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970 SLI Micro ATX possible problems

enapace

enapace

enapace

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26 Feb 2010
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287
I've been considering getting a second 970 for my system using a BitFenix Phenom case but worried about heating issues.

I currently have a OCUK Reference Design 970 and would buy another of those for my system is the heating issue going to be a big problem or am I likely over reacting?

Would have to upgrade my PSU as currently only have a 550W assume a 750W would be fine?
 
As the reference design is a blower cooler than chucks most of the hear out of the rear of the case it shouldn't be too bad as long as you've got half decent airflow. They'll get warmer than running 1 on its own so the fans might ramp up a bit but it shouldn't cause you any actual issues.

In terms of PSU, whilst 550w is technically enough I wouldn't do it myself - you'd be sat close to the absolute limit of the PSU. Depending on the brand it could be very bad for your system. You should be fine with 750w :)
 
Cyanide said:
As the reference design is a blower cooler than chucks most of the hear out of the rear of the case it shouldn't be too bad as long as you've got half decent airflow. They'll get warmer than running 1 on its own so the fans might ramp up a bit but it shouldn't cause you any actual issues.

In terms of PSU, whilst 550w is technically enough I wouldn't do it myself - you'd be sat close to the absolute limit of the PSU. Depending on the brand it could be very bad for your system. You should be fine with 750w :)
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Thank you appreciate the advice figured I might be okay in my Phenom case but figured it was worth to ask either way. Reason I went for the blower cooler design in first place because they were meant to be good for heat management.

I have a Corsair RM550 at moment was considering replacing it with the 650 or 750W model. Will see either way what happens.

ALXAndy said:
Putting two cards right next to each other = heat sandwich.

I've done it before a few times and each time I did I wish I hadn't.

Best selling the 970 and getting a 980ti.
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Marine-RX179 said:
I second that.
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I did consider that but not really sure how much I would really get for the 970 and couldn't afford a 980Ti outright at the moment. Performance difference between 970 SLI and 980Ti isn't that much is it?
 
enapace said:
Thank you appreciate the advice figured I might be okay in my Phenom case but figured it was worth to ask either way. Reason I went for the blower cooler design in first place because they were meant to be good for heat management.

I have a Corsair RM550 at moment was considering replacing it with the 650 or 750W model. Will see either way what happens.





I did consider that but not really sure how much I would really get for the 970 and couldn't afford a 980Ti outright at the moment. Performance difference between 970 SLI and 980Ti isn't that much is it?
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The issue with 970SLI is that you will still be restricted 1920 res, as if in the future if you upgrade you monitor to may be 2560 res, you could risk running out of vram and getting stuttering issue, despite the GPUs should be capable of handling those res.

I have seen at least a few SLI 970 users reporting getting stuttering issue at 2560 res and ended up returning their cards. The 970 only has 3.5GB of its 4GB vram that are full speed GDDR5 memory, and remaining 500MB vram are very very slow memory.

Long story short...a single GTX970 on its own is perfectly fine (at least for now) for 1920 res...but if upgrading, it would be better to sell off the 970 and get the 980Ti instead of going SLI.
 
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Marine-RX179 said:
The issue with 970SLI is that you will still be restricted 1920 res, as if in the future if you upgrade you monitor to may be 2560 res, you could risk running out of vram and getting stuttering issue, despite the GPUs should be capable of handling those res.

I have seen at least a few SLI 970 users reporting getting stuttering issue at 2560 res and ended up returning their cards. The 970 only has 3.5GB of its 4GB vram that are full speed GDDR5 memory, and remaining 500MB vram are very very slow memory.

Long story short...a single GTX970 on its own is perfectly fine (at least for now) for 1920 res...but if upgrading, it would be better to sell off the 970 and get the 980Ti instead of going SLI.
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Hmm I will think on that most 970 seem be going for around £150-200 on eBay at present so around £350-400 for a 980Ti or simply £300 for SLI.

Would 550W PSU be enough for 980Ti or would I need a new PSU still?
 
Just trust me on this. If you intend to game for any reasonable amount of time using a heat sandwich then you are going to have to set up a custom fan curve and then allow both cards to spin their fans to 100% when they reach 85-90c, whichever you are comfortable with.

And that means that in very graphically intense games (I'm using Metro Last Light as an example) you will definitely be running the fan on the top card at 100%.

And trust me, the noise will drive you crazy unless you want to wear headphones absolutely all of the time.
 
ALXAndy said:
Just trust me on this. If you intend to game for any reasonable amount of time using a heat sandwich then you are going to have to set up a custom fan curve and then allow both cards to spin their fans to 100% when they reach 85-90c, whichever you are comfortable with.

And that means that in very graphically intense games (I'm using Metro Last Light as an example) you will definitely be running the fan on the top card at 100%.

And trust me, the noise will drive you crazy unless you want to wear headphones absolutely all of the time.
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If I did upgrade to a 980Ti then would it still be best get a blower design because of my case or would I be okay with a normal graphic card design one?
 
What it sounds like is that if I'm only running 1080p at present I should hold off upgrading to 970 SLI or 980Ti at present. Main reason I was considering upgrading is Star Citizen but will hold off a bit I guess.
 
andicole0 said:
If your looking at any higher resolution in the future 1 or even 2 980Ti's will probably need a larger case.

Andi.
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Well my motherboard has just got gone waiting for RMA on that so now would likely be best time to get a new case why you suggest a new case for even 1 980Ti it easily fits in my 970.
 
enapace said:
Well my motherboard has just got gone waiting for RMA on that so now would likely be best time to get a new case why you suggest a new case for even 1 980Ti it easily fits in my 970.
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The price range of how much you would want to spend, and also you want windowed-panel or not.

But having a new case isn't going to change the issue of micro-atx board sitting two cards right next to each other when going SLI/Crossfire.
 
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Oh I'm using a Micro ATX board so if you want suggest a new case I'm all ears.

I would assume I'm getting same model replacement they still sell my motherboard.
 
No problem I was wondering why a case would make a difference suppose it would be easier install new SSD/HDD with a larger case.

But budget I guess would be £80-100 for a new case.
 
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enapace said:
No problem I was wondering why a case would make a difference suppose it would be easier install new SSD/HDD with a larger case.
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The thing is no matter what case you use, running SLI/Crossfire configuration is on Micro-ATX board for air-cooled cards you are just asking for trouble, as the top card will ALWAYS struggle to breath with the bottom card blocking its "nose" (the cooler of the top card in this case).

It's only worth considering if you were going watercooled.
 
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