Best 2-slot GTX 1080 (40mm depth or less)

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J053F K

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Apr 11, 2015
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So I'm planning on upgrading my MSI 970 Gaming for a GTX 1080, but all the best air cooling solutions for the 1080 appear to be 2.5 slot cards. My problem is that the case I'm using - a Fractal Designs Core 1300 - has a vertical hard disk mount, which leaves only 5mm-10mm between the top of the mounted HDD and my graphics card.

The MSI GTX 970 gaming that I am using is listed as having a depth of 37mm (i.e. slightly over 2 slot) so I figure I need a card with a cooler that is no larger than around 40mm depth wise.

From the reviews/benchmarks I've looked at, the GTX 1080 throttles at 83 degrees, meaning that in order to avoid losing performance needlessly I'd need to keep well below this temperature, and the cards most able to do this appear to be the 2.5+ slot cards like the Palit Gamerock or Zotac Amp! Extreme.

My question is this - what is the best third party 2 slot GTX 1080 for temperatures, and the general quality/binning of the chip itself? Do any of the 2 slot solutions compete with the oversized 2.5+ slot solutions?

If any of you have had any experience with pushing the available two-slot cards towards towards their thermal limits I'd be interested to hear your experiences...

 
Solution
The_Staplergun
To clarify some stuff. You can up the temperature throttling threshold with an aftermarket OC program such as MSI afterburner.

My gtx 1080 Strix from Asus can keep at ~50c at max load overclocked.
pHDgond.jpg


The 2.5 slot cards tend to have the larger air coolers on them. The 2.0 slots have the reference based generally. The reference cards aren't as efficient at cooling, and I personally don't like them. If you have enough airflow to get that air out of the case and fresh air to the cards you'll be doing fine.

If you're into doing customization there are parts you can get that allow you to mount a AIO Closed Loop cooler that could be used for CPUs in to your 1080, allowing you to have radiators that just...
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The_Staplergun

The_Staplergun

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To clarify some stuff. You can up the temperature throttling threshold with an aftermarket OC program such as MSI afterburner.

My gtx 1080 Strix from Asus can keep at ~50c at max load overclocked.
pHDgond.jpg


The 2.5 slot cards tend to have the larger air coolers on them. The 2.0 slots have the reference based generally. The reference cards aren't as efficient at cooling, and I personally don't like them. If you have enough airflow to get that air out of the case and fresh air to the cards you'll be doing fine.

If you're into doing customization there are parts you can get that allow you to mount a AIO Closed Loop cooler that could be used for CPUs in to your 1080, allowing you to have radiators that just directly vent heat wherever, and not into each other.

Your best bet might be AIO or custom water cooled loops, or just a ridiculous amount of solid airflow. The bottom card will more than likely vent almost directly into the top one.
 
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Solution
J

J053F K

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Hey man, thanks for the information - it's much appreciated. And apologies for not getting back to you sooner....stupid busy at work etc...

I went a bit overkill with fans when I built my rig, so I have two front intake fans, a side intake, a bottom intake, a back exhaust and two top side exhausts and a closed loop CPU cooler (with radiator on the rear exhaust) so I figure I should have enough airflow to keep ANY card cool, however...

...the 51 degrees c / 125 f you're getting under load with the 1080 Strix is pretty incredible. I've heard that the Strix line provides the best cooling and clock speeds, and that temp on air is ridiculous.

So my next question is which version of the Strix to get?

The A8g is around £630 in the UK at the moment...and the O8G is £800. I'm pretty comfortable overclocking with something like MSI Afterburner, so ideally I'd like to get the cheaper card.

Is there ANY advantage to getting the more expensive version of the Strix if you're confident in your ability to overclock?
 
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The_Staplergun

The_Staplergun

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I'll say I bought the base clock edition. It's not a guaranteed overclock or how much of an overclock, but I chanced it anyways. I didn't want to pay $70-$80 more for something I could still potentially get.

If you're confident, and you do get lucky, even a small overclock is worth it when buying the base clock edition.
It's really only a marginal difference. Look at the numbers:
You're getting up to an 18% increase for ~$80 more (About 8-9% more cost). (1900 MHZ OC edition vs the Base clock 1607 edition)
I got that difference for free. You could get more, you could get less. You could get none with the base clock. The silicone lottery is an interesting RNG.
 
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thormejh

thormejh

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Hey i know this is old but i just wanted to let you know, with that fan setup there is way to much positive pressure in your case. It is better than negative but its still to much air. you could take out the side and bottom and probably get better temps!
 
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J

J053F K

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Thanks for the heads up - will try removing the side/bottom fan next time I'm playing around with my case and see if it makes a difference!

 
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