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Nvidia GTX 980 Owners Thread

Boomstick777

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RobHague

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Ok so I basically eBayed my 2x MSI 970s because the temps were crazy bad in SLI. My motherboard and case combo seem unfortunate, the alternate slots are the 1/4 size kind. MSI X99 Gaming 7. So my cards have to be like this.... (See Pic)

I ran 3DMark in a loop. No overclock. All stock. Had MSI afterburner monitoring and checked the max temps. The lower card hits 80*c, and the top 87*c. Though that seems to be a brief peak, it seems to hover around 84*c mostly.

I was considering returning as the jump in price from my 970s was significant and the temps aren't as improved as I hoped. I am pretty sure anything over 80*c causes throttling right? But I'll probably just end up eBaying them (as I'd feel kinda s****y just returning them for no reason).

I may just have to admit defeat, and drop the SLI idea. It's winter now. If they max out at 87*c in winter...... maybe I'll just hang in there for the next single or multi-GPU card :D you know I was looking at the Titan Z but it's obvs due to be replaced soon and the 980s walk all over it in games.


d3gPKH6.jpg
 

cwgk91

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It depends on what your target temp limit is. If you raise the power limit, the target temp goes up to 91C, no? Mine run at 85C all the time but my cards are boosting to over 1500Mz...
 

facboy

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btw, what mem clocks are people generally topping out at? what are you testing with?

i've gone from +300 to +400 to +500 to +600 and firestrike is still passing and the scores are still going up?!?
 

RobHague

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facboy said:
i'm a bit confused, you've ebayed them or you haven't ebayed them?
Click to expand...

I eBayed two MSI 970s because in the config I had them the top card spiked to 90*c so that was heading towards thermal limits, I believe it's 95*c before proper throttling happens to save the GPU a fiery death.

Replaced it with 980s with reference coolers hoping for better temps but the top cards still hitting 87*c and the exhausted heat turns the back of the case into an iron. I felt round the back once and burnt my finger lol. Does not seem like good long term stuff.
 

facboy

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RobHague said:
I eBayed two MSI 970s because in the config I had them the top card spiked to 90*c so that was heading towards thermal limits, I believe it's 95*c before proper throttling happens to save the GPU a fiery death.

Replaced it with 980s with reference coolers hoping for better temps but the top cards still hitting 87*c and the exhausted heat turns the back of the case into an iron. I felt round the back once and burnt my finger lol. Does not seem like good long term stuff.
Click to expand...

well, you know, it has a warranty.

surely you're just losing money selling them on ebay. sounds like your case has ventilation problems.
 

RobHague

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facboy said:
well, you know, it has a warranty.

surely you're just losing money selling them on ebay. sounds like your case has ventilation problems.
Click to expand...

A little, but not as much as you may think. Also perhaps so, evidentially the NZXT H440 isn't the most ideal but I replaced the stock fans with Corsair AF120s & 140 and its not really made any difference so. I am out of ideas there. They are not the variable fan speed kind though, the LED ones.

I'd be interested to know what the guy with 4-way 980s packed together gets temp wise :)
 

jh30uk

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The NZXT H440 is crap for airflow and those cards are too close together, ideally 2 way SLI on good spaced Mobo gives you a decent gap only 3 way SLI is tight.
 

RobHague

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jh30uk said:
The NZXT H440 is crap for airflow and those cards are too close together, ideally 2 way SLI on good spaced Mobo gives you a decent gap only 3 way SLI is tight.
Click to expand...

Yeah my motherboard layout only allows for 2 slot spacing though, and that puts the second card at the bottom of the case with its airflow blocked by that PSU cover. It is better, but it blocks the debug LED, the cmos reset/power stuff and also means I cannot use the SSD slots there. So it's not ideal.

Just an unlucky combo I guess.
 

RobHague

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I only built the PC last month XD lol.

A different main-board may be an option I guess..... hmm. But perhaps I should just give up on the SLI idea, wait for something better to come along (better single/multi-gpu cards).
 
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