GTX 680 SLI Temps

[wsarahan]

Hi guys

My two GTX 680 arrived, I`m using it in SLI, each card has 4 gb of ram

I`m a little curious about the temps, i ply here at 2560x1400 and just tried the Tomb Raider now and without VGA overclock and the fans set to 75% i`m geting about 78/83C in the hottest card

Is it normal? I know that this one is a heavy game, at heaven benchmark i got about 73C in Extreme test with everything one

And if it`s not normal what should i do?

Thanks

 

[notty22]

What motherboard are you using.
Do you have a open slot between the two cards?

What case are you using?
what is room temperature?
Those help show a picture.

 

[wsarahan]

What motherboard are you using.
Do you have a open slot between the two cards?

What case are you using?
what is room temperature?
Those help show a picture.

Here is the picture

TheCase is a HAFX

 

[lavaheadache]

honestly your temps are fine, there is definitely room for improvement if you wanted to take the time

 

[Ferzerp]

In that layout, that's to be expected. It's part of the reason why I have a sealed liquid cooler on my top card (and a direct CU cooler on my bottom card). That way, temps never leave the 50's.

 

[wsarahan]

Thanks

Another question guys

Is is a deal to flash the videocard bios and install a new one? I read that the imporvements is very few, is that really? The only thing that i saw is that you can set you fan level to 100%

DO you recommend flash the videocard bios?

Thanks again

 

[lavaheadache]

I'm all for flashing bios's but I'm not sure your going to achieve what you want. ie. lower temps.

Try redoing the TIM. It may make a difference. I think the actual problem is that there is no fresh air going to the cards because you have a wall of hard drives producing heat, blocking the air from the intake fan(s) on the front of the case. Can you do anything about that?

 

[blackened23]

I also agree that the temps are completely fine. SLI will always run a bit warmer than single card. You can try to shave a few C off by optimizing your case air flow and re-applying TIM, but that won't cause a breakthrough in temperatures - you're fine as is IMO.

 

[wsarahan]

I'm all for flashing bios's but I'm not sure your going to achieve what you want. ie. lower temps.

Try redoing the TIM. It may make a difference. I think the actual problem is that there is no fresh air going to the cards because you have a wall of hard drives producing heat, blocking the air from the intake fan(s) on the front of the case. Can you do anything about that?

Now i`m interest, what`s the real gain flashing the bios? Is it safe?

Thanks

 

[lavaheadache]

I would say that the real gain to be had with flashing a 680 bios is to gain voltage for overclocking.

 

[blackened23]

I can't see how a BIOS flash could possibly improve your situation in terms of lower temps - which by the way, is fine. The only thing a BIOS flash would do is possibly lower your p3 state voltage (you DONT WANT this) or increase your default fan settings. I just can't see how a BIOS flash would help temps. You could conceivably flash your BIOS for better performance by increasing voltage (some cards MAY be able to do 1.21V max), however that would increase your temps further.

The most productive thing you can do is really re-applying TIM and adding some additional 120mm fans to improve airflow. I could see this improving temps by maybe 2-4C, but it won't be a breakthrough....the likelihood of lowering temps beyond that is very, very unlikely.

edit: another thing you can do is remove the flow bracket from the back of your card. It will be very unsightly and void your warranty though.

 

[wsarahan]

I can't see how a BIOS flash could possibly improve your situation in terms of lower temps - which by the way, is fine. The only thing a BIOS flash would do is possibly lower your p3 state voltage (you DONT WANT this) or increase your default fan settings. I just can't see how a BIOS flash would help temps. You could conceivably flash your BIOS for better performance by increasing voltage, however that would increase your temps further.

The most productive thing you can do is really re-applying TIM and adding some additional 120mm fans to improve airflow. I could see this improving temps by maybe 2-4C, but it won't be a breakthrough....the likelihood of lowering temps beyond that is very, very unlikely.

So new bios won`t fix performances and kinds of that right? For me the only gain will be to increase the fan speed up to 100% right?

 

[lavaheadache]

So new bios won`t fix performances and kinds of that right? For me the only gain will be to increase the fan speed up to 100% right?

plus voltage limit increases

 

[bleucharm28]

I think that's about the temp, given space between the cards. Maybe you can re-apply TIM.

Or put them in water.

 

[supremor]

As a 670 SLI user in a HAF-X case I'll also confirm your temps are fine especially for what appears to be reference cards. My top card reaches around 78-80C but I've seen it hit 89 in Crysis 3 on a particularly hot day.
Bottom card tends to be 15-20C cooler than the top one because it has more room to breathe.

 

[YBS1]

Try swapping your cards positions. It sounds crazy and I don't understand why but in my particular situation one of my 680 Lightnings does not like being the primary card. With my first Lightning as the primary there is usually only about a 5-7 degree difference in load temps between the two cards. When I tried using the second Lightning as the primary I was seeing a gap of about 10-15 degrees between the two cards and the second Lightning was generally running about 10 degrees warmer than the original Lightning was as the primary.

I should note I'm using a HAF XB case (horizontal motherboard mounting) with the top mounted 200mm exhaust fan, so i don't suffer from typical card stacking heat related issues. Differences in temps between my cards should in theory at least be limited to how much work the particular card is doing and it's individual thermal characteristics.

 

[wsarahan]

As a 670 SLI user in a HAF-X case I'll also confirm your temps are fine especially for what appears to be reference cards. My top card reaches around 78-80C but I've seen it hit 89 in Crysis 3 on a particularly hot day.
Bottom card tends to be 15-20C cooler than the top one because it has more room to breathe.

Yeah, It`s reference cards

Thanks for help

 

[wsarahan]

Try swapping your cards positions. It sounds crazy and I don't understand why but in my particular situation one of my 680 Lightnings does not like being the primary card. With my first Lightning as the primary there is usually only about a 5-7 degree difference in load temps between the two cards. When I tried using the second Lightning as the primary I was seeing a gap of about 10-15 degrees between the two cards and the second Lightning was generally running about 10 degrees warmer than the original Lightning was as the primary.

I should note I'm using a HAF XB case (horizontal motherboard mounting) with the top mounted 200mm exhaust fan, so i don't suffer from typical card stacking heat related issues. Differences in temps between my cards should in theory at least be limited to how much work the particular card is doing and it's individual thermal characteristics.

I think I`ll try switch the cards, let`s see