie (if they will have passive options, I wouldn't bet on that either).

I don't have fans in my case and I'd like to keep it that way. Currently I'm running graphics with G210 passive, stress test of 1 hour (CPU, FPU, Cache, MEM, GPU @ 100% burn) gets it to 77C and in normal HD-use it's around 47C.
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post #15 of 19
9/16/10 at 9:38am
HDMI 1.4a + MVC decoder + HD audio bitstreaming: HD 6xxx (October-) and GeForce GT 430 (October 12th), GT 440 (October), GTS 450, GTX 460. These are the only solutions for now.

Perhaps you will see several GT 430 and HD 6350 cards with passive cooling (as TDP is low enough, close to 210). Beyond that you may not see passively cooled cards any time soon.

TDP

- 210: 30W
- GTS 450: 106W
- HD 5770: 108W
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post #16 of 19
9/16/10 at 11:01am
You never can have enough processing. madVr you better have a great GPU or
it looks like ******.
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post #17 of 19
9/16/10 at 5:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stereodude View Post

Uh, no... Some 120mm fans spun very slowly can be silent while providing adequate airflow. My HTPC is completely inaudible from my seat even with all audio muted. My passive 5570 gets up to a whopping 50C during blu-ray playback. The CPU loafs along at 26C.

You game and watch movies with the audio muted?

BT
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post #18 of 19
9/16/10 at 6:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bjterry62 View Post

You game and watch movies with the audio muted?

BT

No, but movies do have sections that are completely silent, and when those happen I don't have to hear the din of a HTPC.
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post #19 of 19
9/17/10 at 12:20pm
Thread Starter 
Hey, first forum with FAST and GOOD answers! GTS430 might be my choise in the end, I have time to wait that long. I hope some nice company makes a cool and not too big passive version.

Talking about silence, please be quiet first
(These two terms are mixed up a lot, I wrote even an article about it a week ago)
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