crossfire 6950 temp reduction

SulacoSystems · 30 Oct 2011 at 22:55

i recently built a new system with 2 6950s but they are running abit hot
idle im getting 40 and 50c
under load on lol im getting 70c and 88c
and on more intensive games like crysis maxxed with aa and mods 80c and 102c
im running everything in a bitfenix survivor
currently running one 230mm fan at the top
question is if i put another 230mm at the front and a pci blower fan and tidy my cables will a see a decent drop in temps that are more friendly too my components or should i pony up for a watercooling setup and blocks for the gpus or a better case or another mobo with more space between the cards?
some pics for reference,

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terminator2k2 · 30 Oct 2011 at 23:06

hi there , first off try and tidy them cables up a bit.......then try and get a fan to blow into the cards from the front of the case........and with the cards that close i would say 40-50 degrees is normal on idle but will be a bit lower once you get a fan blowing on them.........

SulacoSystems · 30 Oct 2011 at 23:10

terminator2k2 said:
hi there , first off try and tidy them cables up a bit.......then try and get a fan to blow into the cards from the front of the case........and with the cards that close i would say 40-50 degrees is normal on idle but will be a bit lower once you get a fan blowing on them.........

hi mate, ok ill get the rats nest cleaned up and a fan put in at the front and go from there.

terminator2k2 · 30 Oct 2011 at 23:18

i think mine idle at around :

38 bottom card
45 top card

and underload

69 bottom card
74 top card

also i dont see a crossfire bridge in there?

bastic · 30 Oct 2011 at 23:28

terminator2k2 said:
also i dont see a crossfire bridge in there?

^^

end as mentioned fan pumping air towards cards can help

SulacoSystems · 30 Oct 2011 at 23:49

terminator2k2 said:
i think mine idle at around :

38 bottom card
45 top card

and underload

69 bottom card
74 top card

also i dont see a crossfire bridge in there?

pics were taken before i finished the build theres one on there now

feck199 · 31 Oct 2011 at 01:52

May of missed it, but dont see anyone asking

Are you using the standard automatic fan profile? Even when my card reaches 75c i'm pretty sure 'automatic' setting wont put the fan much higher than 30%.

6950's fans on automatic dont ever seem to go above 32-33% for me. Setting them manually to 45-50%, or using a fan profile with something like msi afterburner so they gradually go up depending on temps.

I dont let mine go above 70c tbh, if they reach that high my fan will ramp up to 55-60% until they drop below 70c

Either way seeing 100c+ isnt good you are right there!

SeraphX · 31 Oct 2011 at 08:05

Agree with sorting the cables out, it badly needs it, especially for cooling down gfx and airflow, are you using an M-ATX Mobo? it looks like it, you would get better spacing with a proper fullsize ATX Mobo tbh,

you could also try installing a Antec spotcool fan just behind the cards to force some air through the middle in hopes of cooling the top card down

SulacoSystems · 31 Oct 2011 at 16:19

Seraph said:
Agree with sorting the cables out, it badly needs it, especially for cooling down gfx and airflow, are you using an M-ATX Mobo? it looks like it, you would get better spacing with a proper fullsize ATX Mobo tbh,

you could also try installing a Antec spotcool fan just behind the cards to force some air through the middle in hopes of cooling the top card down

hi yeah its a matx, i was originally going to build into a ft03 so i bought the m atx,thanks for the spotcool reference never seen those before will try one out

feck199 said:
May of missed it, but dont see anyone asking

Are you using the standard automatic fan profile? Even when my card reaches 75c i'm pretty sure 'automatic' setting wont put the fan much higher than 30%.

6950's fans on automatic dont ever seem to go above 32-33% for me. Setting them manually to 45-50%, or using a fan profile with something like msi afterburner so they gradually go up depending on temps.

I dont let mine go above 70c tbh, if they reach that high my fan will ramp up to 55-60% until they drop below 70c

Either way seeing 100c+ isnt good you are right there!

hi mate,im using afterburner and its set to reach 100% speed as soon as it hits 70.

pgi947 · 31 Oct 2011 at 18:25

Have the exact same cards as you (695X-CNFC) in crossfire, though I have better spacing between the cards, my temps under heavy load sit at 72c (bottom) 80c (top). oh and currently clocked at 840/1325.

As mentioned a spot cool and a good afterburner profile should help. My AB fan profile is something like this: 0-40c = 35%, 41-50c = 50% 51-80c = 70% 80c+ = 100%

I'll warn you now, these cards get pretty noisy above 70%. I'm sure I remember reading these cards are 'safe' utpo 110c, though I'd be hesitant to let them go above 90c

SulacoSystems · 5 Nov 2011 at 22:48

ive fitted 2 silverstone penetrators on the front and a extra 120 on my cpu radiator,temps now reach 67c 90c after about a hours gaming and stay there.
front panel woulnt fit back on now because of the two fans :s,im guessing bitfenix brand fans are thinner.think ill move to a rv03 next month.

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sedmonds · 5 Nov 2011 at 22:54

As previously mentioned, MSI Afterburner custom fan profile is your friend, had the same problems as you until I started using the my own fan profile.