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Going SLI: Using Reference Cards Superior?

BigDay
By BigDay
in Graphics Cards
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If one were to setup their rig with their GPU's in 2-way SLI, would it be better to use the reference design cards so that the air blows out of the back of the PC instead of using the non-reference design cards where the hot air would get sandwiched between the cards? I'm concerned about the bottom card getting too hot. I've seen this far too often

 

How do the reference design cards perform relative to their non-reference design peers?

BigDay

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Depends on what motherboard you have.

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Well, it depends, if you wanna share some heat from the graphics cards then go for a open blower, of you done, go for a rear exhaust.

Personally I have two 980 Ti in SLI with reference design, they work great together. It's really your choice.

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If one were to setup their rig with their GPU's in 2-way SLI, would it be better to use the reference design cards so that the air blows out of the back of the PC instead of using the non-reference design cards where the hot air would get sandwiched between the cards? I'm concerned about the bottom card getting too hot. I've seen this far too often

 

How do the reference design cards perform relative to their non-reference design peers?

 

 

If that doesn't help, personally I would go reference so that the bottom card isn't blowing it's heat into the top card. Just my opinion though, and I've never had more than one card so not an expert.

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From my experience it depends a bit on card placement If you have 4 pci-e slots and you're running cards in say slot 1 and 3 with an open slot between them either style runs pretty comparably. If they're running tight together you're usually better off with blower cards.

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From my experience it depends a bit on card placement If you have 4 pci-e slots and you're running cards in say slot 1 and 3 with an open slot between them either style runs pretty comparably. If they're running tight together you're usually better off with blower cards.

What he said. If they are right next to each other with little air gap, get reference designs. If there is some space it doesnt really matter. 

 

I had 2 EVGA non-reference 970's right next to each other. The top card got much hotter than the bottom card. Like 15C hotter under load. I also had very good ventilation.

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I have 2 asus 780ti's in sli and the top card is the one that was dyeing. I had 1 pcie slot between them and the top card was shutting down the computer due to overheating while the bottom one wasn't breaking 60C. I had every possible fan slot in my case filled trying to get air to it and no luck. I had to get an aio and mount it to the top card. The bottom one now acts normally, hitting about 75C in demanding games while the top one hovers around 40-45C. 

 

I can't say reference over non reference but its your top card thats gonna throttle, not the bottom one.

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