HeavyHemi


I'm starting to question where the idea came from that you don't need adequate exhaust fans regardless of the case design. There is nothing special about that case other than having your GPU's vertical. That does little or nothing to remove head out of the case. A bit more exhaust air flow does wonders.

Its simple thermodynamics. Positive pressure (more intake than exhaust) + all intake on the bottom/exhaust up top is more than adequate. The more air being forced in, the more air being forced out. This is coming from my partner, who is sitting aside of me and happens to be a physicist. Google/Youtube Silverstone positive air pressure or stack effect cooling.

Don't get me wrong, the temperatures on my cards are fine with a more than tolerable fan speed (~70% is what I use, and that's fine to me), cards stay below 65ºc most of the times even while overclocked to 1250MHz Core and +450MHz Memory.
 
What I meant is, if the "throttle" (Or speed step down) would be set at 80ºC instead of 70ºC, that would allow me to run lower fan speed (Of course sacrificing temperatures) and it would run quieter. I'm overall satisfied with these cards, they're amazing. 
 
I have no issues with temperatures, this case is the best for air cooling setups specially for Multi GPU. I refuse to buy aftermarket coolers such as Accelero Xtreme coolers mainly because all heat stays on the case and I prefer a reference cooler to exhaust all hot air outside.
 
My case does have an exhaust, which is being used for the Corsair H80 radiator/fans, so if I used Accelero Xtreme on the cards,  the CPU temperature would rise considerably, not to mention these coolers don't work well with this kind of cases which are orientated 90º sided.
 
My only "complaint" here is that I find 70ºC underclocking a bit ridiculous, they should have set it at something like 80ºC.
 
Other than that, love the cards and I'm running them at 1250MHz Core and +450MHz Memory, I max out any game at 2560x1440 easily, these cards are beasts.
 
Here's latest picture of the rig:
 

 
The case is mainly orientated to reference cards as all heat exhausts through the top due to possitive pressure (Remember hot air tends to go up).
 
I did have an HD5970 over a year ago with an Accelero Xtreme, and while it was completely fine with just 1 card, it was a total disaster as soon as I added another card below the HD5970, the Accelero Xtreme coolers don't work well with more than 1 GPU as the  top card breaths all the hot air from the lower card, meaning the lower card may have great temperatures but the top card will be a disaster, probably worse than reference cooler. 
 
With that said, I love the cards, and I will not upgrade them for at least a year from now, I just want Nvidia to remove the 70ºC downclocking to something like 80ºC, or even 75ºC would be fine.

I have not found too much benefit from keeping temps low on water in terms of overclocking and avoiding the throttle.

Try running your fans at 100% just for a bit and see if you can achieve an overclock you couldn't previously, you may find the lower temps do not bring anything new to the table.

Something to keep in mind with the reference designs of the 680s: they only have a, I think, 5-phase VRM design and designed for low voltage.  
 
That reminds me when Intel moved to the Core 2 Duos oh so long ago.  Before the Core 2, we have Pentiums 4s running at 90C and thought of as normal.  Then the Pentium-M came out for mobiles, does anyone remember those?  They didn't get a lot of notice because we all were used to 3.2 - 3.6 Ghz Pentium 4 CPUs in our laptops.  The  low-voltage 2.2 Ghz Pentium-M, at first glance, was nothing to even consider for high performance laptops.  Then the test results came out.  The dynamic clocking with a kind of boost, the big increase in L2 cache and architecture to remove a good bit of latency between the controllers, etc.  They all yielded a process that was either on par with the fastest Pentium 4 mobile CPUs, or faster (in terms of GFLOPS).  We couldn't believe what we were witnessing - a slower-clocked, lower-powered CPU that was either on par of beating the faster-clock and hotter CPUs.
 
Then Intel brought the architect over into the Core 2 desktop series, and the rest is history.
 
My point is, perhaps that is what we are witnessing here with an industry shift to lower temps, adjustable "protect me!" down-volting of itself of the GK104 series at 70C.
 

HeavyHemi
I'm starting to question where the idea came from that you don't need adequate exhaust fans regardless of the case design. There is nothing special about that case other than having your GPU's vertical. That does little or nothing to remove heat out of the case versus a horizontal configuration. A bit more exhaust air flow does wonders.

