GTX470 SLI may be too hot... how about 570 SLI?

[AyeAyeAhoy!]

Hello hello!

I'm wanting to upgrade my machine a touch and have come to the conclusion that I want to chuck a SSD in there and a second GFX card.

I Currently have a single Gainward GTX470 Golden Sample card and am finding that I can't run things on absolute max (Crysis 2 for instance). Would like to be able to run BF3 on full, so figured I'd stick another card in there with it in SLI (something i was always intending to do 'when the time was right').

However, I'm now a bit concerned at the amount of heat that will be building up inside my machine. I'm running it in an Antec 902 case on an Asus P6X58D-E motherboard, cooled by air (2 x 120mm fans at front in, 1 x 120mm fan at rear exhaust and a huge 240mm(?) fan on top extracting.

Problem is, on the MOBO there is just enough room to get the 2 cards in in SLI - they will be pretty much touching with no slots spare between them. This worries me with heat etc, especially after seeing TonyCattoor's thread with the same card as me but in SLI hitting huge temps (http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18305781)

So, are the GTX570s cooler? I was looking at the MSI GeForce GTX 570 OC Twin FrozR III (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-129-MS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1010) and it seems a bit cooler and possibly quieter? Do you think getting 2 of these is a worth while upgrade, or should I stick to the 'upgrade 3 generations' rule, or should I get another GTX 470!? I think I an get about £190 for my current card, so it's still worth a bit towards it.

What do ya all think?

 

[setter]

Heat can be a problem with sli'd 470's, especially if case airflow is poor. Board spacing helps as well, my asus mobo is an older generation x58 board, slightly better spacing than the recent models. My cards, overclocked to 750/1500/1674 idle at 37-38c, load at 69-71c, custom fan profile in msi afterburner. Cant comment on crysis as i dont own it, but i played the recent bf3 alpha, 80fps max with sli 470's. 570's run a bit cooler, and use less power, gtx 470's will need at very least a 750w psu, preferably more. Im using an 850w corsair hx unit.

Sli 470's on asus p6t dlx v2.

 

[AyeAyeAhoy!]

Hi Setter,

Thanks for the response - very informative! When i got the system it was with the intention of getting 470s in SLI in the future - seems I mis-judged on the MOBO spacing though! Doh!

I do indeed have a 750w PSU - A Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 750w. It's a good PSU with 80+ Gold certification, and is on the Nvidia recommended PSUs for SLI 470s. So, to hear that the 570 actually use less power is great.

Do you think this is the best way to go though? I almost feel that it's silly upgrading from a card that is still really very good. Then again, it's not quite doing what I want now, so for me that's always been the point to change. And it's still worth a few quid!

Would going for SLI 560s be detrimental? They are only £150 a pop, or is that just a bad idea all round?

 

[setter]

Personally, id go for a second 470, if you can source one second hand it would be even better. I dont see any point in spending more on the 560/570's. Tbh, you wont get £190.00 for a gtx 470 now, one of mine cost that brand new. I believe that the antec 902 is a very good case for airflow. Also, note the small fan hanging from my motherboard, (near 24 pin psu connector), this is an antec spotcool fan, really handy little fan for multi gpu setups.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SY-000-AN

This really helped with my cards, prior to fitting it, the top card ran 10c higher than the lower one, both now sit within a few degrees of each other.

 

[Mr. May]

if you are going sli you need to get card with refrence coolers to begin with and ensure a good air cooling case redoing the TIM on the cards can also help as the stock tim is pants

have you thought about going for a 480 with a aftermarket cooler ?

As i bought one for my HTPC which replaced a 470 which i found struggled in a few games when you really crank the spec up at 1080 the 480 when overcloked to 800 core will breeze through all modern games at near full spec ie metro with DOF off all other on full runs smooth as silk and max's out at 75 degrees giving a very playable experiance never feeling stuttery or low minimum fps

but if your looking for maximum power 470's would be the way to go as my sli set up eat through anygame at 1080 (with out stupidly high AA) at highest setting giving good fps but you have big power draws lots of heat and noise as 2 aftermarket coolers wont work and just puts all the heat in the case and the stock coolers do well in sli can run overclocked at 750 and keep good temps below 85 when the tim has been changed but the noise is intrusive so failing that go watercooling as both my cards now idle at 35 and ive not seen them go over 66 degrees yet on full load

hope this helps and answers any questions

also a as setter says you can get a 470 second hand cheap i've just sold mine for £100 inc postage

 

[Rroff]

Second hand 470s probably won't fetch more than £140 tops and it would have to be mint with a decent cooler to fetch that - I bought one of mine for not much more than that new.

At stock the 470 can struggle at the top end a bit - but crank it upto 800MHz or there about and it flies - tbh tho I don't find much troubles even a single one at stock unless I'm running at 1920x with lots of AA or above 1920x resolution.

They do pump out a bit of heat but that can be mitigated with good case airflow - tho it'll make the room pretty warm if your room doesn't have good airflow to

 

[pooley]

Another vote for getting a second 470. I have these in sli on the same mobo as you and the I agree spacing is tight but with some airflow between them you should be fine. They breeze though my games @1200p.

