Upgraded to 290 xfire in HTPC case for 1080P

[Attic]

Been considering it for awhile. Initially I had major heat problems running 270 non x in crossfire in this setup. So the transformation was a bit shocking, but it's working. Actually before that I was having major heat issues with a 5770 in this same case and shelving area. Had to evolve the area quite a bit since then, but ultimately it's still pretty stealthed and quiet. And I should be pretty capable for 60fps mins and MAX details.

It's the Lian Li PC33B HTPC case. Had to mod it to make room for the dual 290 PCS+ cards. Running on a Corsair AX860.

I added a 140mm blowhole in the back of my entertainment shelving and it along with dual 80mm blow holes are my exhausts for the shelf the Lian Li sits on.

What got me suitable temp wise was the 2.5slot coolers on the PCS+ combined with 50mv undervolt and -30% powertarget. Cards are running at 900c/1250m with temps for Card 1/2 maxing around 75c/68c and VRM temps all around below 80c.

As for performance my firestrike graphics score was 11300 with (1) 290@1040/1350 and it's up to 17300 with the current setup.

I'll be messing around with 4xSSAA in some titles and Crysis 3 at Very High Spec and looking for 60fps mins, all of which were unattainable with 290x@1200/1500


The cards are pretty efficient from what i'm seeing when underclocked/undervolted, i'll break out a watt meter soon.

The one immediately irritating thing i've noticed is that Alt-Tabbing appears to be dropping Crossfire when I get back into benches or games...

 

[dmoney1980]

Pics? That sounds like a hell of a HTPC setup!

 

[Attic]

Yep, I was all worked up while prepping this tonight and forgot to snap pics. It's a bit of a PITA to unplug various cables and pull it out, but i'll get pics updated soon. It's basically a bunch of meat in the 290's slammed right next to eachother and that's half the innards of the case. The 290 PCS+ are big enough with the backplate they seem to take up basically 3 slots each.

 

[alcoholbob]

290 XF in an HTPC. Might be the loudest HTPC ever, lol.

 

[Attic]

Nice and quiet until I game, lol. And here at gaming it's slightly too much noise for me. I'm as picky as anyone on that front though. Top card, in horizontal config, is getting into 2700-3200rpm's. I still have some tweaking left to do on that front. I may just let it get hotter through custom fan profile in MSI AB. Powercolor is a bit too aggressive with fan speeds vs temp by default on these cards.

I like the thing silent for music listening which it basically is. Case fan speeds are tied to CPU temp for dropping or increasing their speed, still tweaking here for best results of silence vs temps in usage. 2nd GPU drops totally off outside of gaming which is really nice.


Now down to 875c/1100m -100mv and power target lifted to 0 from -30. I think reducing power target is probably wrong approach here. Firestrike graphics score now 16,900. Noticed throttling even at reduced clocks on GPU 2 when power target was -30 (not temp related). If I can't make this work i'll return to single OC'd 290x. ASIC quality on the cards is 79% and 80%.

 

[Attic]

Was able to get it humming at 930/1250 -37mv for the 2 cards.

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/3577627?
19.7k for Firestrike graphics score

Top card hits 85c and with a custom fan profile it's peaking around 3000rpm's.


Still doesn't max everything for 60fps mins, but it's pretty damn close.

*Update: 975/1250 is running fine with the same -37mv, but I had to change fan configuration. I put the 140mm phantek blowing down over VRM1 (near power connectors) and also added a 140mm phantek perpendicular to the 120mm near the front of the case blowing towards the crossfire'd cards. This results in 85-88c temps on top card and 84-87temps on VRM 1, bottom card get sto 75-76c. These temps are still with custom fan profile and it is a Very decent sound for gaming loads. 120mm-140mm Case fans running around 1200rpm's is the sound that stands out. Will deliver 60fps mins on anything i've tried so far (not watchdogs, but uninstalled that garbage last week) as long as I don't go crazy on SSAA. 2xSSAA seems fine.