Overheating crossfire Setup 280X

sc3252

Gawd
Joined
Jan 3, 2005
Messages
680
Hi guys, I am having some issues with heat on my new 280x's. I bought two Gigabyte 280x tri fan cards (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125490) and the top card almost always hits 95C(I stop the card around this point) or higher after 5-6 minutes of use. I have picked up 3 more fans, 2 120MM fans(antec tricool) and 1 140MM(bottom of my case), but none of it seems to stop the issue.

The configuration of the fans right now are as listed.
Video card case fan is pulling air out(Antec 79CFM), I tried pushing but the whole case becomes a furnace.

Bottom fan is pushing air in(not sure the name, says it is 64CFM)

case front fan is pushing air in(coolmaster default, pretty low rpm)

back fan is pulling air out(Antec 79CFM)

The Video cards are positioned 110220(1 is first video card, 2 is the second, and zero is open slot).

Below is the case I am using. (I can buy another one, but dont' want to waste the money if I don't need to).

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7348075&SRCCODE=WEBGOOPA&cm_mmc_o=mH4CjC7BBTkwCjCV1-CjCE&gclid=CKXei9bzqLsCFQ1yQgodsHsAPg

I would love to get some advice on what needs to be done to fix this issue. The only way I have been able to keep the cards bellow 90C is placing placing the case on its side and then placing a fan pulling air out on the cards(and then it only hits 90C). Once I get home I can show some pictures, but right now I can't provide any.

Thanks any advice or suggestions provided

PC Configuration:

Intel 3570K @ stock
8GB 1600Mhz
ASUS P8Z77-V LE LGA 1155
2TB Segate Hard drive
500GB WD
OCZ vertex 4 128
2x GIGABYTE GV-R928XOC-3GD REV2
Corsair 850hx
 
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Without seeing pictures, and barring any hardware issues; have you tested each card alone, individually?

I'd say this is a typical problem with running two windforce cards unfortunately. The fin direction makes it so that hot air gets trapped under the card against the motherboard. If a second card is right under it, there is nowhere for that hot air to go except back into a fan.

Placing a fan at the end of the cards to help air move should help a little. Having as many empty slots between the cards as possible would help a lot. Just overall these coolers aren't the best for multicard setups.
 
Without seeing pictures, and barring any hardware issues; have you tested each card alone, individually?

I'd say this is a typical problem with running two windforce cards unfortunately. The fin direction makes it so that hot air gets trapped under the card. If a second card is right under it, there is nowhere for that hot air to go except back into a fan.

Placing a fan at the end of the cards to help air move should help a little. Having as many empty slots between the cards as possible would help a lot. Just overall these coolers aren't the best for multicard setups.

Individually they get around 74C and 78C(i have this on the bottom).

Might not be a bad idea to put a fan at the end. Will probably have to cut up the hard drive bay to do it though. Do you think I should be pushing air at the gpu or pulling it away.

I will post some pictures when I get home, I just didn't have any time to grab some before leaving for work.

Pretty pissed about the design of the cards, it really is bad..

Thanks,
 
I had the Gigabyte 7970 (essentially the same card as the R9 280X) running as the inner card in a Crossfire setup in my daily driver. I also observed the high temperatures under load, as it was running in the low 90C range at 100% fans. At that time, I had all of my case fans running at the low setting. I turned each up to medium (primarily the 2x 120mm on the top and 1x 120mm on the back, all outbound) and the card temp dropped significantly - down to around 80c at a lower percent fan. The air coming out of the case was also quite toasty.

Therefore, if you can adjust your airflow inside your case, you can likely improve upon the temps, but overall, the Windforce 3X does not seem to be the inner card of a multi-card setup...
 
Are you mining with it or gaming? Mining will be a bit more demanding. I have 2 7970/280x combo in my Antec 1200 and it was getting pretty warm in there, even with all 4 intake fans running @ full speed ( replaced top 5.25 bays with another drive bay + fan)

I had to actually put an exhaust fan on the side panel, which you seem to have 2 slots for (80mm/90mm??) I'd put both of those to exhaust, and try to get cool air from the front between the cards if possible.
 
Are you mining with it or gaming? Mining will be a bit more demanding. I have 2 7970/280x combo in my Antec 1200 and it was getting pretty warm in there, even with all 4 intake fans running @ full speed ( replaced top 5.25 bays with another drive bay + fan)

I had to actually put an exhaust fan on the side panel, which you seem to have 2 slots for (80mm/90mm??) I'd put both of those to exhaust, and try to get cool air from the front between the cards if possible.
I am using one of the exhaust side panels now(120MM), but the other one is blocked by a pretty big heat sink on the CPU. When I get home I am going to try cutting some metal off the case and fitting a 120MM pointing at the sandwich card and see if that helps. Also yes, I am trying to mine with them. I am only using one right now, since I am pretty sure I would fry the other over an extended period.
 
