SLI setup on X58A UD3R system

[joejoefla]

Hi everyone,

Sorry in advance if this is in the wrong forum but I'm running into an overheating issue with my new SLI setup.

Equipment:
2x Zotac GTX 460 video cards
1x Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
1x GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX

The first and second 460s are plugged into the first and third PCIe slots. However, the air gap between the two cards is about .5" thick. So I didn't think that would be a problem for overheating because the air exhaust gets shot to the back of the case.

I then proceeded to run Furmark 1.8.2. The one with no air obstruction was maxing out at 77C, not bad, but the first card was topping out at 99C. Luckily the system didn't freeze but I anything running at 99C is not good. When I get home I'll take a picture and upload it.

Before posting I initially did some research and found another person basically getting the same type of issue. He tested each card individually and found out each maxed out at the same temp when only one card was plugged into the motherboard.

Assuming that's the case for my computer, my ultimate question is there anything that can be done to assist with cooling the primary card? I'm thinking of just taking the side off the case and see what that does and maybe cool it off ghetto style with a box fan. :lol:

 

[Helltech]

You should not be getting temps like that with that case. What fans are you using/how do you have htem configured.

 

[joejoefla]

I have 3 in front, 1 on the side, the top fan, and the 2 rear fans running at the same time. I'll try to clean up some of my wires to see if that helps.

 

[Helltech]

What are the configuartions of those fans? All of the front and side fans should be intake, and the top and rear fans should be exhaust.

 

[joejoefla]

I double checked and front and side was intake with the rear and top as exhaust.

To test if it was seriously an airflow issue I opened the side and proceeded to test each card one by one. I put in the first card, stuck a boxfan next to the case , set it on boxfan speed on high and tested my temps with FurMark. I set FurMark to stability test and xtreme burn in mode. The first card maxed at 81C, that's with the box fan blowing ambient air (~25C) on it on high speed. The second card I maxed out at 80C. The second card when idle with the boxfan off is at 38C but I didn't check the first card. I checked the temps with GPUZ 0.4.5 also and it matched what FurMark was reading. I have not OC'd the cards at all. Both are running at stock speeds. I'll put my old GTX 260 and run the same tests to see if that changes anything. I'm running with 258.96 drivers.

I'm sorta stuck now but it appears I might have to RMA the cards and go with another model or another brand.

This is the model I have: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500169

 

[joejoefla]

Update:

I just put the old EVGA GTX 260 back in and the temps max out around 77C. Maybe I'm just seeing smoke and worrying too much. I just was thinking if it's maxing out at 81C for both cards that was being too warm. Maybe 80C is the norm for the card but running at 99C is much to worrisome. Should I RMA or try something else?

There's a x8 PCIe I could install the second card in but the issue is the case won't allow it because it'll only fit a single slot style card.

I guess it's safe to assume the heat rising from the bottom card is getting sucked into the top card, not helping the cooling.