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Can you make your second Crossfire card the 'primary'?

PESolution

PESolution

PESolution

Soldato
Joined
13 Oct 2004
Posts
2,774
Location
Teesside
Hi all,

So my top gfx card in crossfire gets much hotter than the bottom one due to restricted airflow (especially as the cards im using are triple slot width!)

For games which don't take use of both cards properly - such as hearthstone - is there a way for only my bottom card to be used?

Thanks!
 
Try to connect monitor to second (bottom) card and see how temps go. Not all motherboards are able to boot properly in such case (require graphic card with monitor in slot #1). I'm not convinced anyway, as primary-secondary split is a drivers matter, nothing to configure I'm afraid.
When I have had SLI my top card was +10deg, so after some time I simply switched cards in place :)
 
If your that worried about heat, either sell and get a single card solution or look at your cooling. Installing fans on the side panel can help greatly, or if this is not possible look to higher performance case fans, downside is noise, unless you want to watercool.
 
thanks for the advice - i actually got this second card for free when a friend updated (shader unlock 6950 cucore) - but as you can see they are damn tight :D

I've take the casing of the top card which has stopped it from peaking at 97degrees and crashing, and instead hits about 75degrees - but fans are loudddddd :(

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can't get a fan on the side panel - its a corsair 650d - i guess i could move the bottom hard drive cage which is restricting the intake fan the most - though i'm a bit ocd :P
 
Have you tried to see what the temps are like with the side panel off your PC case ??
And like Nickolp1974 said you need to remove one or both them harddrive cages and test it for temp differences with them removed..

As SLI & crossfire setups that use non ref coolers need loads of air flow to keep the inside of the case cool or your GPU cards will just be sucking in the same hot air there exhausting out
 
Last edited:
tommybhoy said:
Yes disable CrossFire and swap the monitor cable from the top gpu to the bottom one.
Click to expand...

thanks - though i wanted an automated way - like when a game doesnt support crossfire it only uses the second card - rather than only using the first. Having to manually disable crossfire each time would be a pain.
 
chaparral said:
Have you tried to see what the temps are like with the side panel off your PC case ??
And like Nickolp1974 said you need to remove one or both them harddrive cages and test it for temp differences with them removed..

As SLI & crossfire setups that use non ref coolers need loads of air flow to keep the inside of the case cool or your GPU cards will just be sucking in the same hot air there exhausting out
Click to expand...

With the side of the case off - the temps drop by a few degrees, though nothing major.. on the top of the case there is a 240mm exhaust fan which chucks a lot of heat out of the case - ill try removing the hard drive bays now for better air flow.
 
PESolution said:
thanks - though i wanted an automated way - like when a game doesnt support crossfire it only uses the second card - rather than only using the first. Having to manually disable crossfire each time would be a pain.
Click to expand...

You can enable/disable CrossFire in a per game scenario via CCC, but you would either need to switch cables or use two cables into one monitor-Hdmi/Dvi(if supported).


You can strap a 120 fan straight on the side of those 6950's to push air through them onto the MB, if that's an option for you.
 
I believe you can get a mesh side panel for the 650d and install fans in that. I have the same case and have looked into the possibility of going Crossfire eventually myself.
 
if it were me i'd sell 'em both and get one good card, don't know if there any good for mining if they are you wanna be selling as the price will be good.

edit: seen them going for about £130 a piece
 
Last edited:
PESolution said:
With this style cooler - increasing fan speed from 45% to 100% makes temps drop by about 1degrees - but volume raise by 1000 decibels :P
Click to expand...
Problem with GPU that have a 3 slot wide cooler are they really designed for systems that are only going be using a single GPU...
 
chaparral said:
Problem with GPU that have a 3 slot wide cooler are they really designed for systems that are only going be using a single GPU...
Click to expand...

yup you're right there - anyway i got it at load at 77-78 and doesnt seem to be bothering it - also means i dont have to turn the heating on in the house lol
 
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