Best aftermarket passive cooling for 8800gt sli setup...

[sirfuzz]

Hey everyone,

I run two 8800GTs in SLI on my evga 680i motherboard. My question is which cooler would be best for the space that I have? I currently use NO other pci slots. I was thinking dual HR-03gt coolers in an over/under configuration (although the stock northbridge fan might get in the way...). Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks in advance,
Joe

 

[monst0r]

HR03 hands down.. I'm using the normal HR03s, but I think those GT versions are made for the 8800GT. I used to run ONE 8800GT in passive with the HR03. My temps were great considering it was OCed. I idled around 55c, load 75c (passive remember..). Putting a fan on lowered it dramatically. I now idle 48c, load 51c. Good Luck.

 

[sirfuzz]

I was definitely thinking of the HR 03 as far as the best passive cooling situation, but throwing two in my case is questionable... I would say I have enough space between the cards for one easily, but under the bottom card, theres only about two inches of clearance until it hits case. Anyone have any feelings about the duorb? Kind of hard for me to gauge its size by any pics they post, but it looks considerably smaller than the HR 03.

As of right now, according to Rivatuner and nVidia's performance monitor, I am idling around 43-45*C, after a session of crysis it jumps to around 60-65*C (would probably get higher, but I havent seen it) on everything maxed out, 4 or 8x AA and 1400x900 res. I also overclock my cards over 700 frequently while gaming, I bounce back and forth. Fans are always set to 100% since the sound doesnt bother me, only thing in my case that really makes a sound.

I would throw it into my cpu's water loop, but I dont think my pump could handle it (grabbed the Tt Kandalf LCS supertower just in case I want to dive into water cooling later on and change out parts, the rad on the front is just great, my e6400 idles at 20*C and only gets over 30*C in extreme cases while overclocked to 2.8ghz average with 1.425v feeding it. Core temps rarely get over 38*C each.

Sorry about the run off.... so how about those duorbs? Ive heard good things, anyone have experience?

 

[sirfuzz]

One more thing: I have rigged up a 120mm fan blowing directly onto the ends of my cards to aid in circulating the hot air they are throwing out, so it doesnt just sit between them. I didnt invest in the side panel fan mod for my kandalf, wont really be needed after I get a better cooling solution for my cards. I keep checking evga, but their darn akimbo coolers are always out of stock... which is why I am asking around here for an alternate solution : )