604edv Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 So far I've been looking around at all of the silent dual dvi options but it seems that they are pretty scarce these days. The only ones that newegg still carries are 9600's and incompatible radeon 4XXX's. So what should I go with? Has anyone gotten any of these working *stable* on both heads? gigabyte 9600 gt : runs hot? limited compatability rumors? Asus Geforce 8600gt : can only find through ebay at what seem like fairly high prices considering the price of the 9600 xfx 7600 gs : same situation as the 8600gt... and my last kind of strange resort ... dual zotac 7300 gt cards due to their compatibilty with the hackintosh. My only issue here are the buggy reports of setting up dual cards in a hackintosh. Might even go with one pci-e and one pci. Not looking to play intense games, but driving large monitors reliably and silently is pretty important. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/154671-silent-video-cards/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
noNix Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Depending on your needs, the 7300 might be good enough. I have an 20" iMac with a second 20" screen running of an ATI X1600 which is slightly less of a card than the 7300. I use the system daily for heavy duty CAD work, the second screen is used for extra finder windows, reference materials etc. Generally I think we all get carried away thinking we need more horsepower than we really do need to get day to day stuff done. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/154671-silent-video-cards/#findComment-1089749 Share on other sites More sharing options...
olav Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Sparkle 8800gt with silent pipe is really nice, quite big heatsink though. Works well with dual monitors in leopard. Really cool performance as well, around 60 degrees celcius during heavy gaming in crysis. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/154671-silent-video-cards/#findComment-1089777 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bit Shoveler Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 I got a PNY 9600 GT then installed an Accelero S1 Rev. 2 cooler on it - the idle temp dropped 10 degrees C! It's a big cooler but silent and effective. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/154671-silent-video-cards/#findComment-1090244 Share on other sites More sharing options...
rschultz101 Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 9500gt msi 1- 7300gs,... couple of those, best start , cheap,... beware, some show fanless, and you'd get one with a fan,... 2- 2600xt ,.... runs fine,.... but had trouble with sleep,... might not have had a clean install 2-7600gs ,... good for wow and spore,... quiet, single slot, very good, xfx 3- 9500gt,... msi , runs great, not for real gamers,... for win, games, performance,.... best to get a quiet fan,.... the fanless , you still need some case flow,... unless, you have the case open,.... but still gets hot,... for water cooling, still need a fan, and now you got a pump vibrations, noise,.... Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/154671-silent-video-cards/#findComment-1090541 Share on other sites More sharing options...
604edv Posted February 25, 2009 Author Share Posted February 25, 2009 well, went with the 9600gt for returnability (sp). All the ebay pictures of cards laying on nice soft, cushy, fluffy, static filled rugs got me thinking about that. The 9600 was $80 with free shipping from newegg so we'll see how that goes. I read scattered reports that the 9x00's are working fine now so I'm banking on that. If not... looks like i'll try to find a 7600gs thats not photographed on a rug, or the hard to find 8800. With a lot of the suggestions the cards didn't come in dual dvi silent flavors. I guess thats the rare beast, silent and dual dvi. Thanks for the input guys. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/154671-silent-video-cards/#findComment-1091177 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bit Shoveler Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 I can vouch for the 9600 GT working natively in 10.5.6. All you need is an EFI string. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/154671-silent-video-cards/#findComment-1091762 Share on other sites More sharing options...
modis Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 if the card isn't as silent as you like, silent aftermarket gpu heatsinks/fans are available for $20-$40. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/154671-silent-video-cards/#findComment-1093462 Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaaseyRacer Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 Personally I would get this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814143169 Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/154671-silent-video-cards/#findComment-1095335 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terc Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I use the EVGA 9400 GT 512 MB with dual monitors using efi strings in the com.apple.Boot.plist. Granted, it has a fan, but I absolutely cannot hear it at all. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814130389 It'll give you reasonable performance, and at a tough price to beat. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/154671-silent-video-cards/#findComment-1099218 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tek Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Personally I would get this one:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814143169 Just ordered that card a few days ago to replace my 8600GT. Waiting to get it. Should work fine. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/154671-silent-video-cards/#findComment-1099285 Share on other sites More sharing options...
yourboyvic Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 @604edv I'm also considering the xfx 7600gs silent for my hackintosh. I've looked at HCL at osx86 wiki and found that either NVinject or titan will have to work as only only the powercolor and point of view 7600gs have been confirmed 100% for efi/qe and all resolutions have you already made your decision? do others of you in here have experiences with the XFX fanless 7600gs confirmed to work and would heavily recommend either NVinject or Titan, one more over the other? @rschultz101 you have good suggestions, thanks for those. I say that because I too have considered the 9500gt from MSI but I'm not really looking to beef up my build around my gfx as I am not a gamer, but is it potentially easier to NVinject or titan the MSI 9500gt over the XFX 7600gs? I have the rest of the hack details worked out already and some specifics on the gfx details would be much help. NOTE: XFX 7600gs has HDMI output though no confirmed HDCP (maybe hack it somehow?) thnx in advance Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/154671-silent-video-cards/#findComment-1102182 Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyberderf Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 This is really an intesting thread. I am currently looking at a silent card with DUAL DVI, preferably on the cheap side. Are both of the DVI outputs on the MSI 9500GT working ? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/154671-silent-video-cards/#findComment-1166374 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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