Should I be able to run two GTX 580 SOCs in SLI in a high-end high-performance case with stock fans?

[GuruMeditationError]

I'm really confused by the results I'm getting from my two GTX 580 SOCs I've got in SLI.

 

EDIT:

The Gigabyte GTX 580 SOC has a button on the underside of the card marked "Extreme" which if pressed, switches the card from the main Bios to "one that is tailored to work around the GF110’s cold bug when under [liquid nitrogen]"...

 

...who knew? 

 

And yes, it seems this button, somewhere along the line had gotten pressed.   :rolleyes:

 

 

They're built for SLI and lots of the sellers I've seen on ebay have been listing them as having been running really well in SLI but mine are running so hot I'm using a total of eight 140mm performance fans just to get the temperatures to stabilise in the low 80 degrees Celsius.

 

The guy I got the hotter of the two cards from tells me he's been running them with no problem in a high-end case with stock fans but this just seems physically impossible to me.

 

Could it be a problem with my motherboard that's causing my GPU cards to overheat? Shouldn't I be able to run these within normal parameters?

[Ivyk]

80C is fine.

[Izaya Orihara]

No it's Fermi. It's normal. Also why do you have a 580 SLI? 

[lani100]

Are the cards close together or is there a free slot inbetween?

[Cubit481]

Which case r u talking about...??

[GuruMeditationError]

80C is fine.

 

&

 

No it's Fermi. It's normal. Also why do you have a 580 SLI? 

 

But I'm generating 208.8 decibels of sound and moving 884.88 cubic feet of air per minute at a combined pressure of 24.96 mm H20 to achieve that eighty degree stability (eight high-performance 140mm fans running at full speed). 

 

Also, I've got the 580s for the value in terms of cost to performance.

 

Are the cards close together or is there a free slot inbetween?

 

No, unfortunately they're right up against each other.

 

Could it be something wrong with my motherboard's circuitry etc. that's causing them to overheat? The guy I bought the hottest one from assures me he ran it in SLI with stock fans with absolutely no problems but this thing looks like it could have been really thrashed under water-cooling and so is producing heat that can't be controlled with air.

 

 

Which case r u talking about...??

 

 

I've got them in an Antec 1200 with all the plastic drive bays and bay mounts ripped out and no filters for better airflow. I've got two banks of three high-performance fans on either side of the (completely empty) HDD enclousure extracting air through the front of the case. I've got another two 140mm high-performance fans in the side-panel blowing air directly onto the cards. That's a total of eight high-performance 140mm fans running at full speed.

 

He told me he had them in a Thermaltake Level 12 GT with stock fans and had no problem with overheating.

 

Could it be something to do with my motherboard overheating them or is this guy just screwing me around?

[lani100]

&

 

 

But I'm generating 208.8 decibels of sound and moving 884.88 cubic feet of air per second at a combined pressure of 24.96 mm H20 to achieve that eighty degree stability (eight high-performance 140mm fans running at full speed). 

 

Also, I've got them for the value in terms of cost to performance.

 

 

No, unfortunately they're right up against each other.

 

Could it be something wrong with my motherboard's circuitry etc. that's causing them to overheat? The guy I bought the hottest one from assures me he ran it in SLI with stock fans with absolutely no problems but this thing looks like it could have been really thrashed under water-cooling and so is producing heat that can't be controlled with air.

 

 

 

 

I've got them in an Antec 1200 with all the plastic drive bays and bay mounts ripped out and no filters for better airflow. I've got two banks of three high-performance fans on either side of the (completely empty) HDD enclousure extracting air through the front of the case. I've got another two 140mm high performance fans in the side-panel blowing air directly onto the cards. That's a total of eight high performance 140mm fans running at full speed.

 

He told me he had them in a Thermaltake Level 12 GT with stock fans and had no problem with overheating.

 

Could it be something to do with my motherboard overheating them or is this guy just screwing me around?

If they are close together there isn't much what you can do about it.

[Izaya Orihara]

 

 

 

But I'm generating 208.8 decibels of sound and moving 884.88 cubic feet of air per second at a combined pressure of 24.96 mm H20 to achieve that eighty degree stability (eight high-performance 140mm fans running at full speed). 

 

That is not how noise measuring works. If you have a fan that out puts 20 decible of noise and you add the same fan to it you are at 30 db not at 40. To put that into perspective 208 db would be 64 times as loud as a yet engine from 30 meter/ 90 feet away. You would die. 

[Lord Pantaloons]

 

 

No, unfortunately they're right up against each other.

