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PC Case for Crossfire rig

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Biggayal   09-21-2009 at 01:54:01 PM

Hey guys, I've got an Asus P5Q-e motherboard and two Sapphire HD 4850's. I have a problem with one of them overheating and it seems like it’s definitely the case/motherboard combination. The P5Q-E has the second (there are three) PCI-E slot very near the bottom of the board. The Dual slot cooler is almost resting on the floor of the case and not enough air is getting to it. The other PCI-E slot is even closer so that is not an option. Anyway I want to get a larger case but from all the full tower cases I’ve seen there seems to be the same problem. Some cases have their floor right underneath the full ATX space or a power supply sitting there. Are there any boards that have a decent space below a full ATX board? Alternatively I will buy an Antec spot cool but it’s getting tricky to work in the case already.

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lunyone   09-21-2009 at 02:08:33 PM
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Well have you thought of the possibility of selling both of your 4850's and getting a single GPU instead? It'll probably be about the same amount of $ and you'd be probably upgrading your GPU? I'd wait for the new AMD GPU's coming out very soon before buying anything.

As far as cases go, I have a few that I like. They have good airflow, but your still going to have the spacing issue, mainly because of the way the mobo's are built for s775.
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

All of these cases can usually be had for less $ elsewhere, but I like to use Newegg's links because of the pictures and information that they have.

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Biggayal   09-21-2009 at 02:16:36 PM
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Good idea, but the second 4850 is a present from the wife, cant sell it :)

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lunyone   09-21-2009 at 02:37:11 PM
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Ahhh, what a nice wife! :) Do you really notice any difference with them in X-fire? What resolution are you gaming under??

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Biggayal   09-21-2009 at 02:50:45 PM
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Yeah sure I've noticed a difference, I'm running my rig on a 37" 1920x1080. Im getting a Q9450 next month that I will overclock. My current E5200 @ 3.7Ghz is deffinitely a bottleneck. Im getting 80-100 fps on heavy titles with everything on. It was cheaper to upgrade that route than a single card. I was going to do a little overlcocking on the cards yesterday and noticed the one card idling at 64.C

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lunyone   09-21-2009 at 03:04:09 PM
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Nice! Sounds like you have a good plan there. Are you going to get a different case or do you have the option to add more fans to your existing case?

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Biggayal   09-21-2009 at 03:53:05 PM
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Either a new case (which I cant seem to find with decent clearence between a full atx mobo and the floor) or I will add hundreds of fans, or I will cut a hole in the bottom of the case :)

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zach538467   09-21-2009 at 04:04:50 PM
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The Antec 900's PSU is on the bottom of the case...leaves quite a bit of room for cards even on the bottom slot.

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Biggayal   09-21-2009 at 06:19:51 PM
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Thanks for the info, looking at the airflow in the pic here. I'm wondering if my PSU fan will pull air against the graphics card?

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jared51182   09-21-2009 at 06:32:19 PM
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You can sell something that your wife gave you as a gift. Trust me, I know. My wife just sold a lot of purses I gave her as gifts. It happens. Also, consider it this way. Your wife gave you the card because you already had a 4850, and it was an excellent way to upgrade your current machine. However, it probably didn't really occur to just upgrade to a single more powerful card, particularly by selling the one you already had. It would be a weird gift, if someone said, here's an upgrade, but go sell what you currently have and give me the difference. Particularly with the new 5XXX series that should be released this week, I honestly think your wife would understand.

But that is just my two cents as a spited husband who watched thousands of dollars of purses go out the window, all to pay for an "upgrade" = a horse. HA!

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Biggayal   09-21-2009 at 06:50:04 PM
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Dude I'm just gratefull to have a wife that knows about crossfire :) I think I'm going to cut a hole in the bottom of the case and also buy an Antec Spotcool. TBH Im more intrested in video editing at the moment so any money is going towards a quad core, and an SSD system disk and I also want a Sony Reader and and and...... you know what its like :)
I'm wondering if a Spot Cool might be enough to get the air flowing, maybe I wont need to hack my case.

P.S. Any cheap purse deals? My wife needs one :)

Reply to Biggayal
jared51182   09-21-2009 at 06:53:30 PM
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ha, sorry no, she sent them off to fashionphile (i think) its a website that buys/sells used purses, and has a comprehensive forum for purses, just like Tom's is for Computers - you should recommend it to her. Anyway, they just cut my wife a check, removed the hassle of trying to sell them separately.

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