280x crossfire cooling advice please :)

[EarthDog]

Why are there two crossfire bridges?

 

[jboydgolfer]

I have that Motherboard in MY machine...If You have a Bottom Case vent, turn the PSU upside down...thats how I have mine installed... I have learned to hate those Audio headers @ the bottom of the board over time.

 

[Norton]

You can try standing up a fan on the psu at the side of the cards- a 140mm or even better, a 180mm, fan at the side of the cards will blow a surprising amount of heat away from them. I typically got a 5C minimum drop in temps when I put a Silverstone AP180 fan in that spot (dual GTX 580's folding and 3x7770's crunching).

Second option is fitting an intake fan in the spot front of your psu to feed fresh air to the cards but your case looks too tight to try that?

 

[vnl7]

Why are there two crossfire bridges?

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Bigger case or a case with different PSU placement? That 690 has got to be getting old to you by now.

 

[Ferrum Master]

Put the PSU in 5 inch bay, rewire!

 

[OneMoar]

or water cooling

 

[GhostRyder]

Can I add a third option?

Why not put a 120mm fan blowing towards the video cards while doing step number 3. If you do that most of the air should leave the case which would keep things failyr cool and quiet especially if you use a low RPM fan.

 

[Darksword]

You need to fix both issues to solve this problem: 1) get a different motherboard with better PCIE spacing; 2) get a larger case with more clearance between the GPU and PSU.

Or...just forget CrossFire altogether and upgrade to a new faster single GPU card. Just buy from the internet if there's no local market to buy from.

I really think that's the best option.

 

[Caring1]

what? its called air flow. cold air comes in the top fans, then out the H80. front and side come in and cool the GPU's somewhat before leaving out the PSU.

Top fans should be drawing hot air out.
Side fans create turbulence and should be avoided.
Cool air should be drawn in from the bottom and lower front.

 

[Megatron]

what? its called air flow. cold air comes in the top fans, then out the H80. front and side come in and cool the GPU's somewhat before leaving out the PSU.

If you think fans cancel each other out, i rather suspect you dont grasp how air cooling works.

Hot air rises, GPU fans are always sucking air in from below; another vote for flipping PSU if its possible. When I first got my P180 I tested a fan in the top but found no fan gave better CPU temps.

I suggest you test each configuration out as it is probably more significant in your climate than a colder ambient.

 

[Bansaku]

How about simply buying a new case that is larger? More room, more airflow, and best of all, the cheapest option that will benefit you in the future.

 

[EarthDog]

Top fans should be drawing hot air out.
Cool air should be drawn in from the bottom and lower front.

This. Front/sides = intake, top/rear = exhaust. While essentially negligible, don't fight 'hot air rises'. That PSU fan isn't doing much at all so its position really doesn't matter much.

Who cares about turbulence with a side fan. Its about getting cooler air where it needs to go.


I never understood this (to me - Flawed) logic of reversing things. Wow, you ruined airFLOW within the case just to get your CPU a couple of degrees cooler? Things inside the case will be cooler if you run things 'naturally' (in most cases). You dont benchmark, so getting your CPU a couple C cooler means little to you, however, proper airFLOW, does.

I shall ask again... why 2 CFx bridges???

 

[Dieinafire]

Your best move would be to contact your local fire department and see if they could supply you with water cooling. This is what I did back when I have crossfired 6850s.

 

[EarthDog]

Dat knee... dat slappin...