^This is why, there's no space between the cards so it doesn't matter how much air you throw at them because they can't get any of it. You're making a bunch of noise for no reason, high temps when a pair of cards are sandwiched together is a fact of life, it's made worse by the fact that they're Fermi cards, you can try getting one of the many Arctic Accelero aftermarket coolers as they are open designs with big heatsinks that will be able to breathe even when squished up next to another card.

 

btw if you were generating 208 db of sound you're head would have exploded, that's more than a Boeing 747 going at full tilt.

[GuruMeditationError]

If they are close together there isn't much what you can do about it.

That is not how noise measuring works. If you have a fan that out puts 20 decible of noise and you add the same fan to it you are at 30 db not at 40. To put that into perspective 208 db would be 64 times as loud as a yet engine from 30 meter/ 90 feet away. You would die. 

^This is why, there's no space between the cards so it doesn't matter how much air you throw at them because they can't get any of it. You're making a bunch of noise for no reason, high temps when a pair of cards are sandwiched together is a fact of life, it's made worse by the fact that they're Fermi cards, you can try getting one of the many Arctic Accelero aftermarket coolers as they are open designs with big heatsinks that will be able to breathe even when squished up next to another card.

 

btw if you were generating 208 db of sound you're head would have exploded, that's more than a Boeing 747 going at full tilt.

 

Yeah, okay, :wacko:  I meant dB(a), and yes I know it doesn't scale that way  , I'm just trying to emphasise just how much cooling I'm using for these things, so that you guys can get some kind of perspective on the situation with my rig. (also...I also made the mistake of originally writing "cubic feet per second" (but no one spotted it) which really would have been a jet engine)   

 

So, basically, if the cards are that close together there's nothing I can do? I did email the guy to find out what spacing he had between the cards but he's not responded yet.

 

Also, I have an Accelero Hybrid II on it's way to me, I just really really want clarification as to what's going on with these cards. The guy I bought the hottest one from said he was running it in SLI with stock fans with no problems, should I just assume he's not telling me the truth and move on?  

 

EDIT:

The Gigabyte GTX 580 SOC has a button on the underside of the card marked "Extreme" which if pressed, switches the card from the main Bios to "one that is tailored to work around the GF110’s cold bug when under [liquid nitrogen]"...

 

...who knew? 

 

And yes, it seems this button, somewhere along the line had gotten pressed.   :rolleyes:

 

[Lord Pantaloons]

Yeah, okay, :wacko:  I meant dB(a), and yes I know it doesn't scale that way  , I'm just trying to emphasise just how much cooling I'm using for these things, so that you guys can get some kind of perspective on the situation with my rig.

 

So, basically, if the cards are that close together there's nothing I can do? I did email the guy to find out what spacing he had between the cards but he's not responded yet.

 

Also, I have an Accelero Hybrid II on it's way to me, I just really really want clarification as to what's going on with these cards. The guy I bought the hottest one from said he was running it in SLI with stock fans with no problems, should I just assume he's not telling me the truth and move on?  

The lowest acceptable spacing between a pair of cards is a single slot width, ideally you want two slots of space between cards but one slot is ok. I have a pair of 760's a single slot apart with x2 intake fans and x1 exhaust running on custom low speed profiles and I only see more than 70c when the temperature in my room is higher than normal.

[GuruMeditationError]

The lowest acceptable spacing between a pair of cards is a single slot width, ideally you want two slots of space between cards but one slot is ok. I have a pair of 760's a single slot apart with x2 intake fans and x1 exhaust running on custom low speed profiles and I only see more than 70c when the temperature in my room is higher than normal.

 

Cheers, it's just that I've had these two cards spaced two slots apart with the hottest one in the x8 PCIe slot to try and hobble its performance and reduce the heat generated and I just got more or less the same result, only over a slightly longer time-frame. :0/

 

I'm not sure if I should just assume the guy I bought the card from isn't telling me the truth, or if it could be something to do with the other components. I ran some searches online and found posts by people who've had their GPU's report 30 degree higher temps just by changing motherboards. I don't think it's just a reporting error with these however since the volume of heat coming off of them is massive.

 

EDIT:

The Gigabyte GTX 580 SOC has a button on the underside of the card marked "Extreme" which if pressed, switches the card from the main Bios to "one that is tailored to work around the GF110’s cold bug when under [liquid nitrogen]"...

 

...who knew? 

 

And yes, it seems this button, somewhere along the line had gotten pressed.   :rolleyes:

 

[qwertywarrior]

 how much did you buy both of them for ?

and when did you buy them ?

[lani100]

Yeah, okay, :wacko:  I meant dB(a), and yes I know it doesn't scale that way  , I'm just trying to emphasise just how much cooling I'm using for these things, so that you guys can get some kind of perspective on the situation with my rig. (also...I also made the mistake of originally writing "cubic feet per second" (but no one spotted it) which really would have been a jet engine)   

 

So, basically, if the cards are that close together there's nothing I can do? I did email the guy to find out what spacing he had between the cards but he's not responded yet.

 

Also, I have an Accelero Hybrid II on it's way to me, I just really really want clarification as to what's going on with these cards. The guy I bought the hottest one from said he was running it in SLI with stock fans with no problems, should I just assume he's not telling me the truth and move on?  

If you are running sli it is adviced that you use a motherboard that has space between the pci slots

[Lord Pantaloons]

Cheers, it's just that I've had these two cards spaced two slots apart with the hottest one in the x8 PCIe slot to try and hobble its performance and reduce the heat generated and I just got more or less the same result, only over a slightly longer time-frame. :0/

 

I'm not sure if I should just assume the guy I bought the card from isn't telling me the truth, or if it could be something to do with the other components. I ran some searches online and found posts by people who've had their GPU's report 30 degree higher temps just by changing motherboards. I don't think it's just a reporting error with these however since the volume of heat coming off of them is massive.

A 580 can't even max out a x4 slot, running it in an x8 slot will have no effect on performance, the only effect a motherboard can have on GPU temps is with the spacing of the GPU's.

[KamiKatze]

I am running a single 580 to pass the time until Maxwell releases.

 

I have the stock cooler with Point of View branding. I de-dusted it when i bought it off ebay for 120€, 1 month ago. It runs 75 °C in games and 80-83 °C in valley Extreme HD preset.

 

I left the voltage at stock (1 V) and OC'ed a little. I don't remember the clocks, i am not at my PC. It was 7.5% OC.

 

My fan curve is relativeley agressive. It's flat until 55 °C and then goes straight up to 85 °C (100%).

 

I have a Fractal Design Define R4 with 2 140 mm fans in the front and 1 140 mm in the back.

 

hope this helped, though i don't have SLI.

[GuruMeditationError]

@ Thanks, that is helpful, it sounds like the kinds of results I'm seeing. I think the speed of heat production and/or amount of heat being produced is just overwhelming my ventilation. The thing is the 580 SOCs are supposed to run cooler than stock but they do have an open heatsink for quieter running rather than a closed-cowl design for extraction through the rear of the case.

 

EDIT:

The Gigabyte GTX 580 SOC has a button on the underside of the card marked "Extreme" which if pressed, switches the card from the main Bios to "one that is tailored to work around the GF110’s cold bug when under [liquid nitrogen]"...

 

...who knew? 

 

And yes, it seems this button, somewhere along the line had gotten pressed.   :rolleyes:

 

 

 

Also, I just had a feeling Valley would be pushing them a little harder than regular gameplay. It might be interesting to see what a game would do to these cards (believe it or not I've spent so much time building the thing I've not actually bought any games for it).

 

 how much did you buy both of them for ?

and when did you buy them ?

 

£130 each on ebay (the current going rate). I bought them both more or less within the last thirty days.

 

Edit: Actually, that's not entirely true. If I wasn't in the market there's a greater chance they'd sell for less, I just wanted them sooner rather than later and it cost me.

 

If you are running sli it is adviced that you use a motherboard that has space between the pci slots

 

Thanks, :0)

 

I have run these separated by two slots (one in the top x15 slot and one in the x8 slot) but with similar results.

 

A 580 can't even max out a x4 slot, running it in an x8 slot will have no effect on performance, the only effect a motherboard can have on GPU temps is with the spacing of the GPU's.

 

Is that true? So I can run them two slots apart with one in the x8 slot and not affect their performance?

[Lord Pantaloons]

 

 

Is that true? So I can run them two slots apart with one in the x8 slot and not affect their performance?

Yes it will be fine, the only reason Nvidia requires a minimum of x8 is because: Nvidia

[GuruMeditationError]

Yes it will be fine, the only reason Nvidia requires a minimum of x8 is because: Nvidia

 

Awesome!! So I can have the cards two spaces apart and potentially put a closed-loop cooler on each!

 

Dude!

[KamiKatze]

@ Thanks, that is helpful, it sounds like the kinds of results I'm seeing. I think the speed of heat production and/or amount of heat being produced is just overwhelming my ventilation. The thing is the 580 SOCs are supposed to run cooler than stock but they do have an open heatsink for quieter running rather than a closed-cowl design for extraction through the rear of the case.

 

Also, I just had a feeling Valley would be pushing them a little harder than regular gameplay. It might be interesting to see what a game would do to these cards (believe it or not I've spent so much time building the thing I've not actually bought any games for it).

 

Yes. The gigabyte cooler is actually very strong. I'd expect more of it. What's your fan curve? valley is pushing the card a lot more than games, that's for sure. I don't think your cooling is overwhelmed withthat many case fans. I also have a small fan setup in a dampened case. Ofc my card is blower style but nontheless...

 

I'd say your temps are a tad high, you should try different fan curves on the cards. I am at my PC again, so i attached my 'curve'.

 

 

Awesome!! So I can have the cards two spaces apart and potentially put a closed-loop cooler on each!

 

Dude!

 

Make sure to buy a closed loop cooler with correct drillings for future cards.

 

I also want to put a Prolimatech MK-26 black edition on my card but i am waiting for Maxwell, so i can make sure the Prolimatech is compatible with the Maxwell card that i wanna get.

[GuruMeditationError]

Yes. The gigabyte cooler is actually very strong. I'd expect more of it. What's your fan curve? valley is pushing the card a lot more than games, that's for sure. I don't think your cooling is overwhelmed withthat many case fans. I also have a small fan setup in a dampened case. Ofc my card is blower style but nontheless...

 

I'd say your temps are a tad high, you should try different fan curves on the cards. I am at my PC again, so i attached my 'curve'.

 

 

 

Make sure to buy a closed loop cooler with correct drillings for future cards.

 

I also want to put a Prolimatech MK-26 black edition on my card but i am waiting for Maxwell, so i can make sure the Prolimatech is compatible with the Maxwell card that i wanna get.

 

The Accelero Hybrid II is the only dedicated closed-loop GPU cooler I know of and it fits cards all the way up to the Titan so hopefully it should at least last me a while. I guess with NZXT G10s you can swap out either bracket or cooler depending on which needs changing, but assuming pumps only last four years (I'm not sure if that's correct it's just something I read online) the Hybrid II is probably a more cost-effective purchase for economy ahead of performance since who knows what the future will bring in terms of water-cooling etc. (I'm not sure that potential extra performance or the theoretical future-proofing would justify the extra expense of upgrading to NZXT G10 etc., but I guess that depends on the extra performance you could get with them fitted).

 

That Prolimatech MK-26 looks pretty crazy. Obviously wouldn't do for my SLI but even so. What made you choose that over a water-cooling solution?

 

Also, I'm pretty sure the guy I got that hot card from must have over-clocked the hell out of it under water-cooling and reduced its efficiency. It's hotter than the other when idling and increasing that percentage overheat volumetrically through putting load onto the card could cause significant heating problems (like trying to put a stock cooler back on a CPU that's been severely over-clocked).

 

EDIT:

The Gigabyte GTX 580 SOC has a button on the underside of the card marked "Extreme" which if pressed, switches the card from the main Bios to "one that is tailored to work around the GF110’s cold bug when under [liquid nitrogen]"...

 

...who knew? 

 

And yes, it seems this button, somewhere along the line had gotten pressed.   :rolleyes:

 

 

Would changing the fan curve actually keep the temperatures under control? i.e. If the fans ramped up quicker could they stop the build-up of heat? I'm not sure how that might work, or how to change the curve. MSI Afterburner just shows the heat steadily rising with GPU fans at 100% and no sign of stabilising without the extra three 140mm performance fans and all the fans turned all the way up (without the second 580 the temperatures remain stable with just five of the fans on their lowest possible settings).

[KamiKatze]

The Accelero Hybrid II is the only dedicated closed-loop GPU cooler I know of and it fits cards all the way up to the Titan so hopefully it should at least last me a while. I guess with NZXT G10s you can swap out either bracket or cooler depending on which needs changing, but assuming pumps only last four years (I'm not sure if that's correct it's just something I read online) the Hybrid II is probably a more cost-effective purchase for economy ahead of performance since who knows what the future will bring in terms of water-cooling etc. (I'm not sure that potential extra performance or the theoretical future-proofing would justify the extra expense of upgrading to NZXT G10 etc., but I guess that depends on the extra performance you could get with them fitted).

 

That Prolimatech MK-26 looks pretty crazy. Obviously wouldn't do for my SLI but even so. What made you choose that over a water-cooling solution?

 

Also, I'm pretty sure the guy I got that hot card from must have over-clocked the hell out of it under water-cooling and reduced its efficiency. It's hotter than the other when idling and increasing that percentage overheat volumetrically through putting load onto the card could cause significant heating problems (like trying to put a stock cooler back on a CPU that's been severely over-clocked).

