Dual slot cooling on the GeForceFX what where they thinking

[egandt]

Well I have to say I was impressed, up until I saw the dual slot cooling solution. I mean who has space to waste a slot, for instance I have a ASUS A7V266-d MB with 5 PCI and 1 AGP slot, not that unusual, I also have the following which is more than many people, but still reasonable:

AGP: TI4600
PCI1: 3COM NIC
PCI2: Adaptec 29160
PCI3: SB Live 5.1
PCI4: USB2
PCI5: Adaptec 2940UW

Space left over none, now I understand that not everyone needs a second SCSI card slot, but still even without it I could not use this card, as there are only 2 64bit PCI slots, you guessed it PCI1 and PCI2, and I have yep 2 64bit PCI cards, again slot free 0. This makes this card worthless to me and I'm sure to many others for while they may not have the number of cards I do, many cheaper MB's have less available slots to start with.

A previous enthusiastic customer, seeing him self forced to ATI by a poor decision.

ERIC

 

[Serp86]

If you read the anandtech review closely, you will find that another version available at lover clock speeds will be available with just 1 slot required.

This suck$ though - i was pondering on the idea of getting a shuttle XPC - but with just 1 free slot other than AGP, this makes it real troublesome. I plan to play hardcore games when i upgrade my cpu - so i wouldn't go buying 400$ for the lesser version, just to get a slightly higher performance than the rad9700 i already have.

Still - seeing that Nvidia adopted the floppy power cord (or whatever they call it) that the radeon has, maybe ATI will also adopt that feature about cooling seeing that it is more efficient.

 

[Deeko]

That is really stupid. People b!tched that the Voodoo5 was too big, at least it only occupied one slot. And sure, you can get a single slot version but its slow

 

[Serp86]

I agree.

It looks slightly longer than the 9700 AND occupies 2 slots.

When i opened my computer to replace the old gf2mx 400, i found that i had one of those compact versions - you know - half height?
Anyway - it looked like a dwarf compared to the radeon. Imagine my face if i were installing a GF FX!

:Q

 

[ai42]

Well its not a new problem or anything. We KNOW that CPUs are putting off more and more heat, GPUs are also putting off more and more heat.

Quite honestly though I think this screws a lot of people who mATX board where they only got 3 PCI slots (which OEMs love). Also makes it near impossible to slap a GeForceFX into a Shuttle PC.

I really think that ATX spec should be revisted as the way computers these days are setup do not making much thermal sense. The AGP slot should be moved, but mobo manfucaucters can't really do that because it won't fit in any case.

 

[chizow]

Yah, 2 slots is annoying if you have your slots maxed out. I posted in another one of the threads though that I tend to leave pci slot 1 open regardless. Back in my Win98 days before virtual IRQs, PCI slot 1 shared the same interrupt as my AGP slot putting them on the same IRQ. Guess its just habit now. Also, as cards got hotter and faster starting with my V5, I use a slot cooler in front of my video card, so that slot was taken anyways. I just wish they made better use of the extra slot like on the Abit, a 2nd DVI out would have made it worthwhile.

As for mATX boards and cases, I don't think these cards are targeted at that market. I know that I could never use an mATX spec computer for anything other than work, and I think most people looking to buy a top of the line video card are in the same boat. CPUs and GPUs generate some crazy heat nowadays, forcing new methods of cooling and forcing both compromise from both the end user AND mobo makers. I agree that the AGP slot should be moved just because of the sheer heat generated so close to the CPU, but I don't think its possible b/c of latency/trace issues and the AGP bus. Heat problems forced mobo makers to redesign the CPU area to accomodate larger coolers and to improve airflow, I would not be surprised to see the same thing happen for these larger 2 slot coolers. Kind of like a dummy slot for the extra cooler. I think most ATX cases have room for 6 pci slots and AGP.

Chiz

 

[Shalmanese]

If you bought a nForce II, you could free up 3 slots

 

[egandt]

Nope, Asus A7V266-d, is a dual processor board, also nForce MB's do not have 64bit PCI, a must. Just going to have to hope that they come to there senses and fix the cooling, or that the new opteron MB I'm sure to purchase has a better layout (I'd like to get rid of the USB2 card and maybe the NIC, I need 1GB copper port though). Well I guess I will have time to solve this problem after all I've got what 3 months to wait for retail availiablity.

 

[mrman3k]

Look, basically you should not even have anything installed in the slot directly under the AGP slot mainly to allow for airflow. egandt is sure an exception and I do not think having the PCI slot being used right by the AGP slot is good at all. If you get any modern graphics card, GF4, R9700, FX, you will end up killing the card because there is not enough airflow around the card. I think this was a smart move by Nvidia as long as the cooling solution is not loud.

 

[ctk1981]

Also....doesn't the first PCI slot generally share resources with the AGP slot??? I always heard you should never install a card in that slot for that reason and airflow?

 

[mrman3k]

Ctkelly you are correct that there are often conflicts with resources, but in egandt's case, it sounds like his PCI slot is a special 64bit PCI slot and therefore it has its own special gateway to the chipset.

The thing to remember is that the FX was designed for home users and not to be used in business class computers that would be utilizing 64bit/66MHz PCI slots. I know there are many people out there with systems like these, but they make up a small portion of the overall pie. I cannot stress enough not to install any card in the PCI slot next to the AGP slot. You should always install PCI cards as far away from the AGP slot as possible to aid in airflow.

 

[Wolfsraider]

i find nothing wrong with this.

if you are building a computer or even just upgrading at least you know it takes up two slots.

speed = sacrifices sometimes look at scsi talk about limited space lol

if you really want it you'll buy a new mobo with nic etc intergrated or more pci slots

there are options although some are more limiting than others.

the shuttle pc will evolve eventually as well although tough for early adopters as usual

mike

 

[mrman3k]

Plus to add to Wolfsraider's coments, if you are buying a $500 graphics card, you can certainly afford to get a new motherboard with integrated NICs, SCSI, etc. Actually the more I look at these things, the more I wish Nvidia and ATI would make it standard for the ultra powerful graphics cards!

 

[shurato]

Why do they even have a pci slot right below the AGP slot anyways if there is so many problems if a card was installed there along with an AGP card. This is a question not a refute to what u guys are saying btw. I too leave my 1st pci slot free.

 

[mrman3k]

Actually on some new mobos like the Abit MAX series, they don't even include a PCI slot or two next to the AGP slot to allow for larger coolers like the GFFX or OTES.

 

[touchmyichi]

I think its a fine idea. The design of it makes it so it doesn't add to your computers total heat. By the way, who really uses all of their pci slots? Right now I am only using one(ethernet). When I upgrade to an nforce 2 i'll be using none. Everything is pretty much integrated on the board. AT most I would see people using only 3 or 4 slots and most boards ship with over 5 slots. So whats the big deal?

 

[Egrimm]

I've had a slot-fan right under my agp-cards for a long time to help remove hot air from the card so to me it isn't that bad, I'm kinda used to the agp-card taking up two spaces