 
Nothing wrong with his case design. It works via positive pressure and convection, where heat is transferred upwards, out of his case. Letting "heat rise" along the air flow is a little more efficient than forcing heat horizontally along the air flow. Also, most cases do not have exhaust fans above the PCI/PCI-Express slots any ways. The majority of heat from his GTX 680 cards should be exiting the case through the bracket and through the vent holes on the top of Shiki's case.

cipher_nemo

warlord420
remmeber as die shrinks, the temp tolerance decreases...
500 series could be around 80-50 MAX
kepler's max should be 70-75 if not less

Incorrect. The thermal limit for the GPU on the GTX 680 is 98C as officially indicated by NVIDIA: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-680/specifications

Thar being said, you'd probably want to keep the card below 85.

 
again, that 98 mark is for semiconductors has nothing to with with a specific core
 
my core 2 duo and 2500k is rated at about same thing
 
its a marketing scheme,  no gpu or cpu will allow to get that high without throttling to perserve itself.
 

warlord420
again, that 98 mark is for semiconductors has nothing to with with a specific core

my core 2 duo and 2500k is rated at about same thing

its a marketing scheme,  no gpu or cpu will allow to get that high without throttling to perserve itself.

 
I gave you a link to NVIDIA specs from NVIDIA themselves. If you don't want to belief facts, that's on you, not me. :)
 
And that reply had nothing to do with throttling and everything to do with your statement about max temps for the GTX 680, which was incorrect. Max temps is thermal limits before the GPU shuts itself down.

We need some 680x's like intel's X series, don't protect us from out tech, let us melt it if we want to.

kcuestag



I did have an HD5970 over a year ago with an Accelero Xtreme, and while it was completely fine with just 1 card, it was a total disaster as soon as I added another card below the HD5970, the Accelero Xtreme coolers don't work well with more than 1 GPU as the  top card breaths all the hot air from the lower card, meaning the lower card may have great temperatures but the top card will be a disaster, probably worse than reference cooler.

 
If those were used in your current PC case then I can believe it, otherwise plenty of guys over at rage3d.com and xtremesystems have sli/crossfire configs with these coolers installed and have great temps on both cards. The difference in a situation like this is having a decent enough exaust fan to expel the heat from inside the case.
 
The way your case is built simply doesnt really allow for such a configuration as your going to have a pocket of hot air building up inside of the case.

Robs03gts

kcuestag



I did have an HD5970 over a year ago with an Accelero Xtreme, and while it was completely fine with just 1 card, it was a total disaster as soon as I added another card below the HD5970, the Accelero Xtreme coolers don't work well with more than 1 GPU as the  top card breaths all the hot air from the lower card, meaning the lower card may have great temperatures but the top card will be a disaster, probably worse than reference cooler.

If those were used in your current PC case then I can believe it, otherwise plenty of guys over at rage3d.com and xtremesystems have sli/crossfire configs with these coolers installed and have great temps on both cards. The difference in a situation like this is having a decent enough exaust fan to expel the heat from inside the case.

The way your case is built simply doesnt really allow for such a configuration as your going to have a pocket of hot air building up inside of the case.

 
That's mainly because this case is designed mainly for reference graphic cards which exhaust the hot air outside, so exhaust fans are not needed at all, except for the CPU. 

kcuestag

Robs03gts

kcuestag



I did have an HD5970 over a year ago with an Accelero Xtreme, and while it was completely fine with just 1 card, it was a total disaster as soon as I added another card below the HD5970, the Accelero Xtreme coolers don't work well with more than 1 GPU as the  top card breaths all the hot air from the lower card, meaning the lower card may have great temperatures but the top card will be a disaster, probably worse than reference cooler.

If those were used in your current PC case then I can believe it, otherwise plenty of guys over at rage3d.com and xtremesystems have sli/crossfire configs with these coolers installed and have great temps on both cards. The difference in a situation like this is having a decent enough exaust fan to expel the heat from inside the case.

The way your case is built simply doesnt really allow for such a configuration as your going to have a pocket of hot air building up inside of the case.

That's mainly because this case is designed mainly for reference graphic cards which exhaust the hot air outside, so exhaust fans are not needed at all, except for the CPU. 

I realize that and even stated that much a few responses back, no need to be rolling your eyes at me bro.
 
Im not dogging on your PC case or anything either, just stating why these types of aftermarket coolers are not the best option for your type of case.

Robs03gts

kcuestag

Robs03gts

kcuestag



I did have an HD5970 over a year ago with an Accelero Xtreme, and while it was completely fine with just 1 card, it was a total disaster as soon as I added another card below the HD5970, the Accelero Xtreme coolers don't work well with more than 1 GPU as the  top card breaths all the hot air from the lower card, meaning the lower card may have great temperatures but the top card will be a disaster, probably worse than reference cooler.