I am using one of the exhaust side panels now(120MM), but the other one is blocked by a pretty big heat sink on the CPU. When I get home I am going to try cutting some metal off the case and fitting a 120MM pointing at the sandwich card and see if that helps. Also yes, I am trying to mine with them. I am only using one right now, since I am pretty sure I would fry the other over an extended period.

One exhaust fan should do it there, just to get rid of the hot air coming off of the heatsinks.

Is the air hot coming out? is dumping out a lot of air? can you turn your intake fan up?

I had to actually remove my fan filters from the lower most intake to get more cold air to the bottom card
 
One exhaust fan should do it there, just to get rid of the hot air coming off of the heatsinks.

Is the air hot coming out? is dumping out a lot of air? can you turn your intake fan up?

I had to actually remove my fan filters from the lower most intake to get more cold air to the bottom card

yeah, it is taking lots of heat out when both the cards are running, even when just that top one is running it is dumping out a lot. As far as turning up the intake, I can't since those fans don't have controllers.The air inside the case isn't really terrible though, so I think I will just try attaching a fan on the end of the cards pushing towards the back of the PC and see what happens.
 
I had the same thing, exact same cards in crossfire I have to open the side of the case and the noise is awful. I have a good case with 3x140mm fans blowing from below and 120mm exhausting up top, the motherboard is rotated 90 degrees. But they both shut down due to overheating, it is also summer here. So I fixed it by selling one of the 280x's and am now waiting on a Asus CU2 290 when it is released. Those cards are loud as, even single.

Best of luck.
 
I had the same thing, exact same cards in crossfire I have to open the side of the case and the noise is awful. I have a good case with 3x140mm fans blowing from below and 120mm exhausting up top, the motherboard is rotated 90 degrees. But they both shut down due to overheating, it is also summer here. So I fixed it by selling one of the 280x's and am now waiting on a Asus CU2 290 when it is released. Those cards are loud as, even single.

Best of luck.

Yeah, these cards are pretty ridiculous. I wish Hard and others would test these cards in Crossfire before giving them a yay or nay....

Anyways, back to the topic. I put two fans pointing in from either side(one from outside the case) the other behind the cards. I think I am going to give up, the top is hitting 93C and it is under-clocked by close to 300Mhz...
 
What are your ambients like? 78 degrees is a bit on the high end I think when using one card. I'm thinking either your ambients are a problem, or your case airflow is a problem, or both.

Ideally you should have more intakes than outtakes. Maybe one or two front intakes, a side intake (this helps A LOT with feeding the cards cool air) and potentially a bottom intake. And then add a rear outtake and perhaps a top outtake.
 
What are your ambients like? 78 degrees is a bit on the high end I think when using one card. I'm thinking either your ambients are a problem, or your case airflow is a problem, or both.

Ideally you should have more intakes than outtakes. Maybe one or two front intakes, a side intake (this helps A LOT with feeding the cards cool air) and potentially a bottom intake. And then add a rear outtake and perhaps a top outtake.

My house is in the low 70's. One card alone(as in I took the other one out) is hitting 78C at 850Mhz...
 
These gigabyte cards are a piece of shit and their win force coolers are a joke. They will easily overheat if you don't have a fan pointed between them. If I was going to keep them they would of already had waterblocks .

Try a 120 or 140 fan pointed at them. If this does the trick , consider mounting the fan from the side of your case if you have a window. On most cases it's a direct shot. I dropped my temps down to 71c first card and 73c second card with a fan pointed in the middle at full load .

Goodluck, wish you would of seen me warning people to stay away from these shitty ass gigabyte 280s...
 
These gigabyte cards are a piece of shit and their win force coolers are a joke. They will easily overheat if you don't have a fan pointed between them. If I was going to keep them they would of already had waterblocks .

Try a 120 or 140 fan pointed at them. If this does the trick , consider mounting the fan from the side of your case if you have a window. On most cases it's a direct shot. I dropped my temps down to 71c first card and 73c second card with a fan pointed in the middle at full load .

Goodluck, wish you would of seen me warning people to stay away from these shitty ass gigabyte 280s...

Are they really that bad? I've got two Gigabyte GTX 760's with the windforce coolers and they do pretty well. I was thinking of selling them and getting two of these cards for mining purposes.
 
Are they really that bad? I've got two Gigabyte GTX 760's with the windforce coolers and they do pretty well. I was thinking of selling them and getting two of these cards for mining purposes.

