ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe with 2 EVGA GTX 580 SLI

[harry1511]

Hi,
I am considering buying a 2nd EVGA GTX 580 to SLI. However, I don't know if they will be too close to have a good air flow or not. Plus, I don't use water cooling. I only use a 3rd party cooling fan for my CPU, everything else is stock. So I am afraid that the temperature will go up as soon as I add the 2nd card.

Here is my spec:

Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe
CPU: i7 2600k
Hard drive: 2TB WD Caviar Black.
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaw 16GB DDR 1066
GPU: EVGA GTX 580 SC (in the first PCI-E slot), planning to have a 2nd one in 2nd slot.
Case: CoolerMaster HAF 932 Advance
Fan: Zalman 120mm for my CPU.

Should I add optional fans to cool down my GTX 580 in SLI mode? I notice that HAF 932 has a cover for VGA fan, is that the thing to add on the optional fan for graphic card? My single GTX 580 is about 36-42 Celsius on idle, I haven't really run it in full load though since I want to set up the SLI first. And I don't want to set up water cooling for my system (due to my budget of course).

 

[badger906]

Firstly what wattage is your PSU? You'll need 800w+ to run sli.

Secondly there should be enough space for airflow. If you run triple sli the cards are almost touching!

I'd just make sure that there is sufficient air flow. You ideally want air coming from the front of the case and a side intake fan.

Also make sure your PSU has 2 spare 6pin connectors.

Water cooling isn't necessary.

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[harry1511]

Thank you for fast reply, I have 1200W Cooler Master Silent Pro to take care of the power. So that's not a problem. I think my PSU has another spare cable for the 2nd card. As for the air flow, I tried my best to manage the cable, and I think it's ok, my case has two big intake fans on the front and side. So if you think that should be enough, I will give it a try then. Hopefully at full load, both cards won't be burned

 

[badger906]

You'll find that quite a lot of cards have air intakes at the front of the card, so when the fan spins it draws air in from the front of the case and vents it out the back.
And other cards draw air in from the back and vent it out the fan hole. Obviously depends on the manufacturer and its chosen cooling technique.
But just to ease your mind google triple sli. There's one pic in a corsair 600d case where the cards are less than 1cm apart lol

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