If those were used in your current PC case then I can believe it, otherwise plenty of guys over at rage3d.com and xtremesystems have sli/crossfire configs with these coolers installed and have great temps on both cards. The difference in a situation like this is having a decent enough exaust fan to expel the heat from inside the case.

The way your case is built simply doesnt really allow for such a configuration as your going to have a pocket of hot air building up inside of the case.

That's mainly because this case is designed mainly for reference graphic cards which exhaust the hot air outside, so exhaust fans are not needed at all, except for the CPU. 

I realize that and even stated that much a few responses back, no need to be rolling your eyes at me bro.

 
Don't get mad at me. 

kcuestag

Robs03gts

kcuestag

Robs03gts

kcuestag



I did have an HD5970 over a year ago with an Accelero Xtreme, and while it was completely fine with just 1 card, it was a total disaster as soon as I added another card below the HD5970, the Accelero Xtreme coolers don't work well with more than 1 GPU as the  top card breaths all the hot air from the lower card, meaning the lower card may have great temperatures but the top card will be a disaster, probably worse than reference cooler.

If those were used in your current PC case then I can believe it, otherwise plenty of guys over at rage3d.com and xtremesystems have sli/crossfire configs with these coolers installed and have great temps on both cards. The difference in a situation like this is having a decent enough exaust fan to expel the heat from inside the case.

The way your case is built simply doesnt really allow for such a configuration as your going to have a pocket of hot air building up inside of the case.

That's mainly because this case is designed mainly for reference graphic cards which exhaust the hot air outside, so exhaust fans are not needed at all, except for the CPU. 

I realize that and even stated that much a few responses back, no need to be rolling your eyes at me bro.

Don't get mad at me. 

 
Im not mad at you, its just a discussion. lol.

kcuestag
That's mainly because this case is designed mainly for reference graphic cards which exhaust the hot air outside, so exhaust fans are not needed at all, except for the CPU. 

 
QFT.
 
In my own case (which is BTX-style, flipped ATX), I put a middle fan in front of my video cards to help the push process. I only run reference-design coolers right now, so it works just fine with no exhaust fan near the cards. No hot pockets of air anywhere.

Would be nice to see if these throttle points can be adjusted via software vs. upgrading the cooler.  70C seems very conservative.
 
I took some data last night and the card definitely reduces boost at 70C (70% fan, auto curve in PrecisionX).  If they run manually full speed 85% the cards never see that temp though.  A better cooler will definitely help (like the Accelero + adequate case venting ).  Water cooling likely the best solution for these reference cards.  Jacob stated that the Signature and FTW series EE cards will have a vapor chamber cooler, better than the 3-pipe reference design by ~4C.
 
@OP: For starters, maybe try the high flow bracket and backplate.

I've verified that mine backs down at 70* too, but mine only reached 70* when clocked at 130/155/450, but when I dropped memory to 400 temps maxed at 66* and did not back down and my score was higher than the higher clock.  I have a bottom fan feeding the bottom card and fan shroud on the hdd cage feeding the top card.  I need to see how things work if I run them wide open.  But with 2 cards and one monitor (1920x1200) I have no issues running any game maxed
 
I don't hear the fans when gaming because the sound of the game drowns them out.  Do you game with the volume really low?
 

kcuestag


Title says it all.

I would like to unlock the throttle option at 70ºC, right now I can do 1250MHz Core on both GTX680's and +450MHz Memory.

The thing is I use a fan profile of 65%-75% to keep them under 68ºC, but I would like to use a fan of 60-65% to keep it much quieter but sacrificing a bit of temps, only problem is at 70ºC they start to throttle.

Is there any work around for this? If not, will there be one? I really don't mind having my cards at 70-80ºC if this means I can run them at a much quieter fan speed. 

Thanks.

Methodical2


I've verified that mine backs down at 70* too, but mine only reached 70* when clocked at 130/155/450, but when I dropped memory to 400 temps maxed at 66* and did not back down and my score was higher than the higher clock.  I have a bottom fan feeding the bottom card and fan shroud on the hdd cage feeding the top card.  I need to see how things work if I run them wide open.  But with 2 cards and one monitor (1920x1200) I have no issues running any game maxed

I don't hear the fans when gaming because the sound of the game drowns them out.  Do you game with the volume really low?

 
I play with headphones so noise ain't an issue, but when I do play with speakers or play with music I do like having quieter cards. 
 
I'll try lowering the Memory from +450MHz to +400MHz see if it helps.