Sapphire 3850 Passive Cool?

[RichMan]

Hi...
I'm in to the forums for advice on a new build after flip-flopping for months.
Specifcally here, Any thoughts pro/con on a Sapphire HD 3850 Passive cooled video card for a 24 inch monitor (probably Dell 2408) with the following qualifiers unless convinced otherwise:
1) No action gaming, but Myst like games on occasion (hey I'm 63!)
2) Photoshop (lots of grandkids photo work) , Internet, Office,
3) HD TV (on the monitor) when I get a tuner card
4) Wont rule out BluRay and/or downloaded movies/TV shows occasionally
5) Antec P182 case (already purchased)

I would like passive cooling for the quiet but am open for contrary thinking
The computer is in the bedroom and I would like to keep it on 24/7 (sleep mode engaged)
unless this is not a good idea with an LCD monitor. Thanks.
...Rich

 

[blivit4]

I'm sure it would work fine, but it's way over kill for what you do. One of the passively cooled 3650 cards would be way more than good enough. The higher end cards are needed for fast 3D processing, but games like Myst & PS don't need it. PS is strictly a 2D application. I primarily do Lightroom & PS on a passively cooled 7300GT card, and that works great. The other down side to the more powerful graphics cards is that even if they are passively cooled, they use more energy and add more heat into the case and you can run into other cooling problems. There isn't much point in getting a silent card if you wind up with noisier case fans.

(FWIW, I'm 54, so I know where you're coming from.)

 

[RichMan]

Thanks blivit4. Point well taken. I will probably back off to a less expensive/powerful card.