Noob question on GPUs and heat/performance profiles

[pejx]

I am building myself a gaming rig, after about 25 years away from computer games - i.e. the age of the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST!

Am trying to decide on which GPUs to purchase. I plan to end up with an SLI or CF setup, but will probably only get one GPU to start with if it is powerful enough, then add a 2nd GPU later. I have a 1440p monitor, and mostly plan on playing FPS and Rome II Total War.

Having done some research, I think I'll get either an AMD R9 290 or NV GTX 780 6GB. Would prefer the former since better price/performance ratio, but am concerned about noise and heat. Am building this in a Silverstone FT02 case. I do not want to bother with watercooling.

I have three sets of questions, that I need help with:

1) I see that the MSI AMD R9 290 Gaming 4G cards have three different modes - Silent/Gaming/OC. How do these work? How does one select the mode? Do all AMD cards have this? Is it part of the generic AMD software/driver setup or are these modes specific to particular brands?

2) Do NVidia cards have similar user-controllable profiles for different noise/heat/performance tradeoffs?

I already bought a motherboard and PSU:
MSI Z97 Gaming 5
850W Seasonic Evo Bronze Powersupply-SS-850AM2
I will be buying the Intel 4690k when it is released over here in the UK.

3) Are there any other considerations regarding heat/noise I should think about, especially with my plan to eventually have 2 GPUS in SLI or CF? For example, my MSI Z97 Gaming 5 demands the GPUs go in slots 2 and 5, which means only a single slot gap, i.e. about 20mm. Is this enough for R9 290s in CF or will the card in slot 2 tend to overheat? If I get 2 x Sapphire R9 290 Vapor-X the gap will only be 13mm. Will that be enough?

Thanks a lot everyone, in advance, for any suggestions and help!

 

[monkeydelmagico]

1) Software controlled.
2) Yes, because virtually all higher end cards can be fan controlled with utilites like afterburner, trixx, etc.
3) You picked a very good case for multi GPU. Just be prepared for a bit more noise once you go multi-gpu. The top card in any SLI/Crossfire setup is going to be a little louder because heat rises.

 

[pejx]

Thanks a lot monkeydelmagico. Much appreciated.

Isn't Afterburner an MSI app? Will it work with other cards? Or are you saying there are similar, easily available, apps for all brands of card?

Also, please can you tell me your thoughts on the 20mm gap between cards in CF/SLI? And what about if it is reduced to 13mm with cards that are 2.5 slots wide? In my FT02 case the cards will "hang" vertically with the DVI ports at the top of the case. I mean, there won't be a "top" card and a "bottom" card, rather "left" and "right"...

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Afterburner works for other cards. Saphire makes one called Trixx, but it too works for many different cards.

Maximizing the gap is going to help keep the "top" card cool. For your case orientation it will be on the right.

If I were in your shoes I would probably purchase the gtx 780 for a few reasons: They inherently run cooler than R9 cards due to GPU design and wattage , have generally better cooling solutions on top of that, and SLI is simply a better solution for multi-GPU performance.

 

[pejx]

Afterburner works for other cards. Saphire makes one called Trixx, but it too works for many different cards.

Maximizing the gap is going to help keep the "top" card cool. For your case orientation it will be on the right.

If I were in your shoes I would probably purchase the gtx 780 for a few reasons: They inherently run cooler due to GPU design and wattage than R9 cards, have generally better cooling solutions on top of that, and SLI is simply a better solution for multi-GPU performance.

Yeah, I was thinking I should get the 780 too. Is just that the price/performance ratio is so attractive on the R9 290. And the 290's memory bandwidth is much better, which I sense could be quite an important bottleneck in my planned setup with two quite powerful GPUs and 4gb or 6gb in each - or am I wrong on that...? Also, without wishing to prompt any heated arguments, is it true that NVidia drivers are usually better than AMD's? Not just the multi-GPU drivers, but generally?

 

[DeathReborn]

Yeah, I was thinking I should get the 780 too. Is just that the price/performance ratio is so attractive on the R9 290. And the 290's memory bandwidth is much better, which I sense could be quite an important bottleneck in my planned setup with two quite powerful GPUs and 4gb or 6gb in each - or am I wrong on that...? Also, without wishing to prompt any heated arguments, is it true that NVidia drivers are usually better than AMD's? Not just the multi-GPU drivers, but generally?

Cheapest R9 290 in the UK is Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 4GB OC @ a cool £277.07, no cheaper 290's at all. For the 780 you're looking at a Palit GTX780 JetStream for cheapest 6GB card @ £389.05.

With AMD's new XDMA Crossfire is actually better than SLi at the moment.

