MSI nVidia GeForce 8400GS Silent 512 MB DVI/HDCP PCI-Express Video Card NX8400GS-TD512EH

This is an good card that I'm using in an HTPC. It has all the video decoding support needed for this and it can do a decent job with many games. Plus the card has no fan, so you get this in an absolutely silent package. So far this has worked well for me, I haven't looked at actual GPU temperatures but I have touched the heat sink after a lot of use and I could hold my finger on it. That has to put the heatsink temp less than 120F. I have this in an Antec Fusion Remote case that seems to pull a decent amount of air past the card which I think allows for adequate cooling.

However, the picture in the ad makes the card appear to take up a single slot. That is NOT the case! The card I received has a massive heatsink attached that makes the card wide enough for two slots. That wasn't a deal breaker for me, but could be for some. If you need a thinner card, I would look at cards from other manufacturers that have the same chipset with a fan attached so the card is only 1 slot...Read more

This unit was inexpensive and improved over the original which failed one (1) week out of warranty from Dell and has a history of over-temperature issues. The new 8400 GS card has no fan but sports a very large heat sink. It's a single slot card and actually has lower power consumption than the 8300 card it replaced. The heat sink makes the card take up two (2) slots of space due to the overhang. No issue in my case. It was a snap to install and the driver self installed from the accompanying CD.

The photo looks more like the 8300 card the unit replaces. The new heat sink is as big as the card. No fan to get screwed up.

The MSI nVidia GeForce 8400 GS was delivered promptly and easy to install. It needed to update drivers, but that was easy. I recommend it.