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BoilerGamer
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670 SLI in an R4 , daydream or might actually work?

Wed Aug 22, 2012 9:16 pm

Hi, I am attempting to build a SLI Gaming Rig while limiting the noise level:

Goal is to maximize Gaming performance on a 120Hz ASUS VG278H while remaining quieter than the open air alternative such as Corsair 500R/HAF XM/ThorV2(selling at 101 on newegg), CPU is i5-3570K, will OC CPU and GPU when necessary.

Here is the setup:
Define R4 $109.99(Big fan of the R4)
EVGA 670 FTW 2X 2X $407.99
140mm fan 3X $21.5(Bottom intake, Rear exhaust, top exhaust. ), 2 stock 140mm are 67 CFM/15-19dba(moving the original rear exhaust to front intake)
Fan type: XIGMATEK CLF-F1454 : 60CFM/16Dba
PH-TC14PE $75.00

2X Front intake,1X Bot intake goes to the fan controller, Rear and Bottom exhaust goes to the Mobo header

To explain the fan set up in more detail:
The 2 stock 140mm fan will be located at the front intake, I 140mm intake mounted at the bottom infront of PSU, the exhaust fan are located at the rear and the top rear fan mount.
Image

The overall set up would be like this picture, except the Cooler will be a bit larger and block Ram slots(still fits and my low profile 26.25mm Ram would fit fine), I would have the 2 extra fans(bottom intake and top exhaust), the mobo will be Z77 instead of Z68(both ASrock Extreme 4)

Total Fan CFM count, 2X 67 CFM +1X 60 CFM intake, 2X 60 CFM + 1/2 Blower GPU exhaust.

Mounted on a Standard length slim(12"X8.6") ATX board: ASRock Z77 Extreme 4(support SLI), there is another PCI slot inbetween the 2 PCI3.0 slots so the GPU won't be right next to each other.
Image
PSU Seasonic X850 Gold.

Reason I picked FTW is that its blower style means the top GPU won't heat up the bottom one. Also my bottom mounted fan would be blowing straight into its fan/radiator with Windforce/PE I might need a more open air case and a side exhaust fan to prevent them heating up the rest of the Mobo. Aside from potential heat flow issues in SLI I really like the MSI N670 PE/OC with these reviews:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi- [...]
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews [...]

So,Is this set up good? If not where I need the improve? (the GPU? or Cooling? or maybe I should get a more open air case and give up Noise control with the R4?)
As far as budget is concerned I have about $100 left.

Reason I picked R4 beside noise reduction:
1.Front and bottom Dust Filter(must have for me)
2. 4 Front USB port(didn't like 500R's only 2 restriction)
3. Fan controller(can adapt to any fan, unlike 500R only work with stock)
4. Arctic White don't cost me extra.
 
UltimateImperative
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Re: 670 SLI in an R4 , daydream or might actually work?

Wed Aug 22, 2012 10:24 pm

It can certainly work; I was running 2x6950 in my p183, with some additional fans. Will you have the HD cages in? They will most definitely restrict airflow to your cards, which is your #1 goal if you don't want your system to be noisier than it would be in an open-style case.
i5-750 @ 3.3 GHz; Asus P7P55D-E Pro; Thermalright Silver Arrow; Antec P183; 4 GB; 2x Radeon HD 6950; Corsair HX650.
 
BoilerGamer
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Re: 670 SLI in an R4 , daydream or might actually work?

Wed Aug 22, 2012 10:30 pm

UltimateImperative wrote:
It can certainly work; I was running 2x6950 in my p183, with some additional fans. Will you have the HD cages in? They will most definitely restrict airflow to your cards, which is your #1 goal if you don't want your system to be noisier than it would be in an open-style case.


I will definately take off the Top HDD cage(it is split 5/3 so the 5 will go) and only use the bottom cage. I will only run 1 256 GBSSD and 1 HDD(this won't be in my original build due to budgeting for montior and SLI) max in this computer to Airflow shouldn't be a problem.
System: i7-3770K/PH-TC14PE/ 2X 4 G Samsung MV-3V4G3D/US/Gigabyte Z77X-UP5-TH/EVGA GTX 780/Samsung 840 Pro256GB/2X Seagate Baracuda 2TB/Seasonic Platinum 660 W /Phantom 630
 
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Re: 670 SLI in an R4 , daydream or might actually work?

Thu Aug 23, 2012 4:54 am

You may even get away with leaving the 5x cage in place since your 670's are blowers. Almost all of their heat is evicted out of the back and as long as you have fresh air coming in at the bottom of the case, you'll be fine.

The bottom and lower front intake will be the most important: Make sure they're unimpeded by cable clutter, that the filters are clean and that they provide decent CFM.

Positive air pressure in the case helps graphics card blowers by a tangible amount too, for a couple of different reasons, and you'll get less dust buildup.

Since your PSU mounted like that can be ignored in terms of intake/exhaust, I would strongly advise fitting the two highest CFM fans at the front and the two lowest CFM fans at the back. You want the combined CFM from the three intakes to be greater than the CFM from all four exhausts (Four? Yep, remember each 670 acts as a low-CFM exhaust too).
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rogue426
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Re: 670 SLI in an R4 , daydream or might actually work?

