Best card that doesn't heat up a room ~$150?

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Apr 25, 2007
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I'm currently searching for the best bang for my buck for under $150, preferably more like $125. I'm planning on rocking out Diablo 3 with all the eye candy maxed at 1080p. I generally like AMD cards because I like to use my computers as HTPC's occasionally, but am not against Nvidia.

The obvious choice to me is the 6850. The major drawback to it seems to be heat from what I read. I'm not so much worried about it getting hot - I'm worried about exhaust heat. The GPU I think may be the next best option is the 7770. It isn't as powerful for the money, but reviews say it doesn't get nearly as hot.


Any thoughts or suggestions from anyone with experience with these cards?
 
I'm currently searching for the best bang for my buck for under $150, preferably more like $125. I'm planning on rocking out Diablo 3 with all the eye candy maxed at 1080p. I generally like AMD cards because I like to use my computers as HTPC's occasionally, but am not against Nvidia.

The obvious choice to me is the 6850. The major drawback to it seems to be heat from what I read. I'm not so much worried about it getting hot - I'm worried about exhaust heat. The GPU I think may be the next best option is the 7770. It isn't as powerful for the money, but reviews say it doesn't get nearly as hot.

Any thoughts or suggestions from anyone with experience with these cards?

I don't have this card but reviews have shown power and heat should be far lesser than 6850.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5541/amd-radeon-hd-7750-radeon-hd-7770-ghz-edition-review/23

For USD 129 pick one up
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131460
 
7770 isn't worth more than $110 if you ask me (it is essentially a 5770/6770,right?). May as well purchase one of the older model #'s for same performance.
Why the concern over the heat exhaust? Warm environment?
The 460 is also a very cool card. In my opinion, in a single monitor setup (multimonitor makes temps jump from what I have seen), anything 6850 and below in performance are quiet and cool. I would throw in the 5850 in that too, but I know that long runs in a game do make it warm in my room.
I say, buy a 6850 with a third party cooler if you are that concerned. Like this one:
$129 after rebate. Free copy of Dirt 3 as well.
 
7770 isn't worth more than $110 if you ask me (it is essentially a 5770/6770,right?). May as well purchase one of the older model #'s for same performance.
Why the concern over the heat exhaust? Warm environment?
The 460 is also a very cool card. In my opinion, in a single monitor setup (multimonitor makes temps jump from what I have seen), anything 6850 and below in performance are quiet and cool. I would throw in the 5850 in that too, but I know that long runs in a game do make it warm in my room.
I say, buy a 6850 with a third party cooler if you are that concerned. Like this one:
$129 after rebate. Free copy of Dirt 3 as well.

Or just a card that is cheaper than that one off the bat (I don't trust rebates), and has a lifetime warranty:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150573

This was the card I had previously (I owned an XFX HD 6850) and never had a problem getting good framerates with any game.
 
7770 isn't worth more than $110 if you ask me (it is essentially a 5770/6770,right?).

Not quite correct. [H] review you'll probably pick up a few random frames here and there, but not a whole lot from the 6850. Seems like it sits in-between the 6850 and the 6870. If heat (also power usage) is your primary concern I'd say get it.
 
Not quite correct. [H] review you'll probably pick up a few random frames here and there, but not a whole lot from the 6850. Seems like it sits in-between the 6850 and the 6870. If heat (also power usage) is your primary concern I'd say get it.

Oh man, that review makes the HD6870 look so much more attractive than the 7770.
 
Not quite correct. [H] review you'll probably pick up a few random frames here and there, but not a whole lot from the 6850. Seems like it sits in-between the 6850 and the 6870. If heat (also power usage) is your primary concern I'd say get it.
Wow, that review makes the card seem very attractive since prices seem to be heading into the low $100's. Thanks guys, looks like the 7770 is arguably the best option for me!
 
I put a 7770 into my HTPC which I use to play my controller games @ 1080 and have no complaints. I went to it from a reference 6870 because of limited space and cord orientation on the 6870. Heat and power consuption also played a big part in my decision.
 
Not quite correct. [H] review you'll probably pick up a few random frames here and there, but not a whole lot from the 6850. Seems like it sits in-between the 6850 and the 6870. If heat (also power usage) is your primary concern I'd say get it.
My mistake, I had it in my mind that the 7770 was a rebadge, but it is cut from different stuff than the 5770/6770. After looking back at the review, I am fine with suggesting the 7770. I had made my previous recommendations off of an incorrect assumption.
 
I would suggest a 6850 too, they are pretty common around $120 and should do the trick. the 7770 performs about the same as 6850 but costs more.
 
I think the 7770 will have better overclocking headroom, and will also run cooler and with less power.

Should also hold it's value better - I see the 6850 as the next >100 card to go sub-100 on the used market.
 
