FDR5 + 1080SLI - Heating Problems:

[amidsal]

Hello, thermal wizards!

 

Need some advice on air cooling. Have a Fractal Design R5 with two 1080 in SLI (pictures). I'm not a master but I know that even on high demand, none of these cards should go to the 90s Celsius. Nothing is overclocked.

 

Right now I have two fans in the front (inflow), one on the back (outflow) plus one on the side plate (inflow) just blowing on the two video cards. Two default fans plus two Noctuas (front and side). I did my research and tried some configurations but none solved or even significantly improved the problem of it getting too hot on heavier games. The reason I have four fans now is because I added another one to try to mitigate the problem but didn't help much.

 

So, yesterday I got a FurMark tool to stress my GPU and when it reached 90C I stopped it because, based on what I have been reading, this is way too hot for this kind of setup.

 

Can someone provide me some insights on what I'm doing wrong? I intend to repaste the cards if this doesn't work but I first would like to do everything I can for the case.

 

Much obliged,

Amid

[Firewrath9]

there is almost no clearance in between the GPUs for airflow also there is a bunch of dust everywhere.

also i like your cable management lol

[Jurrunio]

1. That cable of mess will hamper airflow, regardless of fans you use.

 

2. There is no room for the two graphics cards to breath

 

3. R6 isnt the best airflow case from the start, and definitely not big enough for a pair for cards this thick.

[TheGlenlivet]

Agree with everything above, also, setting the fan curve for the GPUs, especially the top one, so that they spin up sooner than stock will help.

A fan pointed at the GPUs from the side or back end might help too, but there isn't much room between them for airflow.

 

[HZapperz]

If you have 2 1080's then i think you can afford a better case. lol 

[amidsal]

46 minutes ago, Firewrath9 said:

there is almost no clearance in between the GPUs for airflow also there is a bunch of dust everywhere.

also i like your cable management lol

I also believe this to be a problem, but that's the size of the SLI connector. There is not much I can do about it (or there is?). The dust is basically over the power supply only, I cleaned the heatsinks and the fans yesterday. Which cable management? ;-) But the cables are like this only because I diassembled it last week to track a bug that ended being in the monitor and didn't organize them yet.

 

Suggestions in how to fix it?

[amidsal]

46 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

1. That cable of mess will hamper airflow, regardless of fans you use.

 

2. There is no room for the two graphics cards to breath

 

3. R6 isnt the best airflow case from the start, and definitely not big enough for a pair for cards this thick.

The cables I already answered on the previous reply (they are not usually like this and the heat problem was even when they were correctly organized). Firewrath9 also mentioned the room between the cards but what would be the solution for that? Finally, I purchased R5 (not R6) because of the size of the motherboard. Which would be a better option for my configuration?

[amidsal]

46 minutes ago, TheGlenlivet said:

Agree with everything above, also, setting the fan curve for the GPUs, especially the top one, so that they spin up sooner than stock will help.

A fan pointed at the GPUs from the side or back end might help too, but there isn't much room between them for airflow.

 

The spin curve was adjusted already and it indeed helped. Everyone talked about the airflow between them, so what would be the solution for that?

[amidsal]

39 minutes ago, HZapperz said:

If you have 2 1080's then i think you can afford a better case. lol 

Indeed I can afford a better one, but when I was researching my set, I got the case with the best reviews at the time considering my motherboard so yes, I (at least) tried to go for the best one. I'm definitely open for suggestions on better cases but given the space between the cards, I'm not sure changing cases will help as the SLI connector is short. Advice?

[TheGlenlivet]

2 minutes ago, amidsal said:

The spin curve was adjusted already and it indeed helped. Everyone is talked about the airflow between them, so what would be the solution for that?

If you have a spare fan try mounting it to the end of the GPUs blowing the same direction as your other airflow towards the back to the case so that the fan blows between the 2 cards.  this could supply the top card with additional air.

[Jurrunio]

15 minutes ago, amidsal said:

Finally, I purchased R5 (not R6) because of the size of the motherboard. Which would be a better option for my configuration?

R5 is smaller than the R6, which means cooling problems for a dual GPU setup just gets worse on the R5...

 

maybe undervolt and underclock the graphics cards?

[Firewrath9]

mabye look for a 4 slot sli bridge and get a different motherboard.

[WoodenMarker]

If the side panel has a fan mount, adding an intake there would help. 

[amidsal]

Thanks for all the answers. A couple more questions based on the research I made on this forum regarding my case cooling (since no one mentioned these):

 

- Would a bottom fan (intake) improve the flow? There was another thread with some comments on how a bottom fan works well in this case.

- Should I buy a stronger fan, like the Noctua industrial?

- As you noticed, right now I have a positive/neutral air flow. Some people mentioned that using a negative flow usually is a better option, even though dust accumulates faster. Any opinions on that?

 

Again, thank you!

 

[WoodenMarker]

3 hours ago, amidsal said:

- Would a bottom fan (intake) improve the flow? There was another thread with some comments on how a bottom fan works well in this case.

- Should I buy a stronger fan, like the Noctua industrial?

- As you noticed, right now I have a positive/neutral air flow. Some people mentioned that using a negative flow usually is a better option, even though dust accumulates faster. Any opinions on that?

A bottom fan would help but not as much as a side intake would. Higher rpm fans can increase airflow and lower temps but at the cost of noise.

If you haven't tried already, undervolting the cards could help lower temps. 

Negative and positive airflow don't in and of itself improve or worsen cooling. 

[Mick Naughty]

Poor case choice, poor card choice. Isnt much to do aside from making a side panel made of fans and running everything at max.

 

Throw another intake fan on the bottom and exhaust on the top, maybe two. Some higher airflow fans even.

