GPU Cooling Help

[thestalkmore]

I recently built my first PC and am having trouble keeping my video cards cool.

Specs:

2.4ghz quad core intel (running at 26'C idle)
4 GB Ram.
10000 RPM 150 Gig Raptor
750 Gig Western Digital
annnnd my problem children (two 8800 GTX's in SLI).

Case temp is around 35'C idle and everything else seems to be fine. My cards, however are running at 61'C and 68'C idle and that is extremely troubling to me. Any suggestions on how to keep them cooler and prevent total melt down? I just purchased a Dynatron PCI Slot Exhaust PC Case Cooler Fan in hopes that it would provide some relief but I'm not sure it will even fit in my case because I have my sound card in between my two video cards.... Help

[pam123]

I don't know why you've set up the board as you describe.
What motherboard do you have?
You really don't want a pci card between the video cards but you could put the Dynatron in that slot and move the sound card else where.

[thestalkmore]

Well it's a ASUS P5N32-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard and as far as I know, I don't really have any other options as to where to place my cards except in the two PCI-E slots and the sound card in between. If there is another viable option I'm all ears...

[pam123]

Is this a proper picture of your motherboard : http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowIm...board+-+Retail

Is the second pci slot being blocked?

[thestalkmore]

This is my setup: http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/6405/setupno3.jpg

The two graphics cards are in the blue PCI-E slots (circled in green) and my sound card is in
the slot to the right of the first card (circled in dark green).

[noneoftheabove]

you could get an external usb sound card or go liquid cooling.

[pam123]

The Dynatron should fit.
Those 8800 cards tend to create what, for lack of a better term, I'll call stagnant pooled air.
Depending on your case you could have used an in take fan aimed at the cards but an exhaust fan will fit and will help.

[thestalkmore]

Originally Posted by pam123 The Dynatron should fit. Those 8800 cards tend to create what, for lack of a better term, I'll call stagnant pooled air. Depending on your case you could have used an in take fan aimed at the cards but an exhaust fan will fit and will help.

Thanks, though after looking at my case some more, I'm not sure the Dynatron will fit haha, it's extremely cramped. Should I consider going water cooled?

[pam123]

If you think you're short on space now just wait till you try fitting in water cooling.
I've managed to put Dynatrons into a number of cramped cases, they're my "When nothing else will fit.." solution.

[thestalkmore]

Ugh, I have one side of my case off and my windows open at night and it's still 70' idle! This is not good, I can't run anything without crashing ugh. I thought the cooling on these things was supposed to be decent.

[pam123]

Is that a full tower case?

[Unforseen]

I don't have anything useful to say. But your computer is just about the best i've seen on this forum. It's probably the most expensive too.

[thestalkmore]

It is a full tower case, and thanks unforseen.....just wish I could use it hah.

[thestalkmore]

Update: I think I've determined my problem actually DOESNT lie with my temperatures. I opened up my case and blew a fan into it and reduced them down to 60'C and still experienced the problem. I guess I should be a little more descriptive: When it happens, my computer locks up for 10-15 seconds and then I can regain control of it for maybe half a second before it hangs again. It's like a case of paralytic hiccups. Any ideas?

[TungstenCarbide]

I know you said that you think the problem doesn't lie with the temperature of the cards but have you tried removing the sound card from in between the video cards and using the on board sound for a while instead?

Also what operating system is it that you are running?

Could it be faulty RAM stick? I once read about a guy who was having trouble with 2 GBs of RAM (crashes and so on), he determined it was one of the sticks by trial and error. Although I'm *really* not sure about this in your case.

[pam123]

Pull the sound card (Delete it in device manager, uninstall the program and go into the bios to re-enable on board sound, then install the drivers for it after you re-boot.) and switch to on board to see what happens.
Also do Ctrl>Alt>Del to see what's running on your computer, post your complete specs.

[doubledragon5]

Whay kind of case.. The antec 900 has one 200mm on top 2 120mm in front, and 1 120 in the rear.. You might want to see if your set up will fit for better cooling..

[thestalkmore]

Full specs:
Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3750640AS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

ASUS P5N32-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

EVGA 768-P2-N835-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SUPERCLOCKED HDCP Video Card - Retail x 2

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM

APEVIA X-PLEASURE-BK Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail

ENERMAX Galaxy EGX850EWL ATX12V/ EPS12V/ BTX 850W Power Supply - Retail

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-8500C5 - Retail x 2

Creative 70SB046A00000 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series - Retail

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail

2 120 mm case fans

2 80 mm case fans

[pam123]

Have you run a malware scan?
If you have something on your computer that calls home, or tries to, at regular intervals that could be your problelm.
You're right about it not being heat, with 4 case fans you've got plenty of cooling.