Quietest Stock 4850/4870?

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BrndNtrl

Weaksauce
Joined
Oct 23, 2006
Messages
98
Typically I would do the VGA cooler installation myself, but over the years I've either grown lazy or unwilling to deal with the fallout if/when a card burns up.

So are there any thoughts on a stock 4800 series processor that won't sound like a buzz saw or jet engine?
 
look into the 4870/4850 IceQ 4+ cards from HIS. They have always been known to cool effectively while keeping really low noise levels.
 
the fans on 48xx series cards will throttle to max speed on occasion to subdue heat but are generally pretty quiet. big ups for the his iceq4 cards though. rear exhaust+quiet operation is a win-win.
 
The new dual slot Sapphires are extremely quiet when you set manual fan control. I set mine to 40% and the card never gets above 55-57c.
 
The dual slot Sapphires are quiet, but I don't think they're anything special.
You can lock the fan to 20% (lowest speed) at idle then ramp it to 40% under load.

I don't start hearing the fan until 45%, but anything above 50% and it's a blowdryer.
It's quiet as long as you control the fan, but I don't know if I would call it the quietest ATI card.

I wouldn't be surprised if the IceQ's were better.
 
The reference 4850 is very quiet because the fan almost never reaches a very high RPM and at idle the fan is nearly stopped. In fact, according to CCC, the fan of my card is actually at "0%" now, which probably means it's still rotating, just very slowly. They do get hot though, currently idling at 70C. Default fan profile, no tweaks or mods.
 
I found the stock fan was too loud for me (it made a distinctive pitch compared to the rest of computer which drove me nuts). I replaced it with a GFXChilla and never looked back (very quick 5 minute installation).

That said, the newer designs look a lot better, and from the reviews I read - run a lot quieter / cooler.
 
You can also just buy the cheapest 4850 available and attach an Accelero S1 rev 2
 
I really like the HIS 4850 ICEQ cards.
HIS4850ICEQ.jpg


I own 9 of them and all run Folding@Home.
Since my card are at 100% load 24/7 cooling was a big deal for me.
The fans are silent at 75% and run at 60C at 100% load.
The cards can actually stay at 60C with 50% fan speed but I raised it since I keep them at 100% load.
 
I recently got the HIS HD 4870 IceQ 4+Turbo 1GB. This card has a new fan profile in the bios that keeps the fan from reving up and down like my reference HD 4870. I use Gainward Expert Tool for fan control. At fixed speed of 50% the IceQ 4+ idles at a quiet 44C. When set to Dynamic the card idles at 49-50C and the fan quietly fluctuates between 39% and 45%. Great improvement from early reference card fan profiles!:cool:
 
the his card iceq4 coolers are also uv reactive if you've got a case modding streak.
 
rockit00 said:
I recently got the HIS HD 4870 IceQ 4+Turbo 1GB. This card has a new fan profile in the bios that keeps the fan from reving up and down like my reference HD 4870. I use Gainward Expert Tool for fan control. At fixed speed of 50% the IceQ 4+ idles at a quiet 44C. When set to Dynamic the card idles at 49-50C and the fan quietly fluctuates between 39% and 45%. Great improvement from early reference card fan profiles!:cool:
Click to expand...
Did you tweak anything besides the fan profile in the bios?
You can also fix the powerplay (idle) settings and get even lower temps in 2D mode.
 
UtopiA said:
Did you tweak anything besides the fan profile in the bios?
You can also fix the powerplay (idle) settings and get even lower temps in 2D mode.
Click to expand...

No tweak necessary! Install card, Install drivers (8.12's), Open Expert Tool and choose Fixed Speed, or Dynamic Speed, Done!!! No clowning around with saving this and that in CCC. This is the golden fan profile that every 4870 should have had back in July-August. W00t:D
 
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