HOT new system - too hot!!! :-(

[tamati]

Hi all I have a brand new system i7 3770k (stock) HD100i CPU cooler, 32 GB RAM, Asus P8Z77-V LK motherboard, 2 x Asus GTX680-DC2O-2GD5 graphics cards and a 1200W Silent Pro Gold PSU installed in a Cosair C70 Vengence case. Problem is my graphics cards are running HOT, at idle the lower cards is reading 35 degrees Celsius but the top card is reading 60 degrees - with no load and the card fan at 30%!!! When I start up BF3 the top card peaks to 95 degrees and the fan goes to 100% and is ridculously loud - the wife is not happy. In hindsight I should have specified a higher spec case but any ideas on how to bring that card temp down and also get the noise under control? Room temperature is about 26 degrees.

 

[son1c]

Sounds to me as if there's a problem with one of your cards, I have two and maximum there is 10 degrees between the two even under load.
Have you tried swapping them round and see if the "hot" card still stays hot?

 

[blackjackedy]

How much of a gap for airflow is there between the cards? The top card may be starved of air

 

[tamati]

Thanks Son1c will try swapping them to see if there is a difference.
Good point on the gap Blackjackedy - there is none as the motherboard doesnt have enough slots to allow a gap. Just noticed on the Asus site they say
"To have the best cooling performance, ASUS GTX680-DC2O-2GD5 extends the fansink to 2.5 slots. Please double check you Chassis and Motherboard dimension prior to purchase to make sure it fits in your system!"
Damn - wish my retailer could have advised me better on this.
Also noticed that the fans on the Corsair CPU cooler seem to be mounted in opposite directions - one pulling cool air across the radiator into the case the the other pushing hot air out of the case but also through the radiator - heating the radiator instead of cooling??? Possible another fail there... I guessing both pushing cool air in (top case mount) would be the best and might also dump some extra air across the cards...

 

[s3anister]

Ok I'm just a little bit here trying to decipher you posts. From what it sounds like it's poor airflow. What you might want to try doing is putting a shim between the end of the two cards to open up a little space for air to make it to the blower on the top card.

Furthermore, if you want to reduce the temps of your GPU you should actually have both fans on your Corsair H100i be mounted to "exhaust" hot air out of your case. Yes your CPU temps will go up a little bit but your GPU temps should go down a little as well. If you have the fans on the CPU radiator set to "intake" you'll be blowing hot CPU air into your case further heating your GPUs.

Also, anything over 90C is usually considered a shut-down temperature for most people. Get your situation figured out ASAP before your melt your top GPU.

 

[tamati]

Thanks s3anister, I will try that. I might also look at making a custom mount for a side mounted fan that will blow fresh air directly onto the card. I could also look at rigging some heat sinks to the card as well...

 

[TomsHardwareUser25]

Get a motherboard where the distance between the first graphics card and the second is exceptionally large. A bigger case is always better for disepating heat and getting cold air in.

On top of that, place your input fans (fans that suck INTO your case) from the bottom and from the bottom side, and the output fan at the top (unless that's where your PSU is). This way, the fresh air gets sucking into your GPU and exhaled through it, and the remaining get blown out at the top.

I managed to lower my GPU's idle temperature from 32 C to a mind bogglingly 18 C by simply placing one poor quality fan at the bottom of the case, blowing inwards.

Good luck.

 

[s3anister]

Thanks s3anister, I will try that. I might also look at making a custom mount for a side mounted fan that will blow fresh air directly onto the card. I could also look at rigging some heat sinks to the card as well...

Unless you sink another $90 into a good aftermarket cooling solution for the GPU, any extra heat sinks are going to be useless and unnecessary. Put a shim between the cards so the top one can breathe, if this doesn't solve your problem then the stock heat sink wasn't mounted properly at the factory or you have a defective card. In any event, a side fan is a good idea; just make sure to get a decent case fan otherwise you could very easily end up with a fan that doesn't actually move a lot of air and/or is noisy.

EDIT: If you wanted to go all out, you could look into getting water blocks for your GPUs and setting up a water loop for your graphics cards. It's a lot of money and work but it's definitely worth the time and money, IMO. You get significantly better temps and the water blocks only use one slot so you wouldn't have cards that touch each other.

 

[tamati]

Thanks all for your help - I solved the problem by wedging a drywall plug between the cards to open an airspace (thanks s3anister!) and mounting a fan on the bottom to pull cool air in and exit out the top through the CPU radiator. Temperature difference is now 10 degrees between the cards at both idle and load with it leveling off at 83 degrees while running furmark (still a little noisy with the fan at 67%). My supplier is still sourcing a new motherboard that has a wider gap between the cards but if that doesn't pan out I can live with this. Thanks again