Anyone ever tried mounting fans beside PCI slots?

[pantsaregood]

A friend of mine is running a 980 Ti setup in SLI. The cards are EVGA models using the ACX 2.0 cooler. The top card runs at around 15 degrees higher than the bottom card, which he's not comfortable with. There's a side fan blowing in, but the top card is still getting up to about 88C.

He's using a Fractal Design Define R5 - airflow setup is overall pretty good, just the top GPU is getting hot under load.

I was thinking of maybe using some zip ties to mount either 40 mm or 60 mm fans to the small grill that sits beside the PCI slots to exhaust some of the warm air that the top GPU is just pushing around. I know such small fans don't move a lot of air, but I don't really know that moving a lot of air is necessary in this case.

 

[JeffMD]

those fans would be annoyingly loud. It sounds like your friend should look into watercooling those bad boys.

 

[UsandThem]

There are a lot of places to mount fans in the R5.

I run both stock GP-14 fans in the front as intakes (ran on the fan controller at full speed).

I then have a Noctua NF-A14 FLX on the bottom pulling air in, and another on the rear for exhaust. I have also found that by having my power supply face up, I get 3c-4c cooler temps than when it faces down. Make sure the case is on a solid surface, because on carpet the bottom air flow is severely reduced.

He could also mount additional fans on the top to push more air out, but I find it too noisy. I also don't use the side mount for the same reason.

Is he overclocking the cards? Maybe one just has a better chip in it that handles the increased speed/voltages better than the other. The top cards in SLI set-ups run warmer, but usually not 15c hotter.

Maybe he can flip the cards and see if the one still runs hotter on the bottom.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Is he overclocking the cards? Maybe one just has a better chip in it that handles the increased speed/voltages better than the other. The top cards in SLI set-ups run warmer, but usually not 15c hotter.

Maybe he can flip the cards and see if the one still runs hotter on the bottom.

I ran into pretty-much the same issue, when I used to run GTX460 1GB Gigabyte Windforce SLI, on my AM3+ board with a Thuban, in a Rosewill Blackhawk case. The top card was significantly hotter than the bottom card. Those were not "blower" style GPUs either.

 

[UsandThem]

I ran into pretty-much the same issue, when I used to run GTX460 1GB Gigabyte Windforce SLI, on my AM3+ board with a Thuban, in a Rosewill Blackhawk case. The top card was significantly hotter than the bottom card. Those were not "blower" style GPUs either.

I knew the top card would run warmer, but I never thought it would be 15c warmer.

I guess I am glad I'm old and a one GPU guy. The last time I ran SLI was the Voodoo 2 days.

 

[nerp]

There used to be such a thing as fan cards.

http://www.terapeak.com/worth/fanca...rand-new-in-box-see-description/271948978950/

 

[master_shake_]

only took 2 zip ties.

 

[gradoman]

Something like this:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...t_-_Black.html?tl=g40c18s62&id=wUaIbzfh#blank

or

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...-0119-AKS.html?tl=g40c18s62&id=wUaIbzfh#blank

?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

A friend of mine is running a 980 Ti setup in SLI. The cards are EVGA models using the ACX 2.0 cooler. The top card runs at around 15 degrees higher than the bottom card, which he's not comfortable with. There's a side fan blowing in, but the top card is still getting up to about 88C.

He's using a Fractal Design Define R5 - airflow setup is overall pretty good, just the top GPU is getting hot under load.

I was thinking of maybe using some zip ties to mount either 40 mm or 60 mm fans to the small grill that sits beside the PCI slots to exhaust some of the warm air that the top GPU is just pushing around. I know such small fans don't move a lot of air, but I don't really know that moving a lot of air is necessary in this case.

Some temperature difference is to be expected. Since they're open-air coolers, they should work pretty well, but do the cards have a heat pipe or heat plate on the backside? (I swear I've seen those on some high end cards, but I don't know how common they are. Not really a GPU cooling aficionado.)

If not, I'd bet that you're getting a hot air "dam" in between the top card and the CPU/HSF and the backside is getting hot. If your rear vent fan is turned down with a 7v adapter or a fan controller, crank it up, or replace it with a more powerful fan.

master_shake's idea is also pretty good.

Unless you want to water cool.

However, I object strenuously to your username.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I've been planning to do something similar for my 2x GTX-970 in SLI.

For air-cooling, both this and a twin (but no SLI) system are finessed. If there is any fan-noise at all at high-CPU-usage and high temperatures, it is thoughtfully muffled. Both systems use a single GT AP-30 for exhaust ducted to the case-rear with Noctua iPPC pusher-fans on the tower coolers.

But the ducting doesn't separate the CPU cooler fins from the top graphics card. I removed the PCI slot covers above each GTX 970. So I have this idea of putting a 40mm fan in a duct-box that covers the top side of the upper graphics card, or between the cards -- so the air coming in through the twin fans on the graphics cards is pushed out more quickly.

I just haven't moved forward with the project. The difference in temperature between the cards ranges between 4C and 13C -- highest when the SLI is being stressed with a game or benchmark.

The temperature for the top graphics card only reaches a maximum of 78C under extreme stress-testing situations. For gaming, it doesn't exceed 65C.

But heat from the cards also affects my CPU cooler by some 3 to 5C. So I still eventually plan to pursue the tedium of another fan-and-ducting mod. For 3 to 5C, though, there's no urgency about it.

 

[thilanliyan]

Something like this?
http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Super-Cyclone-Blower-Expansion/dp/B0007MGEO2

I actually took an old Antec fan, some plexiglass, a spare PCI cover, and some glue and made my own. Had to cut out an area of the fan frame but it worked like the product above. I haven't used it in ages but I'll see if I can find it and post some pics. My version was a single slot, and I could definitely feel hot air being pumped out of the PCI slot when running.

 

[PliotronX]

If the slot brackets don't work out, check this little sucker out!

 

[pantsaregood]

Take a look at this picture:

http://www.pcper.com/files/imagecache/article_max_width/review/2014-11-21/R5_LATCH.jpg

See the grill beside the guy's hand? I was thinking of mounting some small fans there to exhaust some heat. Fans that mount by PCI bracket just blow air around in the case. I wanted to place one on the grill so that the heat would actually be removed from the case.

Small fans don't move a lot of air, but it might not take much to improve the conditions of the top card.

 

[MrTeal]

As others have said, you'll always get some temperature difference, even with blowers. The best thing to do if possible is to increase the spacing. Triple will help a lot, and quad (assuming it doesn't cause canling/case issues) is even better.

Ducting also works really well and is easy to try. It can be as simple as some thin cardboard (think cereal box) and duct tape. Just duct a front fan and force all that air into the space between the two cards.