2GPU vs 3GPU...Cases...Decisions

[DrPop]

Thanks guys, I am appreciating the discussion. JPM- if you have time, could you please look at a HAF 932 on Cooler Master's site, and also the ASRock Deluxe4 AM3 890FX mobo- -that is what I have. I think it is comparable in a lot if ways to the HAF X, but they made some goos improvements to the newer X model. Also, the X has more expansion slots in the back, so you can do 3, maybe even 4!?! GPUs. I can only do 2 with the the 932 because my mobo has 2 spaces between the first two PCI-e slots. I would give you links but I am typing on phone here.

Things were much cooler in the case vs just sitting caseless on table. What I need to decide (help).is whether spending nearly $200 on a new case just so I can run 3 GPUs is worth it; when I could, say, pump that same $ into a bigger GPU and just have 2, and therefore keep the HAF 932 case.
Thanks.
PS- we are talking about me having to save up at this point, so a while to think about it...either way, I couldn't do anything about it tomorrow type deal.

[John P. Myers]

With the HAF X and my motherboard, i can actually do 4 double width GPUs and 1 single width. But i think the inside of my case would be a complete mess after that

I'll look at the HAF 932 and see what it offers in a few mins.

Edit: That case looks ok. If you have it, why aren't you using it?

[Cruncher Pete]

Thanks guys, I am appreciating the discussion. JPM- if you have time, could you please look at a HAF 932 on Cooler Master's site, and also the ASRock Deluxe4 AM3 890FX mobo- -that is what I have. I think it is comparable in a lot if ways to the HAF X, but they made some goos improvements to the newer X model. Also, the X has more expansion slots in the back, so you can do 3, maybe even 4!?! GPUs. I can only do 2 with the the 932 because my mobo has 2 spaces between the first two PCI-e slots. I would give you links but I am typing on phone here.

Things were much cooler in the case vs just sitting caseless on table. What I need to decide (help).is whether spending nearly $200 on a new case just so I can run 3 GPUs is worth it; when I could, say, pump that same $ into a bigger GPU and just have 2, and therefore keep the HAF 932 case.
Thanks.
PS- we are talking about me having to save up at this point, so a while to think about it...either way, I couldn't do anything about it tomorrow type deal.

Hello hello, Dr Pop. I just discovered how you spend your supposed spare time between patients. On the phone looking after BOINC matters. Good on you, that is one way of doing it. As regards the HAF932 or later cases, I can assure you that they are the choice of most serious crunchers. I only have one of those but I wish I had more for some of my machines are running on the bench without cases. Sorry, I can not help you with your MB as I am unfamiliar with it. I only use ASUS or Gigabyte boards myself as I have had bad experience with others including Asrock some time ago. That does not mean that they are no good just simply once bitten twice shy as far as I am concerned. By the way he number of GPU's you can use is determined by the board you are using for even a cheap case will house them but you will not have the airflow and room as is provided by the HAF cases.

Good luck in your upgrade and get back to your patients...

[dan]

My concern for you is with all those rigs and GPUs when will you start having brown outs in your house

But really, lots of cases will work as long as you have good airflow. I've got side fans and wind tunnels in my Antec cases, but the biggest factor in keeping my 580 running 50C OC'd is the fan it has. I bought a card with one of those Artic Cooling fans and a backplate. You know the one with three fans. It is absolutely amazing on temps. You can get them to add to your card also, but you need to make sure it will work with your card The other thing that helps to some degree is the spacing between cards. Double width cards right on top of each other are lousy at moving away heat. My dual 5870s are in slots 1 and 4 which helps them move air. So a mother board that has your PCIe slots two apart is less desirable then one that has them three slots apart. Plus I'm starting to see tripple width cards. The last thing to affect temps is ambient room temp. If you can't keep the room your boxes are in cool, then your cards will add Cs to their temps.

Another thought, forget water cooling. There are some well engineered air cooling solutions that are just as effective. I've had water cooling for my CPU and my Zalman fan, keeps temps lower. Water cooling is a myth. Now if we could get some freon cooling or nitrogen cooling...

