4x8800GT, temp and throttling concerns.

[torin3]

Ok, I've got a folding rig that I'm using at work that I just put in the 4th 8800GT.

I've got to have them as the same type (GT / GS / GTX / GTS) to get the most points out of them. Memory size doesn't matter, from what I understand, or brand.

So I've got an MSI GT with 512M, 2 Asus GTs with 256M, and 1 Gigabyte GT with 256M.

The Asus GTs don't have temp sensors or fan control options that I can get to from Rivatuner.

They are all in an Antec Twelve Hundred case, so I have good airflow.

Looking at it from the window, going down from the top, they are in this order:
1 = MSI
2 = Asus
3 = Asus
4 = Gigabyte.

However according to the motherboard, it is:
GPU 0 = MSI
GPU 1 = ASUS
GPU 2 = Gigabyte
GPU 3 = Asus

Now the bottom physical card (Gigabyte) does have temp sensors, and it is running between 95°C - 100°C. It never tops 100, so I'm thinking there is some thermal throttling going on. Especially since production is about 30% less on this card that the other ones.

The two ASUS cards started reporting unstable machine errors in folding, so I turned down their clocks, and that seems to have fixed it with only about a 5% production loss.

My concerns/questions.

Is there anyway I can cool the card down better? I've got 6 120mm fans in the case, and a 200mm fan at the top. However, while the card is a single slot card, the cooling takes up 2 slots, but unlike the other spaces in this case, it only has 1 slot available, so I don't have an air vent like I do for the other 3 cards. I can't mod it while I'm using it at work, so I can't just cut a vent slot.

It it really throttling the card or am I really shortening the life of this card?

Any suggestions on how I can make this work better?

Thanks.

[EmAn]

It is defiantly overheating and degrading the life span of the card.

If you can't get some sort of vent for the hot air to escape I wouldn't run it at all.

[cabose1227]

stick a 120mm fan on the side of the cards.

[DavidJa]

what about some ducting to an exhaust? or air flow direction.
remove any closed pci slot covers to help bring in cooler air?
a pic of the setup would be nice.

[AsusLover]

Yes you're shortening the life of the card. First what i would do is take all the cards out. One by one remove the HSF and reseat them with As5 on the core etc. Next i would figure out how to duct some cooler air to them. Now if i remember your case is at work under a desk i think from the last thread i read of yours about the case :) Maybe you could duct it from the side of the desk and bring it to the side and or the front of the case for some cooler air.

[torin3]

I was only in at work for a few hours and forgot to take a picture of the setup. I'll do that first thing Monday morning. I'll probably pull the bottom card as soon as I get in , and run it with 3 cards until I figure out what to do.

I've got 2 GS cards, maybe I can switch it over to a 4 GS system. That might be enough cooler on its own to make a difference.

[repilce]

well all those stock coolers are dumping the air back into the case, so if you can provide some adequate ventilation your problem will probably go away.. and not loose any PPD :beer:

[torin3]

Ok, I pulled the bottom card and it seems to be running at reasonable temps for the moment. The only card I've got with a temp sensor is the top one, and it is reading 66°-68°C. Which is about 8-10°C cooler than it was with the 4th card in. So, I'm hoping that the hottest card is still under 90°C

Oh, and here is the picture of the case. The fan on the side panel is set to suck air out of the case.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u90/torin3/oc/P1010052.jpg

[DavidJa]

did you find setting the side fan to blow out hot air instead of blowing in cool air better? i'd think bringing in cool air would be better.
you could remove the pci slot covers to act as make shift vents.
how about rigging up a fan to direct airflow upwards towards the exhaust.
you could try removing the plastic guard on the side panel section where the fan is.

[torin3]

did you find setting the side fan to blow out hot air instead of blowing in cool air better? i'd think bringing in cool air would be better.

I haven't tried it the other way yet. Also, the bottom card slot is below the level of this fan. And I could be wrong, but this seemed to fit with the overall airflow of the case design a bit better.

you could remove the pci slot covers to act as make shift vents.
PCI slot covers already have vent holds in them. But I'll remove them as it would allow a little more airflow.
how about rigging up a fan to direct airflow upwards towards the exhaust.
you could try removing the plastic guard on the side panel section where the fan is.

Possibly, but removing the guard also removes the mounting for the side panel fan.

[torin3]

I haven't tried it the other way yet. Also, the bottom card slot is below the level of this fan. And I could be wrong, but this seemed to fit with the overall airflow of the case design a bit better.


PCI slot covers already have vent holds in them. But I'll remove them as it would allow a little more airflow.


Possibly, but removing the guard also removes the mounting for the side panel fan.

