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gixer8 · ‎01-16-2014

Hi all,

I received an I7-4770k for x-mas and am looking to get a motherboard. More specifically I would prefer to get an Asus Motherboard and I would like to use the Maximus VI Extreme, however, I have 2 questions before I make the purchase.

1 Will I have any issues with GPU temps using 2 X GTX680-DC2T-2GD5 on an air cooling system for everything other than the CPU?

2 If the first question is a resounding NO, should I have had heat problems with the same cards installed on my current build?

The reason for these questions is because of the small amount of space between these cards and is explained a little more below.

Awhile back I bought a 2nd GTX680-DC2T-2GD5, installed and began playing some games (MMO's mostly with an occasional FPS). Everything seemed to be good while I tried out a number of games briefly to see how they looked/played with the 2 way sli. Satisfied that everything was up and running properly I got back to my normal gaming, which is when I began noticing the temp on one of the cards was getting rather warm, in the mid to upper 90's C. Not wanting to let either card get above max temps that I found on the internet (98 C max is what I found) I exited the game and let the cards run at idle speed until they cooled down. Since I had been running a single card for a number of months prior to buying the second card and never coming close to temp concerns I decided to remove the second card and test each card running by itself. Both worked fine and the temps were nearly identical during normal gaming. My best guess was that due to the cards being 3 slot cards, which left ~1/4" or less between them, perhaps I wasn't getting enough airflow between the two. My case has 2 - 200mm exhaust fans on the top, 1- 200mm intake fan on the side, 1- 200mm intake fan on the front, 1 - 120mm exhaust fan on the bottom, and 2 - 120mm intake fans in a push/pull set-up for the Corsair H70 CPU cooler. Anyway, I decided to not take any chances running the sli set-up until either I found a solution or upgraded to the 1150 platform. I have spent a number of hours looking for a solution on miscellaneous web-sites forums and can't find anything addressing my specific concern. I have also looked at a number of LGA1150 boards (Asus Z87-WS, Gigabyte G1.Sniper 5, GA-Z87X-OC Force, UD7, and ASRock Z87 Extreme11/ac to name a few) that allow a full expansion slot of space between the cards when installed to allow more airflow between the cards. The problem with the boards I have found is that if I have to go this style of a set-up that most of them aren't Asus boards and the one that is doesn't have ROG stamped on it! Lol.

Thank-you in advance for any help/ideas/suggestions you may have,
Brett

Current build: Upgrades I have already:
I7-2600k I7-4770k
Corsair H70 cpu cooler 2nd Asus GTX680-DC2T-2GD5
Asus P8P67-PRO Rev. B3
Asus GTX680-DC2T-2GD5
16 GB Corsair Vengence @ 1600
Corsair Force GT 240GB SSD
Samsung DVD/CD
WD Black 1.5TB
Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1050W
Thermaltake Chaser Series Chaser MK-I
Asus VG278HE x 3

Budget: <$500 USD
Main uses of intended build: Gaming
Parts required: Motherboard
Previous build information (list details of parts): See above
Monitor resolution: 1920x1080 - 5760x1080 when available
Storage requirements:
Will you be overclocking: yes, but nothing extreme
Any motherboard requirements: Something that will allow for 4 way gpu in the future
Extra information about desired system:

kkn · ‎01-16-2014

the top card will always be warmer then the bottom card since top is tge one working.

and top card will pull the heat that the botom card gives out no matter how mutch space between them you have.

and i bet you have more air in then what the top fans can pull out.

gixer8 · ‎01-16-2014

Corrected OP, bottom fan is exhaust not intake.

kkn · ‎01-17-2014

um take a look at the m6e board.
i would say for nvidia its 3 way sli.
but for AMD cards i think it suports 4 way xfire.
but thats just from guessing as of now since om on my cell and multitasking there is not easy 😛

LukeeVassallo · ‎01-17-2014

With Direct cooling II, you shouldn't have any problems. but if temps do bother you you can always place an intake fan on the side panel of the case (if you can).

kkn · ‎01-17-2014

LukeeVassallo wrote:
With Direct cooling II, you shouldn't have any problems. but if temps do bother you you can always place an intake fan on the side panel of the case (if you can).

the card wents hot air in to the case and not out.
and he have fan on the door.

Arne_Saknussemm · ‎01-17-2014

For two cards I'd say the MVIE/MVIF would be great....for four I would suggest a different platform entirely...so.

I had two 680s in a HAFX and even though the ventilation on that case was max and even tweaked some more by myself...two cards venting hot air into the case would saturate everything after half an hour of gaming at ultra with ambient 24-26. If your ambient is low you will, of course get more headroom. But these cards are spec'd to run on bench rigs....shut them in a case and they will perform same as a standard card or worse even....so your experience is pretty much what I would expect. I had two top 200 as intake...front intake and reversed side fan to exhaust...gave best result for me...so experiment...and don't let the "hot air rises" lot confuse you. Hot air rises if it has the room to do so in a completely still environment. Start using 200mm fans and you can forget this effect...think ant pulling in the opposite direction to an elephant...

You definitely want a slot between the cards.

ARNE’S GUIDE TO PC BUILDING HAPPINESS

ARNE'S GUIDE TO OVERCLOCKING HAPPINESS

Motherboard and GTX680-DC2T-2GD5 2 way sli temp questions