 

[setter]

They are superb overclockers as well, 750mhz on stock voltage here. Though ive had them at 800mhz on 1.012, but tbh i dont need that sort of speed. Even at stock they cope very well, 630mhz gigabyte factory oc cards. 1920x1200 and loads of aa in my main games, bfbc2 and moh, both play very well.

 

[AyeAyeAhoy!]

Ok cool, thanks for all the replies guys. I really don't want to spend extra on hardware that i don't need, so I think I'm going to take all your advice and get a (second hand) 470. The one I currently have has an aftermarket cooler as standard, and is clocked at 750 out of the box, but it does heat up the room when it's been on for a while!

I was considering watercooling, but that would mean selling my current card and buying 2 new stock ones (can't get a full block on the Gainward), plus getting all the water-cooling gubbins, by which time i'm broke!

Really nice to hear someone else who has 2 470s on the same mobo as me, so thank you!

Think I'll wait till BF3 is released, then see what happens. Am pretty annoyed as I so wanted to be able to SLI in the future when I wanted to upgrade - I got a case with great air flow, mobo thet supports it, good PSU, and after all that I get stumped by simple spacing! Argh!!!

 

[Mr. May]

Ok cool, thanks for all the replies guys. I really don't want to spend extra on hardware that i don't need, so I think I'm going to take all your advice and get a (second hand) 470. The one I currently have has an aftermarket cooler as standard, and is clocked at 750 out of the box, but it does heat up the room when it's been on for a while!

I was considering watercooling, but that would mean selling my current card and buying 2 new stock ones (can't get a full block on the Gainward), plus getting all the water-cooling gubbins, by which time i'm broke!

Really nice to hear someone else who has 2 470s on the same mobo as me, so thank you!

Think I'll wait till BF3 is released, then see what happens. Am pretty annoyed as I so wanted to be able to SLI in the future when I wanted to upgrade - I got a case with great air flow, mobo thet supports it, good PSU, and after all that I get stumped by simple spacing! Argh!!!

i know its something which is comanly overlooked by manufactuers and buyers alike

 

[setter]

Yep, it's a pity asus didnt use the same layout as their first x58 boards. As id had a few sli setups in the past, slot spacing was one of the main criteria for me when it came to choosing a board.

 

[Mr. May]

Yep, it's a pity asus didnt use the same layout as their first x58 boards. As id had a few sli setups in the past, slot spacing was one of the main criteria for me when it came to choosing a board.

same ever since my 1st sli set up with 9800's

 

[setter]

Just had a quick glance at your buildlog Mr May, the spacing on your board looks to be even better than my asus.

 

[Tbid]

I've got 2 MSI GTX 570 Twin frozr III in SLI, I've overclocked them a bit and ran Kombustor for 30 mins and temps didn't go over 63 Degrees so they're fairly cool?

 

[AyeAyeAhoy!]

I've got 2 MSI GTX 570 Twin frozr III in SLI, I've overclocked them a bit and ran Kombustor for 30 mins and temps didn't go over 63 Degrees so they're fairly cool?

Tom, how loud are they? And whats your spacing like?

 

[Mr. May]

Just had a quick glance at your buildlog Mr May, the spacing on your board looks to be even better than my asus.

yer its tri sli board soo i can put 2 spaces between but doesnt really matter anymore with water cooling lol

I've got 2 MSI GTX 570 Twin frozr III in SLI, I've overclocked them a bit and ran Kombustor for 30 mins and temps didn't go over 63 Degrees so they're fairly cool?

what case and bits are you you running ie cpu/cooler

 

[Tbid]

Tom, how loud are they? And whats your spacing like?

They're not horrendously loud when gaming but they're definitely noticeable, I use headphones rather than speakers so it's not so much of an issue for me.
Spacing wise there is a good enough gap between them, If my board (asus p67 sabertooth) had another expansion slot i'd be able to fit a smaller card inbetween them I think.

 

[Tbid]

yer its tri sli board soo i can put 2 spaces between but doesnt really matter anymore with water cooling lol



what case and bits are you you running ie cpu/cooler

Coolermaster HAF 932 advanced.

Asus P67 sabertooth

i7 2600k

Thermalright silver arrow

My cables are a bit messy but temps have never been an issue so I haven't bothered to tidy them

 

[setter]

Yep, tri sli board here as well, but my lian li case only has seven pci mount points for expansion cards, soundcard above the top gpu.

 

[Mr. May]

Coolermaster HAF 932 advanced.

Asus P67 sabertooth

i7 2600k

Thermalright silver arrow

My cables are a bit messy but temps have never been an issue so I haven't bothered to tidy them

considering your running all the refresh tech ie 570>470 and i7 2600k> i7 920 p67>x58

It should run a lot cooler as the 920's when air cooled and over clocked create a lot of heat which will be dumped into the case aswell

Also the x58 chip set runs a lot warmer then the p67 due to more power required on the vrms and the northbridge doing more as most of the notherbridge tasks are built onto the 2600k

And the 570's are more power efficient and cooler running then the 470's

which would probably exsplain the temps you are getting as all the above would soon add up