SLi or CFX Question

[icor1031]

When you have those 2-slot GPUs and one GPU is directly below the other.

It doesn't leave a very big gap.

Does the fan speed on one GPU increase to compensate for this? IOW, does it work harder to get more air, or does it get hotter?

 

[fanboy]

yes top card will run hotter by 5c or more..

 

[sirmonkey1985]

yes the top card will run hotter, the fan will also work harder. a trick you can do to seperate the cards to allow the top one to get more air is to use the eraser from a pencil(just break it off right at the metal part) and stick it in the corner of the cards to push them apart, you can cut the eraser down to the exact size you want. the other trick is taking a piece of paper and folding it a bunch of times and sticking it in the corner. just make sure you aren't making either card flex in the middle of the card.

 

[e-geek]

Most cards come in a factory aftermarket-cooler flavour now, cost is almost the same unless you get an o/c card. Shop around as where i live reference cooled cards can be more expensive in cases, put the better cooled card in the top slot.

Easy.

 

[xnikx]

When you have those 2-slot GPUs and one GPU is directly below the other.

It doesn't leave a very big gap.

Does the fan speed on one GPU increase to compensate for this? IOW, does it work harder to get more air, or does it get hotter?

my new build has two cards in sli, right ontop of eachother

you can manually control your fan speeds using afterburner

not sure about others but with my build there is a HUGE difference in temps.

my bottom cards max loads at 65C, while ive seen the top card hit 91C.

The top cards doesnt get much cool air, its basicly just sucking the hot air off of the card below it.

if you have a case with a side fan blowing on the cards then your temps should be fine.

 

[wasteomind]

I've got Tri-Sli 280 gtxs. The top and bottom cards tend to get the hottest. The middle always seems to have a slightly lower temp. I think it has to do with how the airflow enters my case. Regardless, the top card is always hotter by about 3-5c.

My idle temp is around 45-52c, load usually averages around 65-75c, and max temps I have seen are around 85c. I did make a custom fan profile that is written to the bios though. 40% fan at 45c and 100% by 67c. Noise doesn't really bother me.