SLi config causing overheat

Salari · 27 Jun 2011 at 01:20

Okay, since the weather decided to go from average to extremely hot today, I've been having some overheating problems with my system.

I have an Antec 902 case which offers great air flow, a H70 watercooler for my CPU, and two GTX460s in SLi. I've been trying to play a few games of Battlefield Bad Company 2 today, but I've had a couple of BSODs, and I think it might be one of the cards. When I restarted the system, I checked on HWMonitor for the temp, and one card was a reasonable temp, and the other was just past 70c, and I think this might be because it's too close to the other, and it's essentially getting suffocated.

Is there any kind of solution for this (apart from running off a single card), I'm pretty sure it's the issue. Also, I cleaned out my system yesterday, so everything from the fans to the radiator in the H70s been thoroughly cleaned.

Thanks!

P.S. The system was originally bought and configured from OverClockers. Best system I've ever owned and never had a problem with it... until now.

cmndr_andi · 27 Jun 2011 at 01:45

Hi there,

If it is a GPU cooling issue then you could install MSI afterburner and set up a new fan profile that runs the fans faster to keep the cards cooler.

May I ask what make and model number motherboard you are using?

biuro74 · 27 Jun 2011 at 12:48

Which models of GTXes do you have ? I presume you've got some air-into-case-dissipators, so it might be an issue.

Salari · 27 Jun 2011 at 13:21

cmndr_andi said:
Hi there,

If it is a GPU cooling issue then you could install MSI afterburner and set up a new fan profile that runs the fans faster to keep the cards cooler.

May I ask what make and model number motherboard you are using?

It's the Asus P6X58D-E. Folks on the Steam forum have suggested I get a side panel 120mm fan for the case, which makes a lot of sense considering. I've used the NVidia Control panel to manually control the fan; right now I've managed to bring down the idle temp to 39C with a min of 38C, which has brought down the difference between the two considerably (the uncovered one's idling at 33C).

Salari · 27 Jun 2011 at 13:27

biuro74 said:
Which models of GTXes do you have ? I presume you've got some air-into-case-dissipators, so it might be an issue.

They're the Gigabyte GTX 460 1GB OC models, so it has the larger heatsink with dual fans. Yes, the filters are still on the intake fans; I could temporarily remove them, but I was thinking about getting a side panel fan as some have suggested to me. I've upped the fan speed manually, which has brought the difference between the two down.

Rroff · 27 Jun 2011 at 13:28

Weather today is a nightmare for overclocked systems, the air is hot already

and not much movement.

Salari · 27 Jun 2011 at 13:36

Rroff said:
Weather today is a nightmare for overclocked systems, the air is hot already and not much movement.

Man, tell me about it. It's even hotter today, it's even hard to breathe properly...

Makes me wonder how on earth they deal with the heat in China?

Salari · 27 Jun 2011 at 15:34

UPDATE: I just got my hands on an Akasa 120mm AK-FN057 Apache fan for the side panel, hoping it would remedy the problem. Now I'm pretty sure it would, HOWEVER; I mounted it, plugged it in and when I was putting on the side panel... I found it conflicts with the H70 fan.

The fan on the H70 is that HUGE, that the corner of the fan collides with it, preventing me from affixing the side panel properly, so right now, it's vicariously propped against the lower run...

Blue160 · 27 Jun 2011 at 20:23

I've fitted a fan on the outside of the case before in a similar situation. Bit of a ghetto mod, but it works. You can mount the fan on the weong side of the grill, get the end off the power cable using a pin, then feed it through the grill and refit it. Doesn't look great, but if it's a temporary solution that may not matter

setter · 27 Jun 2011 at 20:38

70c isnt excessively high for a gpu under load in game. Though you could try rigging a fan behind the cards to increase airflow, this is what ive done with my sli'd cards.

Ghetto bootlace and fan mod.

Not pretty ill admit, but it worked.

Ive since moved onto this

Antec spotcool system cooler.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SY-000-AN

mr griffin · 27 Jun 2011 at 20:53

yeah this heat is a nightmare, my 480's are even making my rad very warm to the touch, tho gpuz says hi 50's on them on dirt 3. I think the only real way to cool stuff on days like these is to have air con.

Salari · 27 Jun 2011 at 20:59

setter said:
70c isnt excessively high for a gpu under load in game. Though you could try rigging a fan behind the cards to increase airflow, this is what ive done with my sli'd cards.

Yeah, but that was after the restart, so I'm imagining it would've hit its peak before then (which I believe is 105C).

Your ghetto solution does look like it could do some good. The only other option I'd have would be to mod the side panel, which would be a bit of a pain since I don't have the tools. Plus I don't wanna botch it; I'm competent, but not confident.

Salari · 27 Jun 2011 at 21:04

mr griffin said:
yeah this heat is a nightmare, my 480's are even making my rad very warm to the touch, tho gpuz says hi 50's on them on dirt 3. I think the only real way to cool stuff on days like these is to have air con.

It's supposed to be getting cooler tomorrow; looking outside there are dark clouds lingering over but it's refusing to rain. I had some luck running some stuff earlier, despite outside temp being higher; I got the Crysis 2 DX11 patch along with the Hi-Res textures pack; it runs like a damn dream with everything completely cranked and the covered card only hit around 60C. Had another bash at BC2 and that ran without hitches. Must be doing something right.

setter · 27 Jun 2011 at 21:08

Salari said:
Yeah, but that was after the restart, so I'm imagining it would've hit its peak before then (which I believe is 105C).

Your ghetto solution does look like it could do some good. The only other option I'd have would be to mod the side panel, which would be a bit of a pain since I don't have the tools. Plus I don't wanna botch it; I'm competent, but not confident.

Ahh, i see, so one card is idling at 70c ono. Make sure the airflow in the case is unobstructed, ie no wires blocking the front fan/s, id also suggest setting a custom fan profile, (use msi afterburner), the ghetto solution i posted above may help as well, you could use the akasa apache fan you were gonna mount on the side panel.