Thu Aug 23, 2012 5:55 am

Isnt this thread just a continuation of this one?
viewtopic.php?f=33&t=83042
ASUS P5B-E,ConroeE6400,2GB Mushkin DDR2 800,
EVGA 8800GTS,Corsair 520HX,Antec 900,WD320 GB,Samsung 204B
 
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Re: 670 SLI in an R4 , daydream or might actually work?

Thu Aug 23, 2012 6:03 am

Don't think so, different OP.
Though I remember Sherlock asking a similar question the other week...
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BoilerGamer
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Re: 670 SLI in an R4 , daydream or might actually work?

Thu Aug 23, 2012 7:33 am

Hmm, I read some of that Sherlock guy's stuff, but he is preping to SLI upgrade later, I am planning on buying my system now.

At any rate, would switching to Custom Cooled GPUs like MSI PE/OC or Gigabyte Windforce 3X be a bad idea, or are they still workable with this set up? I read a lot of good reviews about EVGA FTW however even the hardest supporter of it admit it run hotter and noiser than Custom Cooler option.
System: i7-3770K/PH-TC14PE/ 2X 4 G Samsung MV-3V4G3D/US/Gigabyte Z77X-UP5-TH/EVGA GTX 780/Samsung 840 Pro256GB/2X Seagate Baracuda 2TB/Seasonic Platinum 660 W /Phantom 630
 
End User
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Re: 670 SLI in an R4 , daydream or might actually work?

Thu Aug 23, 2012 9:43 am

I am interested in a follow-up post once you get your system together. Temps/benchmarks/pics etc.
 
BoilerGamer
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Re: 670 SLI in an R4 , daydream or might actually work?

Thu Aug 23, 2012 9:53 am

End User wrote:
I am interested in a follow-up post once you get your system together. Temps/benchmarks/pics etc.


I might post a build log once I get this part done and start ordering stuff, will post pictures taken with my Galaxy S3.

As far build goes:
The Noise and Cooling advantages have really pushed me toward Gigabyte N670-OC/GD, aka Windforce 670 and I haven't seen substential difference in the OC between those cards that can't be explained by silicon lottery luck.

I am planning on Going with this fan setup:
Front: 2X140mm stock intake (67 CFM/19Dba on 12V-controllable)
Bottom: 1X 140mm intake(60CFM/16Dba also on the fan controller)
Side(beside the GPU slots): 1X140mm exhaust(same as above, plug into mobo)
These 4 will form the circulation loop for my 2X Gigabyte 670s, 3 Intake & 1 Exhaust.
Rear 1X140mm Exhaust(this along with the Phantek PH-TC14PE will cool my CPU and upper Mobo area)

Considering:
The 2 Top fan slots are currently sealed off, I am considering modding one of them:
1. Leave the slot sealed and keep the noise in(The case ill be on the ground under my Desk with 27" vertical clerance and no horizontal obstructions, so dust/exhaust shouldn't be an issue).
2. Leave it open but not installing a fan.
3. Install a 140mm exhaust fan(60 CFM, 16 dba) there.

I will probably just buy the fan and experiment with the noise/performance benefits of those 3 options and find a sweet spot. Does the overall case mod sound like a good Plan?
System: i7-3770K/PH-TC14PE/ 2X 4 G Samsung MV-3V4G3D/US/Gigabyte Z77X-UP5-TH/EVGA GTX 780/Samsung 840 Pro256GB/2X Seagate Baracuda 2TB/Seasonic Platinum 660 W /Phantom 630
 
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Re: 670 SLI in an R4 , daydream or might actually work?

Thu Aug 23, 2012 1:19 pm

Hmm, I had forgotten the R4 had a side panel fan.

The way air cooling works is highly dependent on turbulence. blown air from an intake is higher pressure than still air in a case, whilst sucked air is lower pressure and has laminar flow. Since 80% of all your heat-generation is going to be directly underneath the side panel fan, you definitely want this as an intake, not an exhaust.

It depends on how many fans you already own, but the coolest solution would be to have all three fans at the top as exhausts, and the side/front/bottom fans as intakes.
That will net you maximum airflow from the R4 with an overall slightly positive pressure at its highest where the 670's are; The turbulent air won't do anything for the blower intakes, but it will cool the backsides of the cards better than an exhaust. It also means there is no risk of recirculation, something to consider since the R4's door forces the front fans breathe from the sides too.

However, I think you should probably start with a less fan-heavy approach because you can always add more fans later if needed. If you're not overclocking the snot out of your CPU, it is barely a concern in terms of cooling. 77W (peak) is nothing compared to the pair of 670's which can peak at 340W. On top of that, the CPU cooler has a much larger surface area than a GPU which has to work within the confines of a couple of slots. Try this arrangement for size:

  • Two 140mm front intakes
  • One 140mm side intake
  • Seal the bottom intake
  • One 140mm exhaust either behind or above the CPU cooler, orientated to align with its airflow and seal whichever one you didn't use
  • Either one 140mm exhaust in the remaining top fan bay, to lower motherboard temps, or seal it to increase air pressure in the case.
You should probably experiment with that last one to see what works best, but my hunch is that you'll get a better GPU temps with this sealed, at the expense of CPU and drive temperatures. I'm not guaranteeing it's the best for an R4 but I do have a degree in engineering which covered thermodynamics and fluid kinematics. I put my own knowledge into practice with an Antec P180, and the real-world consequences of air-pressure and fan placement tallied with what I expected to happen, so it's definitely not just hocus-pocus.
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