[amidsal]

Thanks to everyone. Will do as told and post the results later.

[EsaT]

20 hours ago, amidsal said:

- Would a bottom fan (intake) improve the flow? There was another thread with some comments on how a bottom fan works well in this case.

- Should I buy a stronger fan, like the Noctua industrial?

- As you noticed, right now I have a positive/neutral air flow. Some people mentioned that using a negative flow usually is a better option, even though dust accumulates faster. Any opinions on that?

Bottom fan would increase airflow through case.

But airflow would be needed specifically for those GPUS, which make 300+ W space heater bathing in its own heat.

Is that bottom front fan Noctua S12?

It has craptacularly bad pressure, and with positive pressure (more intake than exhaust) and intake dust filter likely isn't doing that much any actual work.

 

23 hours ago, Jurrunio said:

R5 is smaller than the R6, which means cooling problems for a dual GPU setup just gets worse on the R5...

Few millimeter difference doesn't matter.

And R6's fashion PSU shroud just limits airflow configurability in lower part of the case serving zero utilitarian purpose.

[amidsal]

5 hours ago, Mick Naughty said:

Poor case choice, poor card choice. Isnt much to do aside from making a side panel made of fans and running everything at max.

 

Throw another intake fan on the bottom and exhaust on the top, maybe two. Some higher airflow fans even.

Yesterday I also tried to open the side of case and put a real fan perpendicular to the case, close to the GPUs. The improvements was not great (87C on the stress test) but when I put my hand close to in-between the cards, I can barely feel and air which suggests two things: first, the major problem seems to be the closeness of the two cards; second, the bottom and top fan alone won't solve the issue.

 

So Mick, there is not much I can do about the video cards (already looked around to see if there are hybrid coolers for my video card but I think Gigabyte doesn't offer them as standalone kits) but could you suggest a better case for my situation (Mid or Full Tower)? Now, would the case be enough because I don't think the spacing between the cards is gonna be solved by changing cases. If this is correct, do I have to purchase another MoBo as well?

[Mick Naughty]

4 minutes ago, amidsal said:

Yesterday I also tried to open the side of case and put a real fan perpendicular to the case, close to the GPUs. The improvements was not great (87C on the stress test) but when I put my hand close to in-between the cards, I can barely feel and air which suggests two things: first, the major problem seems to be the closeness of the two cards; second, the bottom and top fan alone won't solve the issue.

 

So Mick, there is not much I can do about the video cards (already looked around to see if there are hybrid coolers for my video card but I think Gigabyte doesn't offer them as standalone kits) but could you suggest a better case for my situation (Mid or Full Tower)? Now, would the case be enough because I don't think the spacing between the cards is gonna be solved by changing cases. If this is correct, do I have to purchase another MoBo as well?

Isnt much you can do then. Find someone to trade for some fe's. Or slap some aio's on there and get a bigger case for the radiators if you want to keep that mobo spacing.

[amidsal]

I now confirmed that is as you guys told me, the problem is indeed the distance between the video cards. So one more question: If I replace my motherboard for a Tri/Quad SLI, can I skip the middle PCIE slot and use, for example, slot 1 and slot 3 using a longer bridge? (For example, in this MoBo https://www.asrock.com/MB/Intel/Z170 Extreme6/index.de.asp) in taller case (maybe a Mid Tower) ? Would you guys believe that would work?

 

Thanks again,

Amid

[Mick Naughty]

2 hours ago, amidsal said:

I now confirmed that is as you guys told me, the problem is indeed the distance between the video cards. So one more question: If I replace my motherboard for a Tri/Quad SLI, can I skip the middle PCIE slot and use, for example, slot 1 and slot 3 using a longer bridge? (For example, in this MoBo https://www.asrock.com/MB/Intel/Z170 Extreme6/index.de.asp) in taller case (maybe a Mid Tower) ? Would you guys believe that would work?

 

Thanks again,

Amid

You would need to check the manual, you can normally get the pdf. Like one of my boards can fit 4 cards but in order to run 2 way sli I have to use specific pci slots in order to work.

 

If you do get that board, you will have 1 pci slot worth of space between the cards. Id try for a board with 2 spaces but wouldn't be very common.

[amidsal]

Thanks, guys. I never expected to get such problems when I went for SLI. It's strange that Gigabyte advertise a card for SLI (even comes with SLI bridge) that can't really be used for SLI because of the thickness of the board.

 

Now, I'm estimating what would be cheaper for me:

- Replace the cooling on GPU for a hybrid system, assuming it's possible (and not thicker). That would be nice if it was possible.

- Replace the motherboard for one that accepts 8x/0x/0x/8x - only one I could find is a MSI that costs about $350 (https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130870).

- Sell my both cards and get a stronger one (far from ideal to me but may be cheaper).

 

Anything I forgot to consider here? Any additional options?

[Mick Naughty]

Isn’t either components fault. It’s proper part selection prior to buying. 

 

I would get fe cards. Or get some aio’s for the cards and a new case. Or just get an aio for the top card and keep the case. 

[amidsal]

24 minutes ago, Mick Naughty said:

Isn’t either components fault. It’s proper part selection prior to buying. 

 

I would get fe cards. Or get some aio’s for the cards and a new case. Or just get an aio for the top card and keep the case. 

But is it possible to get an AIO kit for those cards? I've checked Gigabyte and they don't sell any. EVGA only works on EVGA. TT doesn't have any. Amazon doesn't show any standalone kit and the ones shown in newegg don't specify if they are compatible with the Gigabyte 1080. Any brand I can look for?

 

I'm going for FE's only after I exhausted all the options because trading cards without knowing the previous owner is always risky.