For reference this is the 290: https://www.atombuy.net/graphics-ca...-pci-express-graphics-card-4895106269286.html

11227-00-40G is the Reference code for the OC model.

I bought a pair of reference 290X cards from there last week (while they were £299) and am going to replace the coolers with the Corsair HG10 & H55 Water coolers.

 

[pejx]

Cheapest R9 290 in the UK is Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 4GB OC @ a cool £277.07, no cheaper 290's at all. For the 780 you're looking at a Palit GTX780 JetStream for cheapest 6GB card @ £389.05.

With AMD's new XDMA Crossfire is actually better than SLi at the moment.

For reference this is the 290: https://www.atombuy.net/graphics-ca...-pci-express-graphics-card-4895106269286.html

11227-00-40G is the Reference code for the OC model.

I bought a pair of reference 290X cards from there last week (while they were £299) and am going to replace the coolers with the Corsair HG10 & H55 Water coolers.

Exactly - we have to pay 40% more for NVidia! I can't decide...

 

[kawi6rr]

You can't go wrong with 2 R9 290's, easily OC'd, price for performance is to hard to beat to not go that route.

 

[pejx]

New questions:

4) Does anyone here know what the heat/noise is like in a well-ventilated crossfire setup of 2 x Sapphire R9 290 Vapor-X but with only a 13mm gap between them? (i.e. a one-slot gap of 20mm, minus the 7mm extra card width)

That would be *really* handy to know...!
(I want the Vapor-X for the longevity of the ball bearing fans. For the same reason I will probably buy EVGA ACX if I go for GTX 780s)

5) With Sapphire Trixx (or the EVGA equivalent) will I easily be able to underclock the cards a bit to reduce heat? Would that make sense?

 

[monkeydelmagico]

The Sapphire Vapor-x has one of the best cooling of any of the R9 cards but you can't expect miracles. Putting the fans so close to the back of another card means it will run at higher RPM's to stay cool

Yes, the utilities will allow you to underclock your GPU's.

 

[pejx]

The Sapphire Vapor-x has one of the best cooling of any of the R9 cards but you can't expect miracles. Putting the fans so close to the back of another card means it will run at higher RPM's to stay cool

Yes, the utilities will allow you to underclock your GPU's.

Thanks (again). Am now thinking maybe the best thing for me is to get a pair of reference R9 290X cards (which apparently have ball bearing fans) and underclock them to the "silent" mode. Would be powerful enough for any games I am likely to throw at them (especially since 1440p doesn't need much AA) and be a relatively cheap option, right?

 

[monkeydelmagico]

reference r9 290x cards at release had some of the worst cooling I've ever seen. I would avoid reference cards. The aftermarket has managed to get the 290x's to air cool well enough in single card use. Crossfired 290x's is going to be loud. Be prepared.

Yes, even a single 290x will be plenty powerful for 1440. Cheap? Really depends on what you call cheap.

 

[Bubbleawsome]

The partner HIS tends to release better blowers for flagship cards. I don't know if they will pull it off this time, but the HIS 7950 was fantastic for putting all the heat out of the case.

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

New questions:

4) Does anyone here know what the heat/noise is like in a well-ventilated crossfire setup of 2 x Sapphire R9 290 Vapor-X but with only a 13mm gap between them? (i.e. a one-slot gap of 20mm, minus the 7mm extra card width)

That would be *really* handy to know...!
(I want the Vapor-X for the longevity of the ball bearing fans. For the same reason I will probably buy EVGA ACX if I go for GTX 780s)

5) With Sapphire Trixx (or the EVGA equivalent) will I easily be able to underclock the cards a bit to reduce heat? Would that make sense?

The ATI cards are much cheaper than Nvidia, If your partial I understand my wallet knows no loyalty when it comes to money. My suggestion
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202079

 

[pejx]

Thanks everyone for your help. You have prompted me to find and read through a few old forum discussions on the Silverstone FT02 and it indeed seems like "blower" type fans are the way to go with this case.

I have ruled out 290(x) reference cards based on noise/heat. I would get a GTX 780 reference card if one existed with 6GB, but it seems not. Am reluctant to buy a GTX 780 3GB at the moment when it seems 3GB VRAM is just beginning to be a bottleneck for some games (even if only because they are badly designed). Also there is surely going to be a new release soon from NVidia... I can't believe they will just leave the current situation as it stands with the 290(x) so far ahead of the 780 in price/performance terms.

Well, it's summer now and I have waited 25 years (since I sold my Commodore Amiga!) to get back into gaming. I think I'll just wait a bit longer until high-end Maxwell and get the first Reference card released with a blower. Or AMD if they come out with something less hot & noisy with a blower fan.