7970s Crossfire Overheat

[NYC_got_Jacked]

Dear Linus tech tips community 

This is my first time posting to your forums. I love your videos and view them frequently on Vessel and Youtube. I am posting this because my two 7970s are overheating while at idle. As a write this, with only Google Chrome running, the top 7970 sits at 50 degrees Celsius and the bottom one is at 43. The bottom one I can almost live with, but the top one is just too hot for an idle temperature. I have tried reapplying thermal compound to both cards several times without a drop in temperature. My Computer case should be able to handle cooling these cards adequately, for it is a NZXT Phantom 820 (pictures attached). 
My Complete system specs are
MSI Z-97 Gaming 5 Motherboard
2x Sapphire 7970s Ghz Edition
Inel Cor i7 4790k
Corsair H100i V2 liquid cpu cooler (push)
AX1200i PSU
Corsair Neutron GTX Series SSD
1 WD Black 1TB and 1 WD Blue 1TB
Also while I'm here my computer is a little too loud for my preference. What methods can I use to optimize my PC for silence without sacrificing cooling performance?

[Nacho Marco Segui]

Hi

[Starelementpoke]

4 minutes ago, NYC_got_Jacked said:

Dear Linus tech tips community 

 

Hello.

[NYC_got_Jacked]

I accidentally posted it. Editing now

 

[Festive]

Maybe, if you can, have them not right next to eachother on the mobo, like have a space between them. Also, how long were you running at OK temps at idle? Is the overheating problem new? Did you overclock them? Are you a penguin?

[grayperview]

disable hardware acceleration in chrome, and he cards will idle in the low 30's.

[Face2Face]

Idle temps are not a concern, what are the loads temps? Also, open air coolers in CFX are not preference.

[Snadzies]

Check your motherboard's manual to see if you can put the bottom card in a slot further down to give the top card less restricted airflow.

 

Since your case has a mount for a fan you can experiment with having a fan either intake or exhaust air.

 

Past that there is little you can do, the top card in a crossfire or SLI configuration always runs hotter than the bottom one.

 

Honestly I wouldn't worry about idle temps, 50c is more than perfectly fine to run 24/7, temps under load are wwhat you should look at.

The 7970s can run up in the low 90c range just fine under heavy load.