Yes they are really that bad.

I would highly suggest against using windforce cards to mine. Or at least use pcie extender cables. Gaming is not as bad as the cards rarely are going at 100% for extended periods of time, and with a well ventilated case it has time to change the air inside, 100% of the hot air is being dumped inside.

But with mining, the cards are going to their limits, beyond what normal gaming would do. Mining just brings to surface a fundamental design flaw in the windforce cards. Review sites don't pickup on it for the most part because they use open air test benches which helps negate the problem. Both AMD & nvidia are affected the same way.

As for the R9 290x windforce rumored to be coming out.... *shudder*....! :eek: nononononono!
 
weren't they "supposed" to run at 95°C? As in, by default, CCC will clock the card so that it will stay at exactly 95°C under every load and at 40% (i think it was 40?) fanspeed.
 
weren't they "supposed" to run at 95°C? As in, by default, CCC will clock the card so that it will stay at exactly 95°C under every load and at 40% (i think it was 40?) fanspeed.

The problem isn't the gpu, it's the windforce cooler making your computer case a portable oven. The more Watts a gpu uses, the hotter the oven the windforce makes. Well, until it overheats itself which is the OP's initial issue.
 
weren't they "supposed" to run at 95°C? As in, by default, CCC will clock the card so that it will stay at exactly 95°C under every load and at 40% (i think it was 40?) fanspeed.

The 290/290x yes, not the 280x. Ideally it should be running 75 degrees or under while under load (that's with decent cooling). Of course with CF it will run hotter. Generally most people would want sub 85 degree temps with 280x in CF, sub 80 if possible.

OP, have you tried under volting? SOme 280xs come with too high a stock voltage.
 
I may have missed ths, but have you tried runningit with the side panel removed? If that fixes your problem then likely a newer, bigger case with a side 200+mm fan would fix your issues.
 
I may have missed ths, but have you tried runningit with the side panel removed? If that fixes your problem then likely a newer, bigger case with a side 200+mm fan would fix your issues.

If you would of seen my response, this was covered.


But yeah, I'll never own another gigabyte product from here on out. Done with their bullshit.
 
How is it Gigabyte's fault that you don't know how to properly ventilate your case?
They're in the 70's individually and one of them is hitting 90C+ in crossfire, so why are we blaming Gigabyte?

The cards are open-air coolers, they're designed to blow air off the GPU and into your case. They're not going to magically make the hot air disappear. That's what the shitty AMD blowers are for.
 
How is it Gigabyte's fault that you don't know how to properly ventilate your case?
They're in the 70's individually and one of them is hitting 90C+ in crossfire, so why are we blaming Gigabyte?

The cards are open-air coolers, they're designed to blow air off the GPU and into your case. They're not going to magically make the hot air disappear. That's what the shitty AMD blowers are for.

Yeah because none of us have properly ventilated cases... Only experts like you do...
 
How is it Gigabyte's fault that you don't know how to properly ventilate your case?
They're in the 70's individually and one of them is hitting 90C+ in crossfire, so why are we blaming Gigabyte?

The cards are open-air coolers, they're designed to blow air off the GPU and into your case. They're not going to magically make the hot air disappear. That's what the shitty AMD blowers are for.
Even when I had the case off a 120MM fan rated at "79 cfm" on top blowing away from the cards, and 2 other fans blowing from the sides at the cards.. it was still in the low 90s or high 80s(the top card), also the sound was ridiculously loud. Right now I am wondering if I just got a defective batch or something.

Someone else posted on Gigabytes forum about the same issue, so I think these cards are just crap. Considering right now if I should just return them.

http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,13646.0.html

Right now I only have one of the cards in my case and it is at 80C under load.
 
For about a week I had a Gigabyte R9 280X crossfired with MSI 7950 Twin Frozr 3 (I have sold both cards with a profit and bought a R9 290)

They were running super hot when gigabyte was on top - it reached quickly 90c on 100% fan speed. It was much better when I swapped cards (AFAIR something like 85c/60% 7950 and 75c/60% R9 290 while mining, gaming temperatures were about 10c lower)

It was definately caused by disrupted airflow and pushing heat into the case by both cards, but mainly 7950 Twin Frozr 3 I think. I have ordered a fan because I figured that side-exhaust would help a lot, but I received it after selling my cf :p

CPU temperatures went down by about 10-15c after I got rid of the CF too. Now I know that 2-GPU you want reference design (but not the kind of R9 290, CF would boil) or a specific nonreference, which does not pump the heat into the case

My advice is: selling those cards with a profit while you can and get something else
 
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