- Oct 31, 2013
- 2
- 0
- 10,510
Ok, here is my video setup. 2x Gigabyte 7870 and one Gigabyte 7979. I have it like this for a number of reasons, my sanity not being one of them.
First off, I use multiple monitors, 5 for the moment, to help with my work, but also to allow me to play games, specifically Eve. So its not running in xfire mode, though funnily enough it won't work at all unless I have both the 7870's connect to the 7970 via xfire bridges. I use the main monitor on the 7970 and two monitors each on the two 7870's.
My main pita right now, that its working, is heat. Three cards, packed together, with not much space between them, does not allow them to cool adequately, and I start getting graphical glitches as the 7970's temp hits 93-94c when playing things like World of Tanks, which is the only game I run that really stresses the card, temps on the two 7870's hover at around 38-40c as they are not being utilised for running wot. Oh, and I have an Adaptec raid card in the fourth PCIe slot, so airflow to all cards is restricted. Top slot houses the 7970, then two 7870 and finally at the bottom is the raid card.
Everything is mounted in a Corsair Obsidian 900D case, which is mildly disappointing due to the cheap mild steel its constructed from, but that's not important, it has good airflow into the case and out. Drive cages are mounted at the bottom, so the top two front fans blow directly on to the cards.
So, what I'm asking for advice on, is what is the best way to improve the cooling. I think I read that the Gigabyte 7970 and or the 7870 cards have a slight change from reference, so stock watercooling blocks are not going to fit.
I'm considering building a "wind tunnel" type contraption to force air from some fans I'll mount into the side of the case into a box type cowling for the video cards. If I do this, I'm not sure if I should ditch the stock fans on the cards along with their cowling's, to allow some space between the cards for airflow. I'll probably try something like 4 corsair high static pressure fans to get some positive air pressure inside the cowling to get the best from the air contact cooling on the stock heat sinks.
Any ideas other than "Move to the north pole!"?
First off, I use multiple monitors, 5 for the moment, to help with my work, but also to allow me to play games, specifically Eve. So its not running in xfire mode, though funnily enough it won't work at all unless I have both the 7870's connect to the 7970 via xfire bridges. I use the main monitor on the 7970 and two monitors each on the two 7870's.
My main pita right now, that its working, is heat. Three cards, packed together, with not much space between them, does not allow them to cool adequately, and I start getting graphical glitches as the 7970's temp hits 93-94c when playing things like World of Tanks, which is the only game I run that really stresses the card, temps on the two 7870's hover at around 38-40c as they are not being utilised for running wot. Oh, and I have an Adaptec raid card in the fourth PCIe slot, so airflow to all cards is restricted. Top slot houses the 7970, then two 7870 and finally at the bottom is the raid card.
Everything is mounted in a Corsair Obsidian 900D case, which is mildly disappointing due to the cheap mild steel its constructed from, but that's not important, it has good airflow into the case and out. Drive cages are mounted at the bottom, so the top two front fans blow directly on to the cards.
So, what I'm asking for advice on, is what is the best way to improve the cooling. I think I read that the Gigabyte 7970 and or the 7870 cards have a slight change from reference, so stock watercooling blocks are not going to fit.
I'm considering building a "wind tunnel" type contraption to force air from some fans I'll mount into the side of the case into a box type cowling for the video cards. If I do this, I'm not sure if I should ditch the stock fans on the cards along with their cowling's, to allow some space between the cards for airflow. I'll probably try something like 4 corsair high static pressure fans to get some positive air pressure inside the cowling to get the best from the air contact cooling on the stock heat sinks.
Any ideas other than "Move to the north pole!"?
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram