Which 970's to SLI?

[Razzy_85]

Long time reader of the forums, not so much a poster but I am curious....

 

As the title says, I am looking to SLI a pair of 970s but don't know which to get.

I have an air 540 case and just about to order the RoG Hero VII and a few more fans.

Have looked at them all so far and just seen the refrence 970 from Manli. Is refrence design best or is the aftermarket better etc etc?

 

Would rather have lots of opinions and help as i have never done an SLI setup.

 

Thanks all in advance

[lx_srs]

Long time reader of the forums, not so much a poster but I am curious....

 

As the title says, I am looking to SLI a pair of 970s but don't know which to get.

I have an air 540 case and just about to order the RoG Hero VII and a few more fans.

Have looked at them all so far and just seen the refrence 970 from Manli. Is refrence design best or is the aftermarket better etc etc?

 

Would rather have lots of opinions and help as i have never done an SLI setup.

 

Thanks all in advance

If you're putting cards in SLI, go with a reference cooler.  They're better for when there isn't a lot of clearance between cards.

[the crunchiumo]

just go with a single 980 first

[Razzy_85]

out of 3 replys I get 3 different answers

[EcoBoost]

out of 3 replys I get 3 different answers

With SLI it's recommended to get a "reference" cooler, and by this we mean blower coolers that don't output any hot air back into the case, but since there isn't any official "reference" cooler some companies have their own blowers. Two notable ones would be EVGA and PNY

[Razzy_85]

seen the refrence coolers by Manli for the 970 so thinking I will wait for it to hit the uk in november and get 2

[Tacitus]

The reference 970s are pretty crap - they're noisy and don't stay far below 80 degrees as it stands, not to mention appalling build quality unless you pay through the roof for the "titan-style" cooler. Just get two Gigabyte G1s or two MSI 970s, the air 540 will blow plenty of cool air onto them.

[Mick Naughty]

Does you mobo have a slot between the cards? I have a post about comparing the two. But it's the "Titan" style blower. There's a million variables so need a little more info before I can give an opinion.

[MountainDrew]

There is no Titan reference cooler for the 970 and the other blower-style coolers suck.

 

I would just get non-reference designs in SLI instead.

 

I have the Gigabyte 970 cards in SLI and they still don't go over 70C.

[Mick Naughty]

i would just get a ref design 980 and call it good. Run just as cool as anthong else.

[martheus25]

I think you can get a non reference design because there are 2 slots after the first pcie slot. So I think any 2 slot card is good.

Like this hahaha

First pcie x16

Space but no slot

Pcie x1

2nd pcie x16

Pcie x1

So there is a 1 slot clearance for the GPU to breathe.

Correct me if im wrong thats my understanding. Hahah

[Mick Naughty]

I think you can get a non reference design because there are 2 slots after the first pcie slot. So I think any 2 slot card is good.

Like this hahaha

First pcie x16

Space but no slot

Pcie x1

2nd pcie x16

Pcie x1

So there is a 1 slot clearance for the GPU to breathe.

Correct me if im wrong thats my understanding. Hahah

That sound right to me. Just hope these cards are super efficient with heat. My to none ref coolers cooked everything inside my 540. 

[Bhav]

The usual recommendation is lame with these cards.

 

The aftercooled fansink designs still cope much better with lower temps in SLI than the junk blower coolers do.

[Joshua Ondangan]

well go with whatever has a pretty sticker.

 

IMO it's also nice to sli non reference cards so long as you got decent air flow in your case and specially if you use custom water cooling. may be harder to find a block for those but very nice.