Help me spec a new 2k gaming machine

Ok so took one of the cards out, just ran Unigine Heaven tool on extreme for 10 mins and the fans maxed out at 44% and the card hit a maximum of 69 degrees at 100% load!!

I'm going to test the 8x pice lane now then the other card on both lanes. Will report back with findings.

But surely running them in xfire couldn't make both cards run 30 degrees hotter could it?

Card 1/PCIe 16x
Fan Max 44%
CPU Temp Max 69 Degrees

Card 1/PCIe 8x
Fan Max 50%
CPU Temp Max 73 Degrees

Card 2/PCIe 16x
Fan Max 47%
CPU Temp Max 71 Degrees

Card 2/PCIe 8x
Fan Max 46%
CPU Temp Max 74 Degrees

All of these maximums were taken when the GPU Load was at 100%.

So, crossfire just runs crazy hot or can we draw any other conclusions? Any thoughts?
 
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Yeah does seem strange, I have never run crossfire so might not be much help. It seems each card on it's own temps are normal so that rules out a bad card I think.

So running with both cards again now they still hit 95 degrees? Does your case allow for side fans mounted to blow onto the cards as that could help a lot.
 
Hi,

So a little update.

It is no longer both cards that run high temps now I have them back in crossfire, it is only the top of the two cards.

I've looked on several other forums and it is very common in SLI/xfire for this to be the case with the top card running 15 degrees hotter than the card below.

It also makes a lot of sense when you consider the intake fans on the top card are blowing all the hot air exhausted from the card below with little space between them for the hot air to go anywhere else.

The top card maxes out at 92 degrees after 15 minutes under 100% load with the fan speed at 100%.

The second card tops out at 69 degrees with the fan going to 44% speed.

Manually pushing the second card to 100% makes the top card max out at 86 degrees getting the cooler air from below.

Anyway, I've read the 290X is safe to 105 degrees so my temps are actually acceptable but it is amazing the temp difference because of the SLI/xfire set up.

So I am currently trying to assess how I can get more cool air onto the top card.

Would using any of my spare 140mm stock fans from the 540 on the bottom of the case help at all? If this was to move some of the hot air out the bottom of the case? Granted there is little clearance under the case so that might not work well but it is my first thought.

Secondly, and I can't believe I'm going to ask this, but could someone make me a basket of what I'd need to create a watercooled loop on the GPUs? It might consider putting them under better cooling to stop them running at 90+ and the fans going mental the entire time I'm gaming.

Thank you everyone.
 
I would be looking at something like this for the watercooling, I'm not 100% sure over the fittings as that well have to do with placement and so on.

YOUR BASKET
1 x EK Water Blocks EK-DDC 3.2 PWM X-RES 100 £96.95
2 x EK Water Blocks EK-FC R9-290X - Acetal+Nickel £95.99 (£191.98)
1 x XSPC EX360 120mm Radiator - Black £47.99
2 x EK Water Blocks EK-FC R9-290X Backplate - Black £26.99 (£53.98)
1 x Primochill Primoflex Advanced Tubing 13/10 - Red 1m £5.99
Total : £406.48 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
Ouch, costs the same as the card itself - can't justify that cost but thanks for the reply.

Back to improving the air situation then ;)
 
Is it not possible to put the rad in the back(above the Psu). Then take the top front fan and place it in the top of the case, along with another fan, to extract the hot air.
 
It's not really the overall temps in the case, they are running comfortable in the mid 30's.

And the CPU tops out around 40 under full load.

And the bottom GPU card runs below 70.

So the issue is all around getting some cool air between the two GPUs in some way.
 
Gboyd said:
It's not really the overall temps in the case, they are running comfortable in the mid 30's.

And the CPU tops out around 40 under full load.

And the bottom GPU card runs below 70.

So the issue is all around getting some cool air between the two GPUs in some way.
Click to expand...

Yeah i've looked into watercooling my ref 290x but at over £200 it's just not gonna happen!

Like I said before, ideally you want a fan mounted on the side panel blowing onto the cards but I see from pics you just have a large window with no mounts for fans.. ah well :)

Sounds like your only option might be to mount the fan on the bottom as you said, I would probably mount it so it sucks air from underneath and blows up onto the cards but not sure if this would benefit the top card much at all... but I think would be better than sucking air down and out the bottom.

OR return one of the cards for a refund (if you got all the packaging intact), a single 290x will still beast any game at max settings at 1080p - mine does! I have never run xfire or sli for this exact reason, too much heat and too much power lol. With the refunded cash you could buy a custom wc loop kit for your other 290x if you wanted. :D
 
Gboyd said:
Ouch, costs the same as the card itself - can't justify that cost but thanks for the reply.

Back to improving the air situation then ;)
Click to expand...

How about something likes this, maybe just use it for the top/bottom card and have the other on air. Review and setup here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VBE1UE5I-A

YOUR BASKET
1 x NZXT KRAKEN X40 AIO Water Cooling Unit - 140mm £78.98
1 x NZXT KRAKEN G10 GPU Cooling Adapter - Red £29.99
Total : £118.57 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
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Yeah I'm considering dropping one of the cards as they run below 70 on their own.

Although for £100 I'm defo going to look into that water cooling loop for the top card. I'm only looking to drop the temps by 10-15 on that top card then I'd be happy with the whole set up temps wise.
 
Hey all.

Just as a final update I thought I'd conclude this thread with my final findings.

So after being unable to find any stock of the G10s I went back to looking at air cooling.

After placing fans internally in just about every position I could not cool the top GPU due to the hot air exhausted from the card below. Finally what I tried was placing the 120mm fan on the rear of the case set as an intake fan. I had to mod the fan slightly but it now sits exactly between the monitor cable going into the top graphics card and the bottom of the card input area. I've removed all the empty slots and the fan is blowing straight into the side of the two 290s.

Not easy to describe but running at 50% speed, so hardly audible, it introduces enough cool air to the GPU half of the cards to reduce the temps on the top card by 15 degrees. So after running Kombo and stressing the cards at 100% load the temps now max out at 81 degrees. After 2 hours of BF4 on Ultra my max temp was 78 degrees. The bottom card continues to run around 10-12 degrees lower.

So, problem solved, I'm comfortable with the card topping out at 80. If I feel inspired in a couple of months I'll put the both under water but a nice solution for now with no extra cost.
 
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