Small heat sink, passive, HDMI ATI card

Monty Burns

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Hey guys

I want to replace my GFX card because its passive heat sink is so big, its blocking out the PCI-E port next to it and I want to use this to plug in a PCIE dual tuner card. I also want it to be ATI so I can get 3d games on it without having to fork out for that Nvidia 3dPlay c*&p.

Can anyone recommend one? Actually, it doesn't have to be passive, just as long as the fan is *almost* silent.


Cheers

edit: Sorry, just to clarify. The current card doesn't take up two slots, its just a bulky single card.
 
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Thanks :)

I think im on a losing battle. That heatsinks far to big :(

I think i'm going to have to take the plung and buy a new mobo and go through the pain of setting it up all over again with a new chipset n drivers:(

Next time, i'll be aware of PCI-E slots!
 
Monty, you're on an i3 aren't you?

Changing the motherboard (intel chipset to intel chipset) should work without a reinstall. I've heard of people coming from x38 chipsets to z68 with no fuss. If you're prepared to make an image and restore on the new hardware then it might save you all the hassle - at worst you've lost an hour and have to bite the bullet and reinstall.

FWIW I'd always do a clean install on new hardware but everything is just installed from a server so doesn't take more than a couple of hours to configure :)
 
FWIW, I had a problem with a quad tuner next to a "warm" graphics card. Had to put in extra fans because they got to cosy: tv started to break up then the graphics too! New mobo with plenty of pci-e might be the way to go.
 
I think maybe the idea with my mobo was that you would be using either the normal gfx card slot (is it still AGP? anyway, bigger than PCI) OR the PCI-E. They are both next to each other and so it will be a REAL struggle to get two in at the same time.... i have doubts its even possible now. Sadly, its not a heat issue Spyder, wish it was!

Llama, i'm thinking you might be right in that it hopefully should be a straight swap. I do have Windows Home Server backing it up everynight and that is an image copy. I've done restores before and not had any issues. I am worried though about the CPU serial number and stuff. How does Windows judge its licensing? Rarely but it has happened, when you move a HD, Windows mutters something about "Detected too much new hardware" and asks you to relicense? I do have an original license so its not a problem I guess, just annoying.

I really, really don't want to have to do a clean install. It takes hours and hours to do it (as its a Sky box), just matching up the EPG to the correct channel numbers can take a couple of hours.

So, in conclusion, I think buying a new MOBO might be the best way forward...

Thanks all!
 
I swapped an Asus mobo with an Gigabyte mobo recently and to my surprised I didn't have to reinstall the OS - everything just worked after a couple of auto driver installs on the initial startup. It was the same family of chipset on both boards though.
 
Hi Monty...it will almost certainly require re-activation, and most likely redetect some drivers during first boot.

Is it an OEM Windows7 install? In which case it's tied to the motherboard and according to the licence you should buy another copy. If a retail copy it's not an issue.
 
I think even OEM versions allow some leniency eg. if your MoBo dies and needs replacing (I have my fingers crossed). I have seen forum posts saying they changed MoBo's 3 or 4 times with an OEM version and were still OK. I recall someone who did have the 'computer says no' scenario, but was sorted by a phonecall to Microsoft.

Is your graphics card currently PCIe? If it is, could you move it across one slot and put the quad/dual tuner in the first slot? The tuner card is likely to be less obstructive.

SBR
 
Yep SBR, that's usually the case, but against the license agreement if it's an upgrade - so no compulsion on MS to allow reactivation if it's OEM. It's been discussed to death elsewhere, but just flagging it as a consideration/risk.
 
No sadly not. My tuner cards are both PCI and an AGP(?) gfx card.

This is the board I have at the moment; Asus P7H55 M SI.

As you can see, the AGP card points its heat sink towards the PCI-E slot and as its slightly bigger than a single slot, it covers the PCI-E slot.


So my requirements for a replacement board are:

  • Socket 1156
  • 4 slots of DDR3 ram (4*2gig = 8 gig)
  • AGP slot
  • MicroATX

I don't want to spend hundreds. I've found this board which will allow me to fit ONE PCI-E card and ONE PCI tuner. Maybe I could get the quad tuner card and sell the two PCI cards?

edit: intel boards do by all accounts, do very well on power consumption, so thats a bonus.
 
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The first slot is a PCIe (but 16x), the small one next to it is also PCIe (but 1x). Confusing!

SBR
 
You don't have an AGP slot on your original motherboard. It's a PCI-e x16, but that should be the same on the Intel too.

So the Intel looks to fit the bill if it does everything you need - you're just swapping out a PCI slot for a PCI-e x1, a quick look round and 1156 boards are scarce and/or expensive now :(

The tuner cards you're looking at...should be PCI-e x1...but just check!
 
The first slot is a PCIe (but 16x), the small one next to it is also PCIe (but 1x). Confusing!

SBR

:laugh: I didn't think it was AGP but honestly had no idea what it was :D I know now, thanks :smashin:

I was wondering if anyone know of any that might fit a little better but, no matter, I'll go with that one then. I'm going to put one of these in the PCI-E slot. Anyone see a problem with that, initialy?

edit: DOH! Just noticed that Intel board only has 2 dimm sockets. Lets try again with THIS board?
 
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Should be fine :) I have 2x of the dual tuners from TBS in mine as I couldn't get a quad at the time. Should work no problems.

When you swap over the mobo though, and restore Windows, either leave the original tuner in for the first boot or restore without any tuners in first time. i.e. Try to keep the changes minimal for the restore (if changing a mobo is minimal - but you know what I mean). Once you're happy it's restored then swap out the tuners.

Always best to play it safe :)
 
Actually, i shouldn't have to restore windows as I'm not wiping the hard drive and its not RAID. Fingers crossed, this should be quite easy as the Fusion Antec Remote case I have ensures the PSU is in a diferent area, so, should be a case of unscrew, unplug and swap out whilst leaving all DVD, HD, PSU etc in place :smashin:

Thanks guys, ordered! I've only gone for the dual tuner to complement 1 PCI tuner (three should be enough).


So again, thank you to all for your help!
 

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