Cooling for GTX580 SLI

[shep66]

Hi,

I have a HAF X case but the size of the Asus GTX580 Direct CUII cards means they're up against each other. They're advertised as 2.5 slot but they actually cover 3 slots each.

Prior to inserting a cropped toothbrush between the cards to force them apart and let some air in, card 1 was going up to 98C under BF3 load (these cards are rated to 97C). The fans on this card were jammed up against the backplate of card 2 (this card is fine, with temps reaching only 63C). I can't move card 2 to slot 3 (the third PCIe slot), as this would block all front panel connectors (power, reset, USB, HD audio, etc). What I need is to ditch the toothbrush and mount some sort of cooler on top of card 1.

Are there any cooling solutions out there - air or water - specifically designed for the Asus GTX580 Direct CUII that would not interfere with card 2? Or does anyone have any innovative ideas?

(I have pictures but can't see a way of inserting them without a URL. Can I embed them in the message?)

Coolermaster HAF X
Coolermaster silent pro gold 1000W
i7-2600k @ 3.4GHz
Arctic Freezer 13 Pro
Asus P8Z68-V Pro
SLI (2-way) Asus GTX580 Direct CUII
8GB Corsair Vengeance CL8
OCZ Vertex Max IOPS 120GB SSD (system)
WD 450GB Velociraptor


Thanks.

 

[robustus64]

build a small water loop and get two water blocks for it tada problem solved. you could cool those cards with a 120x240 rad in the haf case i believe

 

[shep66]

Thanks, although that's beyond my expertise without detailed instructions. I've attached a URL so you can take a look at the set-up. I'd appreciate your thoughts on this.

 

[shep66]

By the way, the pink thing is the toothbrush.

 

[shep66]

Another pic that might be clearer.

 

[hellfire24]

first thing your cables are limiting air flow.put them behind motherboard.
you can also adjust a 12cm fan on your cards.it's a temporary thing but works well.
i'll try to give you some idea.
card 1 ___________________________________

------------------- 12cm fan------------------------

card 2 ___________________________________

 

[shep66]

first thing your cables are limiting air flow.put them behind motherboard.
you can also adjust a [a what?] on your cards.it's a temporary thing but works well.
i'll try to give you some idea.
card 1 ___________________________________

12cm fan

card 2 ___________________________________

There's already a 120mm fan to the right, blowing end-on and between the cards (behind the black cowling). There's also a 200mm case fan blowing directly on top of the cards. The problem is if I remove the toothbrush the cards will be touching again. In that case, I'll need to replace the stock cooler on card 1 with something more efficient but I don't know what that might be.

 

[hellfire24]

removing custom cooler is pain in the but.i was saying some thing like this-
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o139/callsign_vega/SANY0006-3.jpg
or
http://assets.overclock.net.s3.amazonaws.com/8/8d/8dabc60d_vbattach157436.jpeg

a fan between your cards.

 

[shep66]

removing custom cooler is pain in the but.i was saying some thing like this-
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o139/callsign_vega/SANY0006-3.jpg
or
http://assets.overclock.net.s3.amazonaws.com/8/8d/8dabc60d_vbattach157436.jpeg

a fan between your cards.

I see what you mean but I already have two fans blowing between the cards, one from the end and one from above (although not literally sitting right on top like the blue led fan in your picture). If I remove the toothbrush and the cards go back to being pressed up against each other, there is literally no space between them for air to enter, from end-on or above.

Are you suggesting that a fan resting on top of both cards might be able to force some air down between them and into the stock card fans? I have a spare fan but I'm not sure that will be forceful enough to get the air in there.

 

[hellfire24]

no man i telling you to set up the fan so that it blows air between your cards.
i mean something like this-

card 1 ------------------------------------------
card 1 __________________________

-----------------------12cmfan-------------

card 2 ------------------------------------------
card 2 __________________________


fan blowing air between your cards!on your toothbrush!
i hope you understood.

 

[hellfire24]

okay now look at this-
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/823/img1205v.jpg/

 

[striker410]

If I'm not mistaken, Hellfire is recommending something like this: http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/9575/09032012175.jpg See the fan there, sitting on top of the cards? That's pushing air down between the two, pulling heat off the top card.

 

[hellfire24]

^ exactly,thnx man

 

[hellfire24]

^gtx 480 is a powerhouse but also produces a lot of heat

 

[shep66]

If I'm not mistaken, Hellfire is recommending something like this: http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/9575/09032012175.jpg See the fan there, sitting on top of the cards? That's pushing air down between the two, pulling heat off the top card.

Thanks guys; I understood what you were saying. It's probably the only solution, apart from removing the stock cooler and fitting a custom one.

What I was saying is that without the toothbrush wedged in there is no gap, not even 1mm, and I don't want the toothbrush to be a permanent part of my rig. Striker's picture shows a good 1-slot gap between the cards, a luxury I don't have.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[striker410]

Thanks for sharing my rig picture.
These are 2 GTX 480's in SLi.
However i could not handle the noise of that fan so i am now back to single GPU.
But it does work, and dropped from 90+c to 75c on the top card.

No problem! I've been lurking in the gallery for a while. Shoulda sourced the picture to you though, my bad It's just such a sexy rig, how could I not use it as an example?


OP: That's too bad. Unfortunately, that's one of the hurdles involved with triple slot coolers. Let us know what you decide to do.

 

[hellfire24]

nice rig man!