Video Card Dilemma

[Skele]

I don't know if anyone will be able to help, maybe Ethan will know, but anyways... I'm planning on upgrading my video card and getting SLI'd GTX 570's. However, I have a bit of an issue. My motherboard has it's PCI-E slots right on top of each other, so the cards would be sitting very close, the top one would get very little airflow through its fans.

Motherboard (two blue slots on the left are the PCI-E 2.0):
http://games.mescript.com/upload/images/motherboard/0/gigabyte-ga-ex58-ud4p.jpg

This is the GPU I was thinking of getting:
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7040151&CatId=3669

So that's if I were to get a traditional cooled GTX 570. I did find another GPU, that is about 70 dollars more, that uses a wicked heat sink and fan combo. I use an MSI right now because I love the aftermarket cooling they put on.

MSI Twin Frozr GTX 570:
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7303352&CatId=3669

What I was wondering is, would the heat sink prevent overheating from the cards being so close? Would the cards being so close have a very large impact on heating anyways?

Thanks for any help!

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[Conan]

inb4Ethan

i just had to once.

[KoopaScooper]

It would affect airflow indeed, seeing that it would only have about 4-16mm between cards.
It should work though, workstations do this all the time.

[Ethan]

What speed is the orange PCI-E 2.0 working at?

EDIT: 8x. You'd be fine to put one in there instead.

[Skele]

What speed is the orange PCI-E 2.0 working at?

8x I believe.

Mobo is Gigabyte ex58-ud4p.

[Ethan]

8x I believe.

Mobo is Gigabyte ex58-ud4p.

Edited my post. 8x won't affect speed noticeably. If you wish, you can look up a test that Linus did on PCI slot bandwidths and how they affect the speed of the card. He even used a huge HD6990, the most raw powerful card, on a slot, right down to 4x with only tiny changes (like a benchmark of 5000 at 16x would go down to 4900 at 8x and 4800 at 4x, and 4x was effectively 2x because there are 2 GPUs on the card he used).

I'll try to find a link.

[Ethan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSfifE2Domo

[Skele]

Hmm, it would be sitting right on top of my PSU in the orange slot, or close to it.

[Ethan]

Hmm, it would be sitting right on top of my PSU in the orange slot, or close to it.

The main thing is, would it be getting more air there than next to the other one where they'd be pretty much touching?

[Mega-Bear]

inb4Ethan

i just had to once.

woah

[Ethan]

Also this is probably more towards your situation as if you did put it in the 8x slot, it would be getting 8x 8x in SLI.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFMzRZqFh-w&feature=relmfu
Take note of how close the cards are together. It is possible, just not ideal.

[Skele]

The main thing is, would it be getting more air there than next to the other one where they'd be pretty much touching?

Well, with the GPUs touching, the top GPU wouldn't get as much airflow (which I was hoping to fix through the heat sink on the MSI). The other way, the PSU would be venting hot air into the GPU through its own fan (assuming it's an exhaust fan) or it could be competing for air (assuming it's an intake fan) with the GPU. If it's venting the air upwards, the heat sink might help with that as well?

My motherboard isn't great for this, but with the new Intel socket on the horizons I'd be hard pressed to upgrade that now.

[Ethan]

Well, with the GPUs touching, the top GPU wouldn't get as much airflow (which I was hoping to fix through the heat sink on the MSI). The other way, the PSU would be venting hot air into the GPU through its own fan (assuming it's an exhaust fan) or it could be competing for air (assuming it's an intake fan) with the GPU. If it's venting the air upwards, the heat sink might help with that as well?

My motherboard isn't great for this, but with the new Intel socket on the horizons I'd be hard pressed to upgrade that now.

What I'd suggest, is to get a Twin Frozr II, and put that in the top slot, then putting the standard one in the next slot down, unless you can afford 2 of them.

The Twin Frozr II is a great heatsink, and quite exposed, so you will get great cooling with that.

[Skele]

What I'd suggest, is to get a Twin Frozr II, and put that in the top slot, then putting the standard one in the next slot down, unless you can afford 2 of them.

The Twin Frozr II is a great heatsink, and quite exposed, so you will get great cooling with that.

Yeah I can get two. Tomorrow could possibly be an expensive day, as I need a new PSU as well.

[Ethan]

Yeah I can get two. Tomorrow could possibly be an expensive day, as I need a new PSU as well.

I love expensive days :D