Wedge soundcard b/w GTX 460 SLi setup?

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PRogers86

Limp Gawd
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I'm running GTX 460's in sli, and the only available PCI slot is right in between both video cards. Would it be much of an issue if I crammed the Xonar DG in between the two video cards (on an ASrock Extreme 4 z77 mobo)? The DG doesn't seem that tall, so I'm wondering if it will still allow the top GTX 460 to suck in enough air to not cause any problems. Anyone have any experience with doing this? Thanks.
 
it sure would get toasty in there, if I were you I'd watercool the top card
 
goodl said:
it sure would get toasty in there, if I were you I'd watercool the top card
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Spending money on water cooling just to install a $30 sound card would defeat the purpose of buying a budget sound card.

No one is running a pci card right underneath their GPU's intake fan? Surely someone can speak from experience.
 
when i ran SLI 460's i briefly tested a soundcard between them and they did surprisingly well, temperature-wise. i didn't test extensively but i remember thinking i could live with that setup if need be. of course lots of factors affect this. i have a case with decent air flow (CM Sniper BE w/ 200mm side fan pointing directly at the cards), a mobo with decent spacing between slots, and my 460's were MSI TFII cards but were oc'd to 800mhz.

^that's sort of a wishy-washy response, but in my situation i could have gotten away with running a soundcard between the 460's.
 
You can also try one of those USB sound cards. I hear they have gotten very good now.
 
Porter_ said:
when i ran SLI 460's i briefly tested a soundcard between them and they did surprisingly well, temperature-wise. i didn't test extensively but i remember thinking i could live with that setup if need be. of course lots of factors affect this. i have a case with decent air flow (CM Sniper BE w/ 200mm side fan pointing directly at the cards), a mobo with decent spacing between slots, and my 460's were MSI TFII cards but were oc'd to 800mhz.

^that's sort of a wishy-washy response, but in my situation i could have gotten away with running a soundcard between the 460's.
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Thanks. That's actually kind of helpful. The soundcard is only $30, I might just try it out and see how it goes.
 
martinje said:
You can also try one of those USB sound cards. I hear they have gotten very good now.
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The one's I've been looking at are significantly more expensive than the pci Xonar DG. Do you know of any headphone-amplifying USB devices for less than $50?
 
I ran a sound card in between my GTX280's for several years. Didn't affect my temps a single degree. I say go for it. Use a floppy ribbon type SLI connector instead of the rigid one that comes with the motherboard to make it easier over the top of the sound card. Either bridge will work, but you may find you can't place the rigid one "all the way down" if your sound card is slightly taller like mine was. SLI connectors are 10 bucks at microcenter.
 
PRogers86 said:
The one's I've been looking at are significantly more expensive than the pci Xonar DG. Do you know of any headphone-amplifying USB devices for less than $50?
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How about $65? This Fiio E7 is one of the best USB DAC + Headphone amp for the money: http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-Portable...e=UTF8&qid=1346356224&sr=1-1&keywords=fiio+e7

Although I'd still recommend the E7 for the excellent quality of the sound / headphone amp; I've had no issues running a sound card between SLI cards as long as the cards are exhausting out of the case.
 
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This is all assuming that you have an axial fan, the kind that comes with the original nVidia design of the GTX 460.

OP, when you say "cause problems", it really depends on what you mean. If for example one of your cards is in slot 1, the other GPU is in slot 4, and slot 3 is open, you will NOT overheat the top GPU just by putting a sound card in the middle. But what will happen is that you will increase the amount of resistance that the top GPU's fan has to deal with. In the same way that putting a fan grill or a mesh filter in front of a fan increases air resistance and lowers airflow, the same thing happens if you put an obstruction like a sound card in between your 460s. The obstruction will of course be a smaller problem with low profile sound cards.

Now, how big will this obstruction be? It depends. We can't tell you for certain how much it will hurt your temperatures but my prediction is that it will increase your top card's temperature by 5-10* C, somewhere in that range.

chronicfx said:
I ran a sound card in between my GTX280's for several years. Didn't affect my temps a single degree. I say go for it. Use a floppy ribbon type SLI connector instead of the rigid one that comes with the motherboard to make it easier over the top of the sound card. Either bridge will work, but you may find you can't place the rigid one "all the way down" if your sound card is slightly taller like mine was. SLI connectors are 10 bucks at microcenter.
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There's a good reason for this. Did your GTX 280s have a blower style heatsink that exhausts the hot air out of the back of the case? That is why. The GTX 280 is 10.5 inches long. The fan starts at 7 inches and ends at about 10 inches. The average sound card is something like 6 inches long. So the sound card didn't impede the flow of fresh air to the fans.

I made a lot of assumptions about your exact configuration (blower fan on graphic card, sound card less than 7 inches long). Please correct me if I'm wrong.
 
I'm running a dual band wireless network card in the single available slot between two 680s right now and it has been working perfectly without any noticeable increase in temps.
 
XacTactX said:
This is all assuming that you have an axial fan, the kind that comes with the original nVidia design of the GTX 460.

OP, when you say "cause problems", it really depends on what you mean. If for example one of your cards is in slot 1, the other GPU is in slot 4, and slot 3 is open, you will NOT overheat the top GPU just by putting a sound card in the middle. But what will happen is that you will increase the amount of resistance that the top GPU's fan has to deal with. In the same way that putting a fan grill or a mesh filter in front of a fan increases air resistance and lowers airflow, the same thing happens if you put an obstruction like a sound card in between your 460s. The obstruction will of course be a smaller problem with low profile sound cards.

Now, how big will this obstruction be? It depends. We can't tell you for certain how much it will hurt your temperatures but my prediction is that it will increase your top card's temperature by 5-10* C, somewhere in that range.




There's a good reason for this. Did your GTX 280s have a blower style heatsink that exhausts the hot air out of the back of the case? That is why. The GTX 280 is 10.5 inches long. The fan starts at 7 inches and ends at about 10 inches. The average sound card is something like 6 inches long. So the sound card didn't impede the flow of fresh air to the fans.

I made a lot of assumptions about your exact configuration (blower fan on graphic card, sound card less than 7 inches long). Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Click to expand...

The assumptions are correct, I forgot they started that center fan non-reference design in the 400 series.. I thought those started on the 500 series. So my experience is irrelevant unless OP is running reference design cards. I say try it, if you don't like it take it out. Let me know how it goes.
 
PRogers86 said:
I'm running GTX 460's in sli, and the only available PCI slot is right in between both video cards. Would it be much of an issue if I crammed the Xonar DG in between the two video cards (on an ASrock Extreme 4 z77 mobo)? The DG doesn't seem that tall, so I'm wondering if it will still allow the top GTX 460 to suck in enough air to not cause any problems. Anyone have any experience with doing this? Thanks.
Click to expand...

I've done this with GTX 470 reference models and an X-Fi XtremeGamer PCI card without extra issue on temperatures. That card is fairly short (I still use it today actually heh) and only obstructed maybe 1/4-1/5 of the fan's area, for reference.

Your mileage may vary, but if you have good airflow or a side panel fan blowing on the cards, I wouldn't worry about it.
 
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