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Started by jaudain | | 11 answers
gtx 980 sli reference or not ?
Hi guys i am planning on getting 2 gtx 980 to setup in sli the 2 cards are going to be inside a nzxt H630 with 6 noctua NF-A14 and cooling a NH D15 colling the 4790k @4.8.

Now since i have a silence optimized case and airflow is somewhat lacking should i get reference designed cards ? Since they exhaust hot air out of the case or would a non reference still be fine with the extra fans ? Not sure for what i should go for please keep in minf that silence is important for me.

On a last note i will probebly moderately OC them or at least would like too

Give me your thoughts thanks !
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a c 94 Î Nvidia
a c 248 U Graphics card
September 27, 2014 9:26:07 AM

MSI had the best 780 and best 780 Ti and they have the best 970 .... but we'll have to wait and see what turns up.
September 27, 2014 8:08:57 AM

Thanks for the analysis, ill probably get 2 msi cards then i heard that run the coolest while delivering good performance while remaining fairly quiet

Best solution chosen by jaudain

a c 94 Î Nvidia
a c 248 U Graphics card
September 27, 2014 12:36:50 AM

Ryan Souza said:
Yes, you should get reference gpu's. A silence optimized case usually has poor airflow and a gpu that just blows the hot air into the case will heat up everything.


The silence optimized case that he is actually using has way more than enough air flow for two puny 165 watt GFX cards

Cooling System:
Front: 2 x 200 or 2 x 140 or 3 x 120mm (1 x 200mm included)
Top: 2 x 200 or 2 x 140 or 3 x 120mm
Rear: 1 x 140/120mm (1 x 140mm included)
Bottom: 2x 140/120mm
HDD: 2 x 140/120mm

Running Furmark as we speak on two 210 watt 560 Ti non reference cards w/ 26% overclock on 120 Hz monitor .... bottom card is 73C, top card is 74C, all case fans at about 60% of full speed.

His fans are rated at 80 cfm....lets say the each only contribute 45 cfm

45 cfm x 6 fans = 270 cfm ...add another 30 cfm per cad for the GFC cooler thru the rear vent ... that's 330

His case is 2.68 cf

So he is changing out the full volume of air 123 times a minute .... that means that every 0.5 seconds, the air inside the case is completely flushed with cool outside the case ... take half of that even and say it changes once every second.... interior case temps shouldn't be more than 5 - 8 degrees above ambient with those cards....

Two of these cards in SLI is comparable to one 290x. I have done dozens of SLI build and not a one ever had a reference card.

September 26, 2014 9:22:54 PM

jaudain said:
Hi guys i am planning on getting 2 gtx 980 to setup in sli the 2 cards are going to be inside a nzxt H630 with 6 noctua NF-A14 and cooling a NH D15 colling the 4790k @4.8.

Now since i have a silence optimized case and airflow is somewhat lacking should i get reference designed cards ? Since they exhaust hot air out of the case or would a non reference still be fine with the extra fans ? Not sure for what i should go for please keep in minf that silence is important for me.

On a last note i will probebly moderately OC them or at least would like too

Give me your thoughts thanks !



Yes, you should get reference gpu's. A silence optimized case usually has poor airflow and a gpu that just blows the hot air into the case will heat up everything.
September 26, 2014 9:18:45 PM

smackers_12 said:
You might be better off with the reference cards if they are sitting right on top of each other (No slot gap) that a non reference cooler as they need more airflow around them. If they are not sitting on top of each other get the non reference unless you really want the hot air outside your case.


The blower reference styled cooler is waay better for sli. The bottom card would blow warm air to the top card otherwise. Even more so if you overclock.
September 26, 2014 8:54:05 PM

I didnt use any of the stock ones i have 2 front intake, 2 top exhaust ,1 bottom intake and 1 back exhaust. All of them are noctua's NF A14 PWM 140mm i even removed 2 HDD cage so fresh air could travel more easily
a c 94 Î Nvidia
a c 248 U Graphics card
September 26, 2014 8:40:28 PM

You don't have the "option" of spacing cards ..... the MoBos slots are where they are.

The hero however has the cards in 2,3 and 5,6

As for the fans, they added sound dampening material but left plenty of fan mounts.

Front: 2 x 200 or 2 x 140 or 3 x 120mm (1 x 200mm included)
Top: 2 x 200 or 2 x 140 or 3 x 120mm
Rear: 1 x 140/120mm (1 x 140mm included)
Bottom: 2x 140/120mm
HDD: 2 x 140/120mm

September 26, 2014 8:29:19 PM

Thanks for the answers!! I forgot to mention that the MB is a z97 maximus hero and i i just bought all of the stated parts above the case is the H630 which is a silence optimized case not to confuse with the phantom 630 the H630 has very restricted air flow with only little side air vents hence why i am worrying about hot air inside the case.

I would like to get 2 msi versions eventually and u will probably space them as suggested
a c 94 Î Nvidia
a c 248 U Graphics card
September 26, 2014 8:02:45 PM

MoBo selection is important here... I only uses MoBos witha 3 slot spacing so that there is pace between the cards

Slot 2 - Card 1
Slot 3 - Card 1

Slot 5 - Card 2
Slot 6 - Card 2

You'll also want case that allows the mounting of fan(s) on the back of the HD bays to blow fresh air between the cards.


Finally, for the best performance to nise ratio use the Phanteks fans if you can. In the 1st test they outperform the Noctua AF-15's by 3C while spinning 300 rpm slower. In the 2nd link, they top both the AF-14 and the AF-15

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/phenteks_140/3....
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1345-page7.html

The ones in the 2nd link are 140mm but have 120mm mounting holes.

I have some issues with the 630t ....If ya haven't bought the case yet, , might wanna look at the Luxe

8.9 http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NZXT/Phantom_630/6.h...
9.6 http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Phanteks/Enthoo_Luxe...

99% http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/6574/phanteks-enthoo-l...
86 % http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/5187/nzxt-phantom-630-...

====================================================


I never use reference designs .... the aftermarket designs have Custom PCBs, better / beefier VRMs and better cooling.

Historically MSI has had the quietest coolers.... let's lok at the 780 Ti as a comparison since we don't have data on the 980s yet

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_780_Ti_Gamin...
MSI was 30 dbA under load and got a 9.9 rating

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GTX_780_Ti_Dire...
Asus was 39 dbA under load and got a 9.4 rating

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/GTX_780_Ti_SC_A...
EVGA was 35 dbA under load and got a 9.5 rating

http://www.guru3d.com/index.php?ct=articles&action=file...
Gigabyte was 38 dbA under load ...1 less than the reference card which is the same way TPU scored them

On the 770....all 4 of them came in at the exact same 39dbA
September 26, 2014 7:33:37 PM

You might be better off with the reference cards if they are sitting right on top of each other (No slot gap) that a non reference cooler as they need more airflow around them. If they are not sitting on top of each other get the non reference unless you really want the hot air outside your case.

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