 

Would changing the fan curve actually keep the temperatures under control? i.e. If the fans ramped up quicker could they stop the build-up of heat? I'm not sure how that might work, or how to change the curve. MSI Afterburner just shows the heat steadily rising with GPU fans at 100% and no sign of stabilising without the extra three 140mm performance fans and all the fans turned all the way up (without the second 580 the temperatures remain stable with just five of the fans on their lowest possible settings).

 

I thought about the Kraken G10 aswell but i like air cooling more. I had bad experience with a swiftech H220 and i wan't to keep it simple. Water cooling adds unnecessary noise to a system like mine. My case ventilation is adequate for a single GPU setup and could handle a top tier GTX + Proli MK 26 well.

 

Maybe the guy who owned it before, mounted the stock cooler badly (thermal paste and pads, uneven mounting).

 

A good fan curve is key imo. With my previous cards i had flat fan curves that would gradually rise til 85 °C. With the stock cooler on mine i have to do a stronger approach to keep the thermals low. It really depends on the cooler. The Gigabyte Windforce is one of the best (at least my 280X was). It's a balance between noise and  temperatures... For MSI AB to work, you may have to start it with windows in the background, to apply the fan curve propperly (there's an options for that). Afaik, you can set different fan curves for every GPU in your system, so it should actually be pretty handy.

[GuruMeditationError]

I know what you mean. Before the last recession I used to build my P.C.s as silently as possible, basically because I liked tinkering with them but couldn't afford to over-clock. Now O.C.ing and more powerful components are becoming more accessible to me I'm looking more at efficiency than silence but I totally understand the elegance of a silent P.C. The first time I got my P.C. configured so that all I could hear were my hard drives it was a moment of Zen.

 

I'll take a look at the fan curves and see what I can do with them. Unfortunately, right now it's in pieces again as I've taken it apart to re-fit a few things so it's probably not going to be up and running again until next week.  :wacko:

 

It hadn't occurred to me that it could be the fan not keeping up with the temperature increase. The guy I got it from did have a 200mm fan in his side-panel but I can't imagine that'd be much better than two 140mm fans at full speed but then again who knows? I've only got his word to go by that it's ever even been run SLI before now :0/

 

EDIT:

The Gigabyte GTX 580 SOC has a button on the underside of the card marked "Extreme" which if pressed, switches the card from the main Bios to "one that is tailored to work around the GF110’s cold bug when under [liquid nitrogen]"...

 

...who knew? 

 

And yes, it seems this button, somewhere along the line had gotten pressed.   :rolleyes:

 

[airdeano]

I know what you mean. Before the last recession I used to build my P.C.s as silently as possible, basically because I liked tinkering with them but couldn't afford to over-clock. Now O.C.ing and more powerful components are becoming more accessible to me I'm looking more at efficiency than silence but I totally understand the elegance of a silent P.C. The first time I got my P.C. configured so that all I could hear were my hard drives it was a moment of Zen.

 

I'll take a look at the fan curves and see what I can do with them. Unfortunately, right now it's in pieces again as I've taken it apart to re-fit a few things so it's probably not going to be up and running again until next week.  :wacko:

 

It hadn't occurred to me that it could be the fan not keeping up with the temperature increase. The guy I got it from did have a 200mm fan in his side-panel but I can't imagine that'd be much better than two 140mm fans at full speed but then again who knows? I've only got his word to go by that it's ever even been run SLI before now :0/

 

how much dust build up do you have on the fan?

 

 

since the fan does spin well, there usually is a lot packed into the heat sink under

the shroud. always a good time to re-TIM the GPU and clean all the fuzz-bunnies out.

use a non-conductive TIM like noctua or MX-4.

the top card will always be warmer in SLI, even in water cooling. 

[GuruMeditationError]

It's the Gigabyte SOC version with an open heatsink, so no shroud/cowel. I really don't know what's wrong with it. I want to believe the guy I got it from when he says he wasn't water-cooling it but to be honest it feels to me like it's been thrashed under water-cooling and had its efficiency reduced.

 

Either that or there's some kind of conflict with the motherboard that's causing it to overheat where it might not do so in another machine.

 

EDIT:

The Gigabyte GTX 580 SOC has a button on the underside of the card marked "Extreme" which if pressed, switches the card from the main Bios to "one that is tailored to work around the GF110’s cold bug when under [liquid nitrogen]"...

 

...who knew? 

 

And yes, it seems this button, somewhere along the line had gotten pressed.   :rolleyes: