I purchesed an ATI 4870 Video Card?

Question

Okay I just purchased an ATI 4870 Video Card and I am waiting on it for shipping. Now I have 2 big questions.

1. Sound. I expect a vacuum cleaner noise level coming out of it when it is utilizing all GPU, but I need this card to be QUIET when its idle, especially for music. How much dBA will it produce on idle time?

2. Is this compatible on my motherboard? I have ASUS P5B-E, Q6600, 4 GB PC6400

Also I am buying a new power supply with this.

Answer 1

I installed this into my buddy's machine about a month ago so know from personal experience.

1.  The card runs really hot at idle (~60-75 C) and about 90 under load.  It's designed to run that way and the drivers will spin the fan up and down as necessary.  Normally it only spins when it gets REALLY hot, so will not spin at all when not gaming (e.g. running in Windows).  Some people have use the ATI fan hack to keep the fan spinning at 30% speed, which is fairly quiet.  It wasn't any louder than the PS and case fans on my buddies build at 30%.

If noise is a huge concern, buy an aftermarket cooler for the card.  They run about $30-$40 and in addition to being super-super quiet, your card runs around 40-50 degrees.

2.  Definitely.  All you need is a PCIe16 slot which it will have.  The toughest part about installing the card is getting it to fit in the case.  I had to move the hard drives around to avoid the power plugs on the ATI.

The card is awesome.  Enjoy.. I'm jealous.