Optimal GPU Cooling Solution in a Silverstone FT02/FT05?

[HerEscutcheon]

I've finally decided on a case for my first build; the FT05 in Silverstone's Fortress series. While I'm waiting for a release date, I'll be looking for the perfect components to go inside it. Right now I'm working on the video card. I'm kind of stuck, though, trying to figure out the best cooling solution for a 90 degree rotated motherboard. From what I've gathered from other sites about cooling in the FT02, it's best to have the airflow all going the same direction, which to me suggests a blower style card. I've also heard the argument that the direction of the heatpipes and fin arrays are the most important part, and they should run vertically in a rotated setup.

 

Honestly, I don't know. I'm hoping somebody can point me in the right direction. I just want to keep it cool and quiet, on a light and easy overclock. Which of these would work better?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated! (but explanations are more appreciated than simple answers! )

[SAV1OUR]

its a open case so the duel fan  acx would 

[HerEscutcheon]

its a open case so the duel fan  acx would 

it doesn't make a difference if it's rotated?

[SAV1OUR]

it doesn't make a difference if it's rotated?

what do you mean? 

[HerEscutcheon]

what do you mean? 

I mean if the motherboard and by extension the video card are rotated 90 degrees, the pipes and fins will still cool well enough? I'm just a bit worried after hearing that a gpu heatsink running vertically might not cool as evenly as a horizontally running heatsink.

[SAV1OUR]

I mean if the motherboard and by extension the video card are rotated 90 degrees, the pipes and fins will still cool well enough? I'm just a bit worried after hearing that a gpu heatsink running vertically might not cool as evenly as a horizontally running heatsink.

as in running it upright? i dont think i have ever seen a card run like that but theres no reason it shouldnt be able to 

[HerEscutcheon]

as in running it upright? i dont think i have ever seen a card run like that but theres no reason it shouldnt be able to 

just making sure we're on the same page, I mean like this...

 

And thank you for your input!

[Faa]

I'm by myself a TJ11 owner and you should go with a cooler that doesnt have heatpipes which should be the blowerstyle ones.

ACX cards will run a lot warmer in a case with a 90° rotated mb tray -> http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2204972 & http://en.expreview.com/2010/11/15/90%C2%B0-rotationhow-to-install-heatpipe-cooler/11843.html (physics explanation)

"Apparently this causes big problems with 90 degree rotated cases like the FT02, because after the working fluid condenses into a liquid on the cool side of the heatpipe, it now has to work against gravity to return to the hot side and transfer heat away from the GPU again."

Heatpipes should be horizontal, not vertical.

[onionring]

I'm by myself a TJ11 owner and you should go with a cooler that doesnt have heatpipes which should be the blowerstyle ones.

ACX cards will run a lot warmer in a case with a 90° rotated mb tray -> http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2204972 & http://en.expreview.com/2010/11/15/90%C2%B0-rotationhow-to-install-heatpipe-cooler/11843.html (physics explanation)

"Apparently this causes big problems with 90 degree rotated cases like the FT02, because after the working fluid condenses into a liquid on the cool side of the heatpipe, it now has to work against gravity to return to the hot side and transfer heat away from the GPU again."

Heatpipes should be horizontal, not vertical.

 

except

all cpu coolers use heatpipes, and are horizontal. and yes part of the heatpipes are below the cpu

So yes heatpipes can work while beeing horizontal.

 

Also most gpus now use heatpipes or vapor chambers (that s only a fancy name for rectangular heat pipes) even stock blower designs.

all 770-780-780ti-titan blower design use a vapor chamber for exemple.

So both blower and open design will have them so it s not really a deciding factor.

[Faa]

except all cpu coolers ever use heatpipes, and are horizontal.

So yes heatpipes can work while beeing horizontal.

Horizontal or vertical both will work.

There's no problem with cpu heatsinks with FT02's etc but the problem happens mostly to GPU's because they all use vertical positioned heatpipes. Gravity pulls the liquid down and the hot liquid doesnt move.

[onionring]

Horizontal or vertical both will work.

There's no problem with cpu heatsinks with FT02's etc but the problem happens mostly to GPU's because they all use vertical positioned heatpipes. Gravity pulls the liquid down and the hot liquid doesnt move.

 

Both blower and open design cards use heatpipes/vapor chambers so that point doesn t make any difference between open/blower design.

