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Reference or Aftermarket for SLI?

S

Sowexly

Gawd
Joined
Dec 4, 2011
Messages
544
I've heard that reference cards are the go to cooling solution for multi-card set-ups but I don't want my cards to be hot or loud, and I think I could space some in case heat.

I'm looking for any insight on this topic because I think that aftermarket is just the way to go either way.
 
Sowexly said:
I've heard that reference cards are the go to cooling solution for multi-card set-ups but I don't want my cards to be hot or loud, and I think I could space some in case heat.

I'm looking for any insight on this topic because I think that aftermarket is just the way to go either way.
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the reference cards vent heat outside the cabinet and are better than custom open type designs which vent air inside the cabinet. Also make sure there is atleast 3 slots or more between the 2 PCI-E graphics slots for good cooling. Because the upper card is the one you will face problems with cooling because of less space and air flow
 
raghu78 said:
the reference cards vent heat outside the cabinet and are better than custom open type designs which vent air inside the cabinet. Also make sure there is atleast 3 slots or more between the 2 PCI-E graphics slots for good cooling. Because the upper card is the one you will face problems with cooling because of less space and air flow
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I definitely have space for them I was thinking about when 3/4way SLI when the cards have to be touching basically.
 
Unless you watercool you're going to have to deal with some extra noise in a multicard setup.

I have personally found the cards with custom coolers that just blow air everywhere do not work very well in multicard setups. All that hot air gets blown around and will just get sucked back in. Cards with blowers venting outside work much better, and its way easier to give them a nice supply of fresh air with some fans blowing overtop of them.
 
Abit667 said:
Unless you watercool you're going to have to deal with some extra noise in a multicard setup.

I have personally found the cards with custom coolers that just blow air everywhere do not work very well in multicard setups. All that hot air gets blown around and will just get sucked back in. Cards with blowers venting outside work much better, and its way easier to give them a nice supply of fresh air with some fans blowing overtop of them.
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Well that clears that up now I've just got to finish my research about my motherboard handling 3 way SLI and I'll be ready to go.

Seems to me with the NF200 chip I will run them in 8x/8x/8x so I might lose about 4-8% performance which I guess is alright with this much power.
 
Reference coolers work very well with limited space.

Non-reference cards can work well if you find a way to force air in between them.
 
If the GPUs are going to be directly adjacent (like tri-SLI or something), I'd probably stick with reference-type cooler designs. If there is going to be space between them, non-reference would be fine provided you have good airflow into the case.

Non-reference coolers at least partially vent within the case. If the cards are directly adjacent, that air is going to be re-used; since it's hotter, the cooling capacity will be worse. Reference cards completely exhaust out the back of the case, so no issue.

So I'd say that your MB and case setup are just as important to consider. For example, if you're going with 670's on a board like the Sabertooth Z77, there will be one slot in between the cards (PCIe slots are triple spaced on that board). If you go with something else where PCIe slots are double spaced, and you're going to fill the board, then reference coolers may work out better.

What cards, MB, etc. are you considering?
 
Looking at FTW 670s and I have a Z68 FTW and my case is a 800D
No additional fans besides the exhaust at the top from my H100

If I was going to use non-reference I would be looking at the MSI Lighting 680 or something similar.
 
Sowexly said:
Looking at FTW 670s and I have a Z68 FTW and my case is a 800D
No additional fans besides the exhaust at the top from my H100

If I was going to use non-reference I would be looking at the MSI Lighting 680 or something similar.
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I'm running 2 x EVGA 670 FTW's in my TJ09 and they are quiet, cool, and powerful. One of the main reasons I chose them was that they vent outside the case.

They replaced 2 x 460's and being able to just use the same 2 x 6 pin power connectors for such a massive boost in graphics power was very nice.
 
If you go with 2 cards, you can install them with 2 PCIe slots in between. If 3 cards or more, then yea, go with an externally venting one.

If just 2, you'd be fine either way.
 
Limahl said:
I'm running 2 x EVGA 670 FTW's in my TJ09 and they are quiet, cool, and powerful. One of the main reasons I chose them was that they vent outside the case.

They replaced 2 x 460's and being able to just use the same 2 x 6 pin power connectors for such a massive boost in graphics power was very nice.
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If they were quiet compared to the 460s I doubt that's saying much.
 
Sowexly said:
If they were quiet compared to the 460s I doubt that's saying much.
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Considering I never heard the 460's fans once, and that the fans on the 670's can't be heard unless I seriously push the cards in repeated benchmark loops, thats saying a LOT in my mind.

Especially when you consider how much more powerful the 670's are. If not for the insane framerates, I'd think I still had my 460's in there for how quiet my PC is.
 
I have two MSI (I guess they are reference) GTX 670s in SLi in my computer.

My setup is really very quiet overall, but in gaming you can hear the fans ramp up. They aren't loud or blow-dryer sounding but I can hear the rush of the fans.
I have plenty of space between the two cards, but these coolers do blow the air out of the rear of the case, that said, with the fans on automatic the temps hit 80C in games, but the overall case temp is lower than with my 470s.

I used to have GTX 470s, one a frozr and the other had an Arcticcooling Accellero and I could not hear those at all. The trade off there was the Accellero made the GPU a triple space card. Both the Accellero and the Frozr blew air all over the place and I did notice the overall case temp was about 15C more than it is now, and that's using a CoolerMaster 830 which is a good airflow case. The GPUs were very cool though.

That said, the power in these 670s is crazy. I don't care if I can hear them.:eek:
 
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Sowexly said:
Well I can't imagine I just remember my old 580 being loud during gameplay
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The 670's are nowhere near that loud, not even close.

Even the 670's at full tilt is more like soft, white noise that's easily overlooked.

Granted, other brands might not be the same, but the FTW's from EVGA that I got are plenty quiet for me.
 
It has been my experience that, permitted you have a case with excellent air flow, aftermarket coolers like the AXP that expel heat into the case are a MUCH better form of cooling than a stock air cooled card. I had two 470's with axp's installed on them and they ran so much cooler and my proc temps didn't go up at all.
 
Like others have said, if you care a lot about cooling, go aftermarket, IMO they have the best cooling compared to reference cards.
 
I honestly doubt you'd have a problem man. I've never understood why people are so crazy about internal exhaust. Unless you have a case that literally only has an exhaust on the back and no intake, you're probably not going to have a problem at all.
 
MaelstromOC said:
I honestly doubt you'd have a problem man. I've never understood why people are so crazy about internal exhaust. Unless you have a case that literally only has an exhaust on the back and no intake, you're probably not going to have a problem at all.
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Yeah that's what I thought, but wasn't sure if my case moved air around enough for it not to be less effective than reference design.

Guess I'll find out one way or another.
 
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