[Dorsilfin]

Id probably shut them off for a few weeks to let them cool off...(So youdontpassme)..

in reality right now ive got my 570's overclocked pretty well.. 810 up from 732, and they are stacked on a 2 pci board

top card is 64C
bottom card is 54C (better access to airflow)

im not sure id if i had a large enough mobo stack a 3rd card.. the top card is snug and only has a little gap to get air with, while the bottom card has its fan wide open (Stock gtx570's) so adding a third is going to constrict that 2nd card and depending on the space might run hot itself..

Id rather see big gpu's in smaller quantity running cool then having a bunch of cards crammed into a case or even laying out in the open running hot.

Just my opinion.. running Bare (nocase) in my mind is dangerous as the mobo isnt grounded to the case/psu/electric and I've always thought that was a bad idea.

[Mike029]

I know we spoke about this a few weeks ago and I forgot to send it to you. I got the idea from F$ if memory serves. These can be up to 12 inches long and will allow space for the card to breath. Lots of flexibility with these. Here are two companies. This may save you having to spend the money on a new case. Then you can buy another GPU.

http://www.orbitmicro.com/global/pe-....html?ref=base



http://www.risercards.ca/products/Fl...ser-Card-.html

[Shadow]

I've tried running a tri 6970 setup. It didn't work well at all. The center card ran super hot and ended up going into self preservation mode and downclocking. It actually hurt my numbers. So now I'm running two boxes, each with 2 6970's, slots 1 and 4 to keep a 1 slot space between them.

[Dandasarge]

Dear Dr Pop.

No matter your combo the heat outside of the computer Per credit (approx) will be the same. It's the inside of the case that is hard to dissipate. Not every build is easy to figure out. I'm right now studying 100cfm per GPU. You're standard case fan's wont touch what you need. As an alt you can always take off the side and stand a box fan next to it.

Also I'm sure you have used a program like MSI Afterburner to change the fan settings. right?

Credits come 2 ways, Easy or Cheep. You can't have both. If you want easy go get a 580 .

[John P. Myers]

Screw it all. Just get the HAF X and some swiftech waterblocks for your GPUs both of my GTX590s are OC'd to 1386 MHz. Know what their temperature is? 39C. Yep, just 39C. I had them OC'd to 1512 MHz for awhile, and then they ran at only 43C.

Why did i clock them back down? Well....on the 590s, the memory is on the back of the card and therefore not covered by the waterblock. I never raised the memory speed, but with an increased processor speed, the memory gets more of a workout and it ran blisteringly hot. After touching the back of the card, i swear i nearly melted my fingerprints off.

I don't have the GPU air duct installed, which would help tremendously with that. Also the side panel can't be put on which would throw some more air on the backs of the cards. When i get around to all of that, i'll be able to OC the cards back to 1512, and most likely higher.

With the HAF 932, i don't know that i could do this. The HAF X has 220 CFM more airflow than the HAF 932 (of which 110 CFM is right on top of the GPUs). Still, the HAF 932 is a great case. Just make sure you use the proper 120mm inside the GPU air duct (150CFM+ and up to 38mm thick).

[DrPop]

OK, wait a sec, it seems there is some miscommunication on my end some how.
1. I like that HAF 932 case, I was using it with 2 GPUs, and would still be using it, but I can't fit 3 GPUs in there. This is because the case only has 7 expansion slots in the back, and to run 3 GPUs on my mobo (or any mobo that has 2 slot spaces between GPU1 and GPU2, you MUST have a case that has 8 or more expansion slots in the back.

I wish I had realized that before I bought this case and mobo, etc...but I pieced it all together as I got the money, and didn't realize it all until the end.

2. My decision is: either only run 2 GPUs in the HAF 932, get a new case so I can run 3 GPUs (HAF -X), or . . . could get a new mobo that smashes the GPUs together, but I kind of like the idea of having a bigger space between card 1 and 2 like I do now.

I hope that makes more sense?