I am building a new computer that I'm trying to make as quiet as possible. Thus I'd like to get a video card that doesn't have a fan. I'm not aware of any Nvidia cards that come without fans, but I've found that sapphire sells some ati cards (9200, 9600, 9800) without fans. I have a 21" LCD monitor that runs 1600x1200, and although I don't play many games, I do want to watch dvds on it. I was wondering if a 9200 or 9600 ati would give good dvd playback at 1600x1200.

I'm also puzzled, because after looking at ati's website it looks as if the 9200 has a faster refresh rate at 1600x1200 resolution than does the 9600. But when ATI's web site compares the specs (not refresh rate), it looks like the 9600 is the better card. So I am completely confused.

I'd like to avoid spending a couple of hundred dollars for a 9800pro (fanless), but don't know how good a video card I need to get in order to enjoy dvds on this monitor.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks,

Ric

I have an Nvidia MX440 that is fanless, it is essentially one big gold heatsink.

If you are looking for a fanless video card with decent performance, you might want to look at this. It might cost you a bit more but should get you a better variety as to which card you would be using (you do not have to get it from this web site). It is a fanless graphix card cooler made by Zalman, the ZM-80ZA-HP.

As long as you have hardware DVD, any decent video card should be able to run DVDs at 1600x1200. I have a gf3ti200 that plays DVDs at 1600x1200 with no problem (crt :: not flat screen), but it was easy to isntall the nvidia linux drivers and you should be able to find one at a very cheap price. I use a 1ghz p3 with 512mb ram. It is not a fast system by today's standards but it is enough for what I do. I assume since you were looking at cards with 8x AGP, you have a newer system.

http://www.plycon.com/chipset/zalman80a.htm

I'm using that Zalman VGA heatsink right now... it does a great job.

It seems to me that the OS you are running is a critical consideration here. I will assume that if you're running Windows, any of these cards would work OK, but if you are running Linux, there are a lot of configuration issues that can depend on the version of the kernel you are running in conjunction with the version of the drivers.

Regardless of whether you choose ATI or nVidia, I'd highly recommend that you spend some time searching the posts here at LQ looking for threads that discuss configuring both ATI and nVidia video cards. My point is that in order to get full performance out of any top of the line card from either manufacturer, you will need to spend some time configuring it and/or recompiling the kernel. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say. (I'm not trying to be ominous or discouraging, but to anyone comtemplating buying a high end video card for Linux, taking full advantage of its features will require some work. It's not just a simple plug and run.) -- J.W.

I just got an MSI brand GForce2 MX400 from NewEgg at $33. It's fanless. I also have another system with a low end Ati Radeon 7000 - also fanless. Both play DVDs just fine at 1600x1200 in Linux. They're lightweight with 3d graphics, but at least it works well enough for cool OpenGL screensavers and such.

I also have an old Ati Radeon 7200 - which had a fan. I could NOT get 3d OpenGL acceleration to work with it. It played DVDs at 1600x1200 without a hiccup, though, so 2d video overlay hardware acceleration was working fine.

If your main concern is playing DVDs and some lightweight 3d acceleration, any low end NVidia will do, as would a low end Ati Radeon 7000.

I recently bought a new Dell OEM GeForce4 MX440 AGP 8X fanless card for $20 including shipping. Then picked up a new Sony OEM DVI-D cable for $6 including shipping. Am now running my NEC LCD 1860NX 100% digitally and total cost to upgrade was $26. Ya just gotta love eBay.