Overheating issue

[keegs_317713]

Hey guys,
I have recently just purchased a MSI TI Hawk to go in SLI with my Gigabyte GTX 560 TI OC (not SOC) and so far have been coming into issues with overheating, i.e I cant play a game for more than 5 minutes on high settings without a graphics card overheating and crashing to my desktop.

I have a few ideas in mind, my first is airflow. I am currently using a Silverstone Raven RV01 as my case, and when I put my hand over the 180 mm fan that is sitting below the graphics cards there is hardly any airflow coming from the fan compared to an identical one on the other side..I have ordered a Silverstone AP181 to hopefully counteract this problem.

Another idea I have is the Gigabyte cards BIOS limits the cards fan speed to 75% and am having trouble determining a way to figure out how to alter this so it runs at 100%, which could help, noise is not an issue.

I have also thought that it could be the clock differences between the two cards (the MSI has a higher stock overclock than the GB card), would that cause one card to have more load than the other?

And as a last resort, I have thought of buying a new 1366 mobo which has more PCI-E lanes so I can spread the two cards apart..but this is only a last resort! haha

But thats what Ive come up with so far, some additional info:
- I have tried SLI in every possible configuration (there are only two lol) and either way it ends up in an overheat, however, the MSI card does not crash until it has reached 100ish degrees, but the GB one crashes at ~85.
- When in SLI there is absolutely no room between the cards for airflow when the MSI card is closest to the CPU, however, they seem to stay cooler when the GB is on the inside, as there is slightly more space.
- I cannot put one of the graphics cards in the third slot on my mobo due to case restrictions

Comp specs:
M/B: ASUS P6X58D-E
CPU: Intel i7 950 @ 4.0Ghz
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Silver Arrow
GPU 1: Gigabyte 560 TI OC
GPU 2: MSI 560 TI Hawk
RAM: 6 GB G-Skill Ripjaws @ 1600MHz
Case: Silverstone Raven RV01
P/S: Coolermaster Silent Pro Gold 1000W

Any help or thoughts are much appreciated!

 

[Rizlla]

First try the fan that you ordered and see if it helps.
One other suggestion I would say is add water cooling to the two cards, but I could cost more that a new MB.
I think your last resort to buying a new MB with more space in the lanes would be your best bet. If the cards are so close there is no real chance of getting proper air flow in between the cards.

 

[keegs_317713]

I have thought about watercooling, but have never really looked into it..A decent watercooling solution could cost me of in excess of 500 right? Please correct me if I am wrong

Also by buying another, better mobo, would that help with CPU overclocking? Currently my CPU is overclocked to 4.0GHz with the VCore at 3.25V..which seems a little high to me comparing it to other people who have the same overclock. If it will that would just about seal the deal for me and Ill get another mobo anyway.

And then out of these three mobos, which would you recommend:
http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?pn=131-GT-E767-TR&family=Motherboard%20Family&series=All%20Motherboards&sw=5
http://www.gigabyte.com.au/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3870#ov
http://www.gigabyte.com.au/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3776#ov

Again sorry for asking so many questions but any help is much appreciated

 

[Rizlla]

I think the Gigabyte GA-X58A-OC would be your best option. I met a guy at a LAN who had this board and he go a pretty good OC and it looked good too.

You could have a look through the articles here on Toms. They have some articles where they compared a few X58 motherboards.

 

[13thCHip]

Your best bet would be to get a CoolerMaster HAF Chassis for 120$

 

[13thCHip]

The SilverStone Raven 01 is a beautiful Chassis and I too have one... but the airflow isnt that great. They rely on heat to rise rather than air to carry away the heat. On the other hand HAF chassis have high airflow to carry away the heat.

Regards
Sinu Chacko