 

my 6 years old 4870 has some heatpipes on the blower cooler, it s just you can t see them, I m pretty shure they didn t made the design worse over the years.

[Faa]

Both blower and open design cards use heatpipes/vapor chambers so that point doesn t make any difference between open/blower design.

No, blowers don't use heatpipes. I've used 2 780 DC2's before in my TJ11, I couldn't keep the 1st gpu below 87° when mining with both ap's at max speed and the gpu fan speed as well. This reference gets easily to 55° @100% when mining.

[onionring]

No, blowers don't use heatpipes. I've used 2 780 DC2's before in my TJ11, I couldn't keep the 1st gpu below 87° when mining with both ap's at max speed and the gpu fan speed as well. This reference gets easily to 55° @100% when mining.

 

770-780-780ti-titan stock coolers do use a vapor chamber(which is another kind of heatpipe), they not only straight aluminium heatsink.

 

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_780_ti_review,7.html

 

here s a blower card with heatpipes

 

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/technical-differences-between-4870-vs-4890.90149/

 

here s a r9 290 blower cooler again with a vapor chamber(which is another kind of heatpipe)

 

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7481/the-amd-radeon-r9-290-review/2

 

They all do use heatpipe technology

[Faa]

770-780-780ti-titan stock coolers do use a vapor chamber(which is another kind of heatpipe), they not only straight aluminium heatsink.

A vapor chamber is not the same as a heatpipe. 

"Note that most vapor chambers are insensitive to gravity, and will still operate when inverted, with the evaporator above the condenser. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_pipe#Vapor_chamber_or_flat_heat_pipes

Where as heatpipes are sensitive to gravity as being proved above in my earlier post.

The cards you linked, the 780 + the R9 do use a vapor chamber and that 4870/4890 is the only one using heatpipes.

[onionring]

A vapor chamber is not the same as a heatpipe. 

"Note that most vapor chambers are insensitive to gravity, and will still operate when inverted, with the evaporator above the condenser. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_pipe#Vapor_chamber_or_flat_heat_pipes

Where as heatpipes are sensitive to gravity as being proved above in my earlier post.

The cards you linked, the 780 + the R9 do use a vapor chamber and that 4870/4890 is the only one using heatpipes.

 

So vapor chamber or flat heat pipes is the name of the page so they re heatpipes.

 

Now my point was that blower gpus can have heatpipes or vapor chamber in them. Also open design gpu can also use vapor chambers and heatpipes. I was only against the generalization there.

(I have to admit I thought the vapor chamber were as affected by gravity as regular heatpipes)

 

But still, you have to check the specific gpu because you cannot only say this is a blower it has a vapor chamber or straight fins like a 750ti reference cooler

 

In this case the reference 760 use a vapor chamber, while the acx cooler uses regular heatpipes.

[Faa]

But still, you have to check the specific gpu because you cannot only say this is a blower it has a vapor chamber or straight fins like a 750ti reference cooler

Yeah true, I missed this part, well apparently this version uses heatpipes but theyre horizontal so that shouldnt be an issue http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m497/Modzy85/8z5q_zpsf44af181.jpg

ACX has its heatpipes vertical http://www.legitreviews.com/images/reviews/2206/evga-gtx780-acx-cooler.jpg

Anyways it's not like you're going to have that 760 running at 100° but you'd have better temps with the blower one. When you have two blowers (if they exhaust through the back only), theres no temp difference between the 2 cards where as the ACX breathes the warm air from the 2nd gpu so the 1st acx card can run 10-15° warmer. 

[HerEscutcheon]

Okay, so what I'm gathering here is I should go after a card specifically with a vapor chamber, as there are different kinds of blower cards, and I want to avoid heat pipes unless they run horizontally. Thanks guys!

[HerEscutcheon]

Ha! And I discover Linus posted a Fast As Possible on vapor chambers and heat pipes just today. It's almost as if he's... watching us...

[n0mahd]

As someone who owns an FT02. I love this case. The FT05 looks really nice. Kinda like a rotated NZXT H440? Or whatever that case is with the missing cages. Also, the fan controller is improved. Just get a card that blows out the back. Personally, I use an MSI 7590 twin frozr card. The ambient temp is about 28C and at idle the card is 30C. Even maxed out for hours the card only goes up to 50C? Not exactly sure but not enough for me to be concerned. I even have an h100 ghetto mounted to the bottom fans. The temps are nice.