Show Us Your Rig [2]

Ciara said:

This is my very new to me Computer, (not had it 24 hours yet) with its side off the case is black :)

Nice neat clean layout

Ciara said:

This is my very new to me Computer, (not had it 24 hours yet) with its side off the case is black :)

neat and clean set up.

Ciara,
Not sure if my logic is correct. Most higher end GPU's have a fan which draws cool air in from the bottom back of card and exhausts it over the cooling fins inside the card and out the back of the computer.

A lot of it has to do with the original design of the cards. When I started building computers, probably most, if not all, circuit boards were green, and all the PCI and ISA slots had the bracket mount on the same side of the card they do now. To put it on the other side would require the motherboard be re-positioned, or a different pattern of expansion slots be cut into the back of the case. I believe it became standard, and now would be difficult to change.

A quick question: When you run SLI or Crossfire rigs doesn't the card on the bottom rob the card or cards above it of a clean cool airflow ? I would suspect that the bottom card would run much lower temps to it's cards above it?

linnemeyerhere said:

A quick question: When you run SLI or Crossfire rigs doesn't the card on the bottom rob the card or cards above it of a clean cool airflow ? I would suspect that the bottom card would run much lower temps to it's cards above it?

That makes sense.
Its why I dont have any additional PCI cards in my machine, as you can see earlier in this thread. (Link, 6th pic down)
I took the purple/orange fans off last night to clean them of dust, and the GPU temp shot up from 37oC to 49oC over 30 seconds.

There needs to really be a way to draw air in from the centre of the case, over the graphics card then exhaust out the back. That way, depending on your other fan's setup, it would be inhaling from the bottom into the center, then distributing over each card through to the back. Or, inhaling from the front, passing straight over the mother board, through the cards, out the back.

Its like fon shui for air.

OK ladies and gentlemen I've found a creative solution to the SLI cooling question. Use a riser in one of the PCI-E slots. Check this out and yes a new problem is how to secure the taller card, but I'm sure the work around is easy enough. The added space under this raised card would help provide ample air flow and if you run a Tri-SLI the riser would be used for the middle card or two risers could be used for the outer cards want ever worked best !
ARC1-08X16
or
http://www.logicsupply.com/products/pcie_100_16