I have a 7770. It'll more than easily enough play Diablo 3. I was just playing Sniper Elite V2 on medium at 1920x1200. For a budget card I really like it.
 
i personally went with a 6850 from a 5750 instead of the 7770. For 1. Card was only 128bit, 2 they were just released (at the time) and i didnt know much about how the drivers would do in BF3. 3. the 6850's price and was pre OC from Gigabyte was a + for me.
Not saying the 7770 wouldnt of been a good purchase, and wouldnt perform at the same level as a 6850, I wanted to step above the X700 series to the X800 series.

On the heat issue....my 6850 running on all high settings for 4+hrs consecutive gaming hours within BF3, barely gets loud or heats up.

Really a decent card for the midrange/mainstream gamer/everyday user
 
Yea, 6870 or GTX 560 offer similar performance and can be gotten for close to $150. Both will be better than a 7770.
 
Yea, 6870 or GTX 560 offer similar performance and can be gotten for close to $150. Both will be better than a 7770.

Quite a bit better at that. I'm kinda sick of people recommending the X770 series cards because 90% of them don't realize that you are getting HD4870 performance save the 7770 which is a TAD faster. The next card up, the HD6850 is leaps and bounds better for only $20 more in most instances.
 
Yea, 6870 or GTX 560 offer similar performance and can be gotten for close to $150. Both will be better than a 7770.
are they that much better? In the [H] review the 7770 looked just slightly less powerful.
 
The obvious choice to me is the 6850. The major drawback to it seems to be heat from what I read. I'm not so much worried about it getting hot - I'm worried about exhaust heat.
Lol wut?
If it gets hot, then the heat has to go somewhere. It doesn't matter if that heat is being transferred to the room via exhaust fans or the case, it still will be transferred.
 
I figure on average each GPU eats 120-150 watts under load for most 5/6k series Radeon series cards, of course that can go up with heavy OC's.

Seems amazing to me that people worry about what used to be a single lightbulb! Now go QuadFire and my two 5970s with the rig pull 550-650 watts while gaming.
 
are they that much better? In the [H] review the 7770 looked just slightly less powerful.

6870 is roughly 20% more powerful. the 7770 is really a trade off for what it offers. To some people, like myself, it made sense. Depends on what you need.
 
Just buy a used HD5770 and you will be way below your $150 price and will have very good performance for that price range with decent power usage.

$150 price range is weak. Bump up to $225-$250 and you can get almost double performance.
 
If you're worried about exhaust heat, then get a 28 nm card; HD 7770 is probably the best card around your price range. Look at the power consumption that the cards have; the more power consumption, the more waste heat.
 
It kills me that most people will always recommend the card with the higher performance without taking all the factors into consideration. I had a reference 6870 and while the performance was nice, the heat and noise killed the deal. Not the mention, when changing cases the 6870 would no longer fit due to the cord orientation and length of the card itself.

If you really want the best performance for your dollar then I would watch the FS threads and try to snag a GTX 470 or HD5870.
 
I know this is an old thread but how did you find the HD7770 for heat output in your room? I am after exactly the same, a card that does not output much heat at all (very small room with no ventilation). This for my everyday machine (see sig), will be used for web browsing/email with a little light gaming.
 
Slightly off topic, but how much does a GPU heat up a room? Even in a smaller sized room I don't think there would be much of a noticeable temperature difference with a PC on in the room.
 
Slightly off topic, but how much does a GPU heat up a room? Even in a smaller sized room I don't think there would be much of a noticeable temperature difference with a PC on in the room.

You would be suprised mate, my GTX480 rig makes my small study unbearable in the summer and I only live in the UK, air con is a no go. It is why I built a 2nd rig for everyday duties.
 
You guys do realize that more power = more heat?

You can compromise by getting a lower tier videocard, but ffs @ anyone trying to keep their room from heating up when they're concerned only with the videocard. Plenty of other factors come into play, and you'd save much more money by just reorganizing your room for better airflow than you would researching a "cool" videocard.
 
You guys do realize that more power = more heat?

You can compromise by getting a lower tier videocard, but ffs @ anyone trying to keep their room from heating up when they're concerned only with the videocard. Plenty of other factors come into play, and you'd save much more money by just reorganizing your room for better airflow than you would researching a "cool" videocard.

Not possible I'm afraid and believe me I wouldn't be adverse to such a practicle solution were it possible. You comment is somewhat terse without knowing much about my room or circumstances before making such a generalisation.
 
No clue I never tried to look for a gpu that only cost $150.
 
For new cards I think AMD made the 7790 for you, lowering the temps and noise... unless you find a specific deal. Check the Canadian site and TPU

Or the 650 Ti Boost.
 
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Stretch your budget about $20-30 and get a 7850, cooler and quieter than most cards along with great performance at 1080p
 
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