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Thread ID: 114700	2010-12-14 01:32:00	Any SLI guru's out there ?	dugimodo (138)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1161500	2010-12-14 01:32:00	So having recently got a new job I decided to celebrate and upgrade the pc for the first time in about 18 months. I decided on graphics as the target and purchased 2 Palit GTX460's deciding to give SLI a go. I have it all up and running but I'm a little concerned about the temperature of the top card under load, so far the highest temp recorded by GPU-Z has been 80 degrees but I worry that it will go higher as my current games don't stress it that much. Also there is a 10-20 degree difference in the temperatures of the two cards. The problem lays with the PCIe slots placements on my P6T motherboard meaning the two cards are virtually touching, I have tried attaching various side fans to direct cool air towards the cards with little success and a lot of noise. Case is a CM690 and can have up to 7 fans including 2 12 or 14 cm side fans. so my questions/options are: 1. Live with the heat and noise and hope it doesn't fail 2. Shift the 2nd card to the bottom PCIe slot that only runs at 4x I don't know how much of a performance impact this would have ? Also I would need a longer SLI bridge cable anyone know where I can get one ?. 3. Replace the motherboard, not really an option I wish to pursue. (Expensive for a start) 4. Use an aftermarket cooler of some sort on the upper card, suggestions anyone ? bearing in mind the Palit card is not using the reference design and is considerably shorter than many cards. 5. Go back to a single card, I game at 1680 x 1050 and so far one card would probably handle it. Be a big let down though :( I would like any suggestions, recomendations etc you might have. I am regretting this decision a little, in the past I have always stuck with a single card and upgraded as necessary. The GTX 570 just came on the market and would have been a better option IMO but oh well.....	dugimodo (138)
1161501	2010-12-14 02:11:00	My SLI system runs fairly hot but not too hot. To be honest I am not even sure the 2nd card is running lol, I dunno how to test both of them.	DeSade (984)
1161502	2010-12-14 02:26:00	80 degrees aint that bad IMO. My 4850 used to run in the 90s :( Still, I'd personally opt for a better single card instead. SLI/CF has less gains than it does at 1920x1080 or higher.	pablo d (15490)
1161503	2010-12-14 02:41:00	I agree. I would not do another SLI system, I am hoping nVidia puts out a single kick-ass card soon.	DeSade (984)
1161504	2010-12-14 02:43:00	I still have a 4850 in my other machine, it's always run hot they were designed that way. Even at 80 degrees they control panel is still reading in the yellow and the fan is at < 50% For the GTX 460 though after about 5 mins the fan starts to crank up. I dont think 80 will kill it, but a single card rarely exceeds 65 so it's an airflow issue. Maybe it's just me being paranoid, I'd just rather it ran cooler but not at a performance penalty. If I was starting again I'd go with a single card, but I have these now.	dugimodo (138)
1161505	2010-12-14 03:00:00	Yep, well it's an issue that almost every multi-card system suffers from, so up to you if you want to put up with it or not.	pablo d (15490)
1161506	2010-12-14 03:13:00	The only way to do it would be to get a different board with more spacing between the cards. Or perhaps watercool the top one, or both.	Agent_24 (57)
1161507	2010-12-14 03:25:00	Its really not a issue with those 460's they all run hot.	DeSade (984)
1161508	2010-12-14 03:39:00	But the cooler, the better.	Agent_24 (57)
1161509	2010-12-14 04:12:00	Its really not a issue with those 460's they all run hot. Really? I dont think so mate....otherwise his other card would be hot too!... I think the closeness is affecting the 2nd card temps....however @ 16x10, do you really need a 2nd card, if you do, sell both and get the 560 due out soon!	SolMiester (139)
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