Xfire

oldestgregg · 7 Feb 2013 at 12:56

Hello peeps,
I have an Xfire set up at the moment which is a Gigabyte WF 7970 on top and a reference model XFX card on the bottom. Neither card is overclocked but since I got the WF it has made me realise how loud the ref model card is. Now, I can sell the xfx card and it would only cost me £70 to get another WF but would heat then become an issue running 2 of the WF style cards? Spacing on the mobo is not a problem. The ref model is louder at 50% than the wf is at 100%!

mickyflinn · 7 Feb 2013 at 13:05

Heat should not be a problem a long as you have decent cooling for your case.

oldestgregg · 7 Feb 2013 at 13:08

Yeah, I have the Corsair 650d case. I just thought that with the heat coming from the sides of these cards the top one would get a bit hotter?

mickyflinn · 7 Feb 2013 at 13:14

oldestgregg said:
Yeah, I have the Corsair 650d case. I just thought that with the heat coming from the sides of these cards the top one would get a bit hotter?

One card would get hotter than the other but thats normal, just monitor the temps.

tommybhoy · 7 Feb 2013 at 13:16

Have you thought about a custom fan profile in AB?

If it's@stock, anything up to 80c should be fine, it may have an aggressive stock fan curve meaning lower temps at the expense of higher noise.

Failing that, if it's a good un and you don't mind voiding the warranty, AC 7970 Extreme coolers make the WF sound like a jumbo jet!

The AC's are triple slot jobs, or the Alpenfohm, Peter that's a 4 slot job(maybe 5 due to the top screws, you may lose the slot above the gpu too).

oldestgregg · 7 Feb 2013 at 13:18

Sorry Tommyboy, the reason for selling the ref card is noise so so I'm not gonna put another cooler on the WF to make it louder am I?

oldestgregg · 7 Feb 2013 at 13:19

I already have fan profiles set up now and they work fine with the ref card on the bottom

tommybhoy · 7 Feb 2013 at 13:23

oldestgregg said:
Sorry Tommyboy, the reason for selling the ref card is noise so so I'm not gonna put another cooler on the WF to make it louder am I?

tommybhoy said:
Failing that, if it's a good un and you don't mind voiding the warranty, AC 7970 Extreme coolers make the WF sound like a jumbo jet!

Talking about the XFX one-warranty void if you remove the cooler mate, not replacing the WF.

oldestgregg · 7 Feb 2013 at 13:27

Ah! Well that makes more sense. Dont really have the space though and I love the WF and how quiet it is.

Snodge · 7 Feb 2013 at 13:41

Space would probably be the issue.

tommybhoy · 7 Feb 2013 at 13:48

oldestgregg said:
Dont really have the space though and I love the WF and how quiet it is.

Pity, you won't get any quieter than the AC using air, you would change your mind about the WF cooler if you used one.

The WF is a cracking cooler btw, not knocking it, but when it hits 60c, it ramps up and was far too noisy for me although it was silent@idle.

Using 2 AC's on my 79's btw, cracking coolers.

If you can't stand the noise and don't want to hit water, AC 7970 Extremes FTW.

Gregster · 7 Feb 2013 at 14:10

Get them both under water Greggg. Noise is great and cooling would allow for extra clock speeds.

Stu @ MSD · 7 Feb 2013 at 14:42

gregster said:
Get them both under water Greggg. Noise is great and cooling would allow for extra clock speeds.

I totally agree... mine run passive 90% of the time.
Silence is golden.

Uncle Petey · 7 Feb 2013 at 14:48

tommybhoy said:
The AC's are triple slot jobs, or the Alpenfohm, Peter that's a 4 slot job(maybe 5 due to the top screws, you may lose the slot above the gpu too).

I'm not recommending it or anything, but I have seen pics of someone using two Peters in Xfire with only side fans on the bracket. Can't find the pics unfortunately.

I had a go with using only bracket mounted fans and here are the results I got @1150mhz before I used the big VRM heatsink with thermal glue, which should drop those VRM's down by up to 10°c from what's shown on this chart.

Interesting huh? Xfire would seem very viable with two of these, but probably not as practical as a couple of Windforce or Arctic coolers.

Oh, and yeah, those thumbscrews will block anything in the slot directly above.

oldestgregg · 7 Feb 2013 at 15:15

gregster said:
Get them both under water Greggg. Noise is great and cooling would allow for extra clock speeds.

To be honest, single g Gregg, I would love to but I dont have the first clue about it! I'm out of work at the moment and the £70 to change cards is a lot easier to get hold of than £? to watercool

tommybhoy · 7 Feb 2013 at 15:26

Never knew there was a way for using the Peters in CrossFire/SLi, food for thought for anyone wanting to go that route.

Interesting results petey, used to have a 140mm Thermalright blowing directly onto the vrm area for when I needed to up the clocks for specific titles/BM's, but after changing the 140mm to an Akasa Viper 120mm, temps were better from the higher airflow hitting the vrms.

Never thought of turning it round to suck air away from the vrms, there's a possibility it may reduce it some more, but it could also make it worse, food for thought nonetheless.

Oh and any updates petey?

@op, just in case your wondering and didn't know, vrm temps rocket when you push the 79's fairly hard especially with extra voltage, modest oc's are fine.

oldestgregg said:
single g Gregg

Brilliant, bring on the gregwarz!

oldestgregg · 7 Feb 2013 at 15:37

Haha, Greggwarz! (see the liitle dig there as well)

oldestgregg · 7 Feb 2013 at 15:42

Another little question if I may? I have dropped my XFX back from the ghz bios to stock and the voltage now says 1169 in Afterburner. Is this right as I thought it was lower than that and I cant for the life of me find out what stock voltage is anywhere

Gregster · 7 Feb 2013 at 16:11

That voltage sounds right to me Gergg. Fair points on the WC and it works out expensive

oldestgregg · 7 Feb 2013 at 16:14

How much do you think it would be for a starters kit? And would I have to put my CPU under water as well?