Best SLI Air Cooling?

[Mr.Beavis]

Hi Guys,

so my question is:

I am planning to run a SLI setup in my future build. 2x GTX 780. But i'm wondering what air cooling solution is ideal. Stock or custom cooler like the ACX cooler from EVGA.
Is it posible that a custom cooler could be worse than a stock cooler for SLI since the hot air doesnt blow out of the case?

English is not my motherlanguage, so sorry for that

greets

[Helltech]

Neither are very good for SLI/CF really, you need a good case with good airflow. I would still go with non-reference cards.  

[Cacao]

Custom coolers will cool your card better but will heat up your case a bit more (as you said), however as long as you have good airflow in your case you'll be fine. 

[rustikles]

As long as you have a good airflow pattern (in the front, out the top or something like that) with positive pressure in the case, whether it's a blower type cooler or no shouldn't matter. Have you considered a water cooling solution or is that out of your budget? The more hardware you pack in one space, the less effective air cooling is going to be without adding more fans.

[Mr.Beavis]

Jeez, thx for that quick respondses, awesome forum

To give u more details from my build:

Case:
Fractal Define XL R2
or
NZXT Phantom 820
(other suggestions are welcomed)

CPU cooler will be a Corsair H110

I will not go for water cooling for the Graphics cards.

[Yun4xGaming]

Jeez, thx for that quick respondses, awesome forum

To give u more details from my build:

Case:

Fractal Define XL R2

or

NZXT Phantom 820

(other suggestions are welcomed)

CPU cooler will be a Corsair H110

I will not go for water cooling for the Graphics cards.

Maybe you could take the Corsair Carbide Air 540 and buy 3x Bitfenix Spectre Pro 120mm/Cougar Dual-X 120mm as Front Intake. and use the 2x 140mm that came with on your h110?

[WoodenMarker]

Any dual or triple fan coolers would be good. Just get the cheapest one.

[ShiverMePenguins]

Maybe you could take the Corsair Carbide Air 540 and buy 3x Bitfenix Spectre Pro 120mm/Cougar Dual-X 120mm as Front Intake. and use the 2x 140mm that came with on your h110?

or better yet, yateloon fans or nb e-loops.... you know, fans that are actually good. hell, even noctua fans are better than bitfenix super louds.

[Yun4xGaming]

or better yet, yateloon fans or nb e-loops.... you know, fans that are actually good. hell, even noctua fans are better than bitfenix super louds.

the 120mm bitfenix spectre pro's are loud? i don't own them i only saw video, what about the Cougar Dual-X, ive watched videos where it is really quiet

[ShiverMePenguins]

the 120mm bitfenix spectre pro's are loud? i don't own them i only saw video, what about the Cougar Dual-X, ive watched videos where it is really quiet

ennnhhhhh. youtube is bad.

 

 

trust me, the cougars and bitfenix pro's are loud. to be honest, most fans out on the market are bad.

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoS5JlAslu0xvKRkxMO3Bkg

 

is the best reviewer for cooling i've seen yet. his website is in italian so you have to be able to read italian... or use google translate.

[SuperPug]

the 780's stock cooler is pretty good as is. best way to keep the cards cool is to not place them in the slots which are directly next to each other. if thats possible on your mobo...

[WorldDominator]

Hi Guys,

so my question is:

I am planning to run a SLI setup in my future build. 2x GTX 780. But i'm wondering what air cooling solution is ideal. Stock or custom cooler like the ACX cooler from EVGA.

Is it posible that a custom cooler could be worse than a stock cooler for SLI since the hot air doesnt blow out of the case?

English is not my motherlanguage, so sorry for that

greets

 

Give me one 780…then you only need to worry about your single 780. Problem solved.

[eshbop]

TBH I think the issue of GPU coolers that dump heat into your case is a little over stated. If you set fan curves to ramp up when they the CPU/GPU is under load (you're playing a game so fan noise should be an issue) air moves through the case pretty quickly, the CPU and GPU/s will be a little hotter (5 degrees max, even on low fan speeds, I've tested it), but even then who really cares, it doesn't matter too much.

I'd get the after market cards, they'll still run cooler which will allow GPU Boost 2 to work it's magic to a greater degree.

[R4STABAN]

How many people recommending after-market coolers in SLI/xfire have actually used a configuration like that?  :rolleyes: 

[airdeano]

How many people recommending after-market coolers in SLI/xfire have actually used a configuration like that?  :rolleyes:

 

usually zero..

 

airdeano

[R4STABAN]

usually zero..

 

airdeano

 

Something I've noticed is that this forum is rife with people giving rubbish advice based on what they've read, rather than what they've tried/done.

[Assassin]

Get the Asus DCU II they work really well.

[Mr.Beavis]

Thanks guys.
So as long as my case air flow is alright, SLI with custom coolers should be all right, right?

And:
Isnt a side case fan almost essential for SLI, like intake for stock cooler and exhausting for custom cooler?

[trevorsom13]

Thanks guys.

So as long as my case air flow is alright, SLI with custom coolers should be all right, right?

And:

Isnt a side case fan almost essential for SLI, like intake for stock cooler and exhausting for custom cooler?

I use crossfire and I use the side fan for intake.

[Shindo]

I heard the HAF X has great airflow and is a fairly inexpensive case. Pair those with Direct CU 2's and you're all set brother.  

[Hoppa]

If your cards have no space between them, then I would't really recommend any sort of air cooling, because the 1st graphics card will be starved of air and you will notice very high temperatures on that card.

If you're going to have at least a single slot open in between each card, then I would recommend a custom air cooler like Gigabyte or Asus.

 

With my setup, I am using the Gigabyte coolers to exhaust the cards air out the top of my case.  

[Lays]

If you have a mobo that supports 4 way SLI, get 2 non reference and put 1 in slot 1 and 1 in slot 3 or 4, I did this and it dropped my top card's temp quite a bit.  Slot 1+2 isn't that great, the top gpu ends up being like 20 degrees hotter because it's starved for air

[totjup5]

I'm currently using two reference 660 ti's and i'm very happy with the performance. The temps in the rest of my case barely changed when i added the second card.

 

top card runs at about 29c at idle bottom 26c load temps never exceed 65

[Shindo]

If you have a mobo that supports 4 way SLI, get 2 non reference and put 1 in slot 1 and 1 in slot 3 or 4, I did this and it dropped my top card's temp quite a bit.  Slot 1+2 isn't that great, the top gpu ends up being like 20 degrees hotter because it's starved for air

if you do this can you fit in a soundcard between them?

[Lays]

if you do this can you fit in a soundcard between them?

 

 

Yeah here's a picture of what mine looks like atm.

 

 

I've changed cases and now I'm curious if I can put the second card in slot 4 and the phoebus in slot 3, but idk if front panel stuff will get in the way :q