Best NO FAN Video Card

[m1abrams]

Ok I am about to build a dedicated Sage Box and am looking for the best video card for use with a 32" SDTV with svideo connection.

My requirements are that it has NO FAN, I want the box to be quite and it seems a fan on a video card is just uneeded noise.

I have no need for gaming on this machine so that does not need to be a consideration. However if I can get one that will handle VMR9 or can offload some of the decoding that would be great.

The only ones I can seem to find are NVIDIA 5200 based and a Sapphire 9600XT ultimate. The 5200 is obviously much cheaper in price. I know Sapphire make a fanless 9800 but I think that is getting a little pricey UNLESS you guys think it will improve my SageTV watching a good bit over the cheaper cards.

Any thing about the NVIDIA 5200 that make it a better choice over the ATI other than being cheaper? Does nvdvd decoder work better with it? Also better driver support in linux is also considered a bonus since I may one day move the card to one of my linux machines in an upgrade. (I think nvidia wins out here)

Thanks guys

[indigo]

You will never hear the fan. The spinning of the hardrive is almost always louder even a seagate baracuda.

[stanger89]

Best fanless video card?:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...125-142&depa=0
or
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...125-151&depa=0

Of course for an SDTV, this combined with an inexpensive video card may be a better option:
http://www.computers4sure.com/produc...oductid=353039

[g808]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Best fanless video card?:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...125-142&depa=0
or
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...125-151&depa=0

Sorry stranger, but the Gigabyte 6800 GT has fan. Check it out. Although it's probably an overkill from him anyway. I wish I had one!

[stanger89]

Well, the non-GT doesn't (I have one), honestly never really looked at the GT since I wasn't interested in it.