SLi Cooling

LRTom · 9 May 2006 at 21:37

Hi

Have been looking around but haven't really found any major help with the problem of cooling when running SLi.

I'm running 7800GT SLi using Zalman VF700 on both, which aid the cooling of the cards greatly but as such increase ambient case temperature. As I'm running a A8N32-SLi this is playing with my mobo temps due to the passive cooling.

As my current case doesn't offer a proper front to back air flow setup (which would flow over the heatpipe), I've decided i'm getting an Antec P180. I Was tempted by the Akasa Eclipse but overall packages meant the P180, especially liking the PCI "fan funnel" feature on the P180.

So, the point of this thread really is:

Is anyone running an SLi setup in a P180, and is it any good?
Or the Eclipse?
Do people have tips for cooling an SLi setup?
What cases are you using with what setup? Does it work/not work?

Really just thinking about getting something going as I know a few people having SLi cooling problems!

Thanks

matt100 · 9 May 2006 at 23:29

I can't comment for the eclipse, I do have a P180 but I haven't installed anything in it yet but I can see just by looking at it that its going to be an excellent cooler.

Plenty of sensibly placed 120mm fans, but that aside, even as a design item the P180 is just nice to have around, its very very well made.

As for cooling I'd recommend water, but then I would

pastymuncher · 10 May 2006 at 11:30

Hi, I have a pair of 7800gt's in Sli in my TT Armour and i had to change the stock rev 2 coolers as the noise and heat they were producing was unbearable. I originally ordered a pair of AC Silencer 5 rev 3 coolers but due to the dimensions on AC's website being incorrect and the fact that i have a single card gap between the two cards the top one did'nt fit. I have the AC on the lower card and a Zalman VF 700 on the top. Runs nice and quiet but i prefer the AC as it gets rid of the hot air out the back of the case. The Zalman is a good cooler but it just disrupts the case airflow.

I will shortly be switching to water cooling and shall be using two Aquaextreme MP-1 full size waterblocks on them. The blocks do fit in the gap with around 6mm to spare but i do have to modify the mounting kit for the lower card as the mounting screws and springs etc are way too long. I will be using the backplate from the AC silencer as the plate itself is sprung steel, along with shorter mounting screws. I have done a dry run and it works perfectly.

Zilla774 · 10 May 2006 at 13:33

I have two 7800GTX in SLi and I found that the worst problem was that the stock coolers, although efficient, just circulated the hot air back around the case. The main result was the NB and CPU both showing well over 50 degrees under load, in the middle of winter, in a cold room. Summer was never going to look pretty.

So I changed both stock coolers to the Arctic Cooler's which apart from being more efficient and quieter, actually exhaust the hot air out of the back of the case. I've used this solution on ATi X800 cards too so knew it was a good bet.

The case is now a lot cooler, the NB and CPU run at about 46 under full gaming load and the video temperatures are at least 10 degrees cooler and return to idle temps very quickly.

the disadvantage is that these coolers are very heavy. At first I was actually worried about putting them on the cards as they seem heavier than previous models.

Also, they do take up a full slot, so the top card takes up a PCI slot.

My other niggle is that the memory heatspreader for beneath the card is stuck on with pads, not screwed on to the card of the heatsink like the reference coolers. This was a major flaw as they both fell off after five minutes. I ended up jury-rigging some bolts through the original heat spreader and putting that back on the card. Works a treat, just doesn't look pretty

All in all you just need to get that hot air that the cards are producing OUT of the case as quick as possible.

Messiah Khan · 10 May 2006 at 13:49

I have the p180 with 2x6600gt's in SLI, both fitted with vf900's. The temps are decent, especially as my room is normally boiling hot. CPU sits at about 37-38degrees, the bottom gpu at 40 and the top gpu at about 50. Im not sure what temp my northbridge is, but its running on passive cooling with a zalman nb heatsink, and isnt causing any problems. So temps overall are nothing amazing, but certainly within safe limits. Thats with all the case fans on low, the cpu fan on 60% and the bottom gpu fan on low. I havent got the fan funnel fitted, but apparently it doesnt really help at all, infact ive seen tests done where it made temps go up.