Ok, blowing in cold air seems to be about 1/2 to 1 degree warmer than sucking out warm air. Fan needs to be there though, as when I had the side off to flip the fan it warmed up about 10°C each time and the middle card went unstable and ended the work unit early.

However, there is an extra fan mount that can be moved around, and I was thinking about sticking this fan in:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185054

Does anybody know if it fits the fan mount in the Antec Twelve Hundred case?

[repilce]

I got 2 words.... Water cool :cool:

nah, but if that's not the way to go i would consider finding a 12v centrifugal blower :D

[1ad7]

If at all possible maybe take it out from under the desk? I know this would likely make a huge difference but might not be possible sense its stored at your work. What if you rigged up a 120 inside the hd cage blowing towards the rear of the case? id put it closest to the lowest card. Or maybe consider upgrading the intake fans in the front of the case to something of this nature http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999344

[torin3]

If at all possible maybe take it out from under the desk? I know this would likely make a huge difference but might not be possible sense its stored at your work.

Actually, it has been moved out from under my desk and to on top since the first day after moving to this case. It is just too big for under there.

What if you rigged up a 120 inside the hd cage blowing towards the rear of the case? id put it closest to the lowest card. Or maybe consider upgrading the intake fans in the front of the case to something of this nature http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999344

Well each HD cage already has a 120mm fan at the front blowing through the case. I've got another 120mm fan that should arrive today that is 110 CFM that I can mount at the back of the HD cage right in front of all 4 cards. If that isn't quite enough, I might swap out some of the other fans for 110 CFM models.

I would have gone with the 130 CFM model if not for the fact it is a 37mm thick rather than 25mm thick model

[Fishman550]

i've never tried a setup like this, but when my older computer used to run too hot, i took both side panels off and pointed a desk fan at one side so it blew cold air into one side and the hot air out the other at the same time. obviously not the most practical of cooling solutions as its noisy and looks stupid. but it works :cool:

[torin3]

Well, it didn't work. Card idles at 58°C, but runs at 96°-100°C under load. Turned of the load, as it was starting to slow down the card above it.

I guess I need to find an aftermarket cooler that doesn't blow out the back of the case.

Crud.

[torin3]

Decided to go with this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186016

[torin3]

Whoo-hoo!

Success!!!

I ordered the Accelero S1, and it arrived in today. Temps went down from 98°-100°C to about 85°-87°C. Still not great, so I tossed on an 80mm fan and it brought it a little lower. I think I need to get a slim 120mm fan that I can slide in between the card cooler and the PSU at the bottom of the case.

The other 3 cards all have side venting available in the slot next to them, so I might switch the cooling on them as well. Depends on how the budget goes.

But there is no throttling going on that I can see. The bottom to cards are running just a little slower (about 50-100 ppd each), but that might be just due to the motherboard.

[silent bob]

I think I could live with 400ppd loss for 21000ppd from that rig

one word


IMPRESSIVE

[hank123]

dude what cpu do you have to make this happen?

[Sleepy_Steve]

5k/card * 4 = 20k ppd... although I guess that may be a lot lower now... but 1k ppd out of a single SMP instance isnt that hard on a dual core. If it's a quad, I don't think that 1xSMP + 2xUni-Proc clients + 4x GPU2 clients would have any trouble putting out that much PPD.

[torin3]

I think I could live with 400ppd loss for 21000ppd from that rig

one word


IMPRESSIVE

Thanks! :D

dude what cpu do you have to make this happen?

CPU is a Q6600, though I could probably do just about as much with a C2D, though I'd probably not run the SMP client at all on a machine like that.

5k/card * 4 = 20k ppd... although I guess that may be a lot lower now... but 1k ppd out of a single SMP instance isnt that hard on a dual core. If it's a quad, I don't think that 1xSMP + 2xUni-Proc clients + 4x GPU2 clients would have any trouble putting out that much PPD.

Pretty much. Though since I switched over to this board to get the 4 PCI-E slots, I haven't done that well on the SMP clients. Not sure if it is board or something else, but it was a lot slower than I expected it to be. Since it locked up on me last night and again this morning, along with a forced switch to default settings by the motherboard, I've dropped the motherboard overclocking and I'm going to see if it makes it through the weekend without locking up. If so, I'll bring the cards back to their overclocked settings, but leave the board alone.

So right now, I'm about 20K ppd on this machine. It is also running about 10°C cooler on the bottom card with no overclocking. About 77°C. If the ppd drop isn't that much, I may just leave them there for some extra longevity on the cards.

Now I just need to figure out an inexpensive enough upgrade path for my media server at home so that I can get 2 or 3 cards in it without blowing the budget.

[jintatsu]

nice torin.. that should be a nice boost to your ppd.. fold on.. :beer: