Vadie
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GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test. I've not seen a review which contains detailed information regarding temperatures in different sli configurations and so I decided to test my two GTX 780 SC ACX cards when they were placed side by side and again when they were separated by a double wide slot. Test environment: Ambient temperatures were ~28 c throughout these tests. My case is ventilated by four Cooler Master Mega Flow 200's rated at 110 CFM with front/side intakes and two roof exhausts. My 4200 MHz clocked cpu is water cooled using a Thermaltake WATER 2.0 with dual 120 mm fans in push pull rear exhaust over the radiator and rated at 81 CFM all in a COOLER MASTER HAF XM Mid Tower Computer Case. (view Mods Rigs for pictures and further details) All test were done on Windows 7 using stock gpu clocks and with the fan profile modified via Precision X to 100% at 70c. Heaven 4.0 at full screen 1920x1080 Ultra quality, extreme tessellation, and AAx8 was used to test and results of three passes were written down along with highest observed temperature data from Precision X via an lcd. Results: A. Gpu's separated: 1. 104.4 fps 70c/69c 2. 104.5 fps 73c/70c 3. 104.4 fps 71c/69c B. Gpu's side by side 1. 97.0 fps 80c/65c 2. 96.0 fps 80c/65c 3. 95.8 fps 80c/65c C. Gpu's side by side with a Vornado floor fan rated at 293 CFM blowing on Gpu's. 1. 105.9 fps 79c/60c 2. 105.9 fps 79c/60c 3. 105.9 fps 79c/61c  Discussion: Test B, the side by side test, shows the cards unable to maintain a temperature below 80c - the temperature at which these cards throttle in a Boost 2.0 environment - and one may infer that the throttling of these cards led to a loss ~8.0 fps compared to test A in which the cards did not throttle. This conclusion is further supported by my previously unreported observation that during test B the cooler card was utilized at ~8% below what it was in tests where temperatures below 80c were maintained, i.e., ~88%/98% vs. ~96%/98%. We might question whether or not the difference was due to the slots rather than the temperatures but test C renders that view unlikely. When extreme air cooling was utilized the cards were able to remain below 80c and there was a modest increase in fps rather than a decrease. This difference is likely to be the result of the side by side slots operating at PCI-e 3.0 x16 and x16 speeds rather than the PCI-e 3.0 x16 and x8 available when the cards are separated. So, if we are thinking of using these cards in a situation where they must be placed in a side by side configuration we can see that in some cases this will result in a loss of performance due to throttling in addition to the imperfect scaling usually observed in sli. This would be a factor to consider if one were considering building a tri sli 780 rig. One might argue that using higher speed case fans might maintain temperatures below 80c but I find this unlikely as the Vornado floor fan was barely able to keep these cards below 80c and that thing was blasting those cards with airflow. There are also further unknowns to ponder. How would cards with a blower fan perform? What would happen if tests were done at lower ambient temperatures? Conclusion: If you are considering building a system in which placing gpu's side by side is required then air cooling may negatively impact your performance due to throttling at 80c.
post edited by Vadie - 2013/07/13 15:22:47
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Vadie
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/07/12 22:02:29
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pharma57
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/07/13 04:14:46
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My results are basically the same as yours for my 780 SC ACX SLI "GPU Separated" setup, with my ambient room temps about 28c/82f degrees. The idea of using the Vornado is a novel approach and well done! Your results will definitely help people considering an SLI setup with ACX cards. Thank you for this very well done analysis! 
post edited by pharma57 - 2013/07/13 04:18:32
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Vadie
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/07/13 06:52:47
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Thanks pharma. I titled the piece so that people could find it when googling the question and there has been a steady stream of views and so hopefully I’ve helped some folks out with it. That link I posted just before yours is perhaps even more helpful as Chaotic Yeti has created a solution to the problem so that an aircooled side by side becomes viable. Big time kudos on that one.
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mpoffo
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/07/13 14:47:14
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Thanks for running these. I am gonna look at my ref cards temps. Was thinking of adding some more fans but I probably don't need too.
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Vadie
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/07/13 15:19:43
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You’re welcome mpoffo. I hope the info helped you and that your temperatures are where you want them to be. I’m actually going to get a shroud from Chaotic Yeti even though I’m in simple 780 sli at the moment. I’ll test them with a 670 for physics just to see how the shroud does with ACX and if all goes well I’ll be ready for a 3rd 780 if I get the itch.
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vaze159
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/09/07 23:18:11
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SO I just bought the GTX 780 FTW dual BIOS version. I am planning on SLI'ing these by February. This thread has been very informative. My only question is this.
I have a Gigabyte z77x-ud5h motherboard. it has x16, x8, and x4 lanes. The x16 and x8 are the side by side and the x16 and x4 would give me one slot difference. Would it significantly reduce the scaling performance of the 2 780's if I used the x16 and x4 sli approach to keep temps comfortably below 80C? If the decrease would be very significant, than I may return this one I just got and get the superclocked reference designs.
Processor - Intel Core I7 3770K @ 4.5GHz | Chassis - HAF X 942 | Mother Board - Gigabyte Z77-UD5 Heatsink - Scythe Ninja Rev. 3 | RAM - 16GB's Kingston HyperX 1600MHz | GPU - EVGA GTX 780 FTW dual BIOS 3GB SSD - 120GB Kingston HyperX SATA III 6GB/s (Windows 7 Ultimate Installed) | Hard Drive - 2TB Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm | Power Supply - 850W Corsair HX Gold Certified
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schulmaster
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/09/08 00:06:48
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If you're running PCIe 2.0, I would recommend against it since 4X would net you 1.25 GT/s in bandwidth from the board which will hinder performance in some applications. Furthermore, you'd be doing the GPU in the 16X slot a great disservice since it's performance will be mollified by the comparably small bus rate of the 4X GPU; only when employing dedicated PhysX would this be a palatable solution. If you're running PCIe 3.0' the 4X will net you 2GT/s, which is pretty close to the 2.5GT/s that PCIe 2.0 x8 provides, so better cooling might be worth it in a revision 3.0 scenario.
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Vadie
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/09/08 17:52:56
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I’m hoping your I7 3770K on a z77 board will yield PCIe 3.0 x4 but it’s still likely to cost you some performance compared to sli using PCIe 3.0 x8+x16. I’m not sure whether or not it will be worse than the thermal throttling and I’d think you might just have to test it to be sure. It’s just not an ideal build and you need to determine if you really need a sli solution or if you’re willing to put up with a performance hit rather than replacing the motherboard. One possible work around came from Chaotic Yeti who came up with a 3D printed shroud solution and was kind enough to sell me one but I couldn’t get it to work with my ACX coolers as they have no mounting holes on the end. My guess is the shroud must be firmly attached and flush to 3 GPU’s for it to work, e.g., sli plus a dedicated physics card (of the same length) for instance.  http://forums.evga.com...78&mpage=1#1976578
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chrisdglong
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/10/02 22:47:09
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This smell like bull, I run two separated and they hit 80c.
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Vadie
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/10/02 22:52:59
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An how you know sent of Bull? U tracker mabe?
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_Nite_
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/10/02 23:07:37
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how did you do that Fan holder behind the cards Vadie? thats neat lol Vadie
I’m hoping your I7 3770K on a z77 board will yield PCIe 3.0 x4 but it’s still likely to cost you some performance compared to sli using PCIe 3.0 x8+x16. I’m not sure whether or not it will be worse than the thermal throttling and I’d think you might just have to test it to be sure. It’s just not an ideal build and you need to determine if you really need a sli solution or if you’re willing to put up with a performance hit rather than replacing the motherboard. One possible work around came from Chaotic Yeti who came up with a 3D printed shroud solution and was kind enough to sell me one but I couldn’t get it to work with my ACX coolers as they have no mounting holes on the end. My guess is the shroud must be firmly attached and flush to 3 GPU’s for it to work, e.g., sli plus a dedicated physics card (of the same length) for instance.
http://forums.evga.com...78&mpage=1#1976578
That fan mod gave me an idea.... I just bought an antec 302 case for my gaming rig and thier is enough space now between the video card and hardrive bays, I could ziptie a 120MM fan to the side of the hardrive bay to give my cards some more cooling.
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Vadie
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/10/02 23:11:26
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It’s just big time kudo’s to Chaotic Yeti Nite. That’s his rig and I think you’ll find the link in the thread above where he’s created the shroud with a 3D printer.
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rjohnson11
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/10/02 23:31:03
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I forgot to mention that this was a very good thread on SLI temps. Great job.
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_Nite_
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/10/02 23:34:36
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Vadie
It’s just big time kudo’s to Chaotic Yeti Nite. That’s his rig and I think you’ll find the link in the thread above where he’s created the shroud with a 3D printer.
yea I saw that, just his mod inspired me to do a simple one on my case that does the same thing almost, it will help pull the cool airflow already going to the hardrive bay from my front bezel case fans closer to the video cards.
Gaming Rig: AMD Ryzen 7 2700x @ 4.25Ghz - Asrock B450 Pro 4 - 16GB Crucial Ballistix DDR4 3000 - 240GB SSD (OS), 1TB ADATA SU800 SSD and 2TB ADATA SX8200 Pro M2 NVME (Games) - 8GB RTX 3070 XC3 Ultra - Sound Blaster Audigy 5 RX - EVGA Supernova 750w G2 - Antec 302 - 24" Asus VG248QE
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Vadie
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/10/03 07:41:13
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@I forgot to mention that this was a very good thread on SLI temps. Great job.
Many thanks RJ, I appreciate the shout out.
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Vadie
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/10/03 07:53:37
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@yea I saw that, just his mod inspired me to do a simple one on my case that does the same thing almost, it will help pull the cool airflow already going to the hardrive bay from my front bezel case fans closer to the video cards.
Well I hope you had decent results. I had fun setting up my shroud although it ended up being a jury rigged monstrosity that didn’t work. I felt kinda bad being that C. Yeti was kind enough to print one off and send it to me. In future I guess I’ll, mmm… I don’t know, maybe look at the parts before I order a mod for them?
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chrisdglong
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/10/03 20:13:02
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Vadie
An how you know sent of Bull? U tracker mabe?
Never mind, I missed that you have the fans at 100%...
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Vadie
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/10/04 06:47:51
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Well having the fans ramp up to 100% does make a big difference and so it would seem you’ve found the answer to your overheating; gratz.
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chrisdglong
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/10/04 19:22:19
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Vadie
Well having the fans ramp up to 100% does make a big difference and so it would seem you’ve found the answer to your overheating; gratz.
80c is not overheating. But, I single ACX does run significantly cooler than SLI'd ones, even when place separate.
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Vadie
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/10/04 23:07:33
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That’s a fair point Chris, but since the cards throttle at 80c it’s probably something that we can agree on that we don’t want our cards reaching those temps. At any rate I’m glad your sli is rockin on and hopefully your games look amazing. Peace
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chrisdglong
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/10/05 10:55:55
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Vadie
That’s a fair point Chris, but since the cards throttle at 80c it’s probably something that we can agree on that we don’t want our cards reaching those temps. At any rate I’m glad your sli is rockin on and hopefully your games look amazing. Peace
Mine seems to be throttling the boost clock back at 65c when benchmarking. I don't know if it is power related, or what... I set up at custom fan profile, not as aggressive as 100%, but it keeps the cards to a high of 75c. Should the boost clock still be dropping? At 65c?
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Vadie
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/10/06 07:47:10
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Just offhand Chris, I can’t recall there being a throttle point below 80c for 780’s and so I suspect something else is going on. If it were me I’d do the usual Nvidia driver and Precision X clean reinstalls and then check if the throttling were occurring with different benchmarks. If the problem persisted I’d try to isolate it to a single card, out of the pair, and possibly look to RMA that card if the data showed it to be defective.
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AdrianIscariot
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/11/09 14:23:11
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Sorry to bring an up (older) thread, but this information is great as I'm just about to pull the trigger on a new system (my first ever) that I hope to contain 2 SC ACX 780s in SLI. This type of analysis is hard to find!
I wondered if you guys could let me know whether I would be okay with these 2 and a Maximus VI Hero mobo inside the Corsair 500R case? I plan on upgrading the 200mm side fan to something that has the highest airflow I can find (Cooler Master or Bitfenix, I think). I believe the Hero has 2 slots between the PCI-E 3.0 slots, so would that allow adequate cooling for those lovely EVGA 780s to reach their potential?
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fergusonll
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/11/09 14:45:08
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Just to mention, I've seen others mention when sli two non acx cards, temps are cooler. usually approx. 10c
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DeadPhoenix86
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/11/09 14:52:39
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i use a 2x MSI GTX 780's Gaming Edtion. which does also dump allot of heat into the case. the highest temp i saw on the first GPU when they ran in SLI. is 75c after 3 hours of intensive gaming. however the second GPU noticeably runs cooler and it didn't even go above 68c. mind you i do have good air flow in my system.
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AdrianIscariot
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/11/09 15:25:31
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Thanks guys. Buying 2 blower-style coolers is an option, I wondered if the negative point of blowing hot air into the case would be offset by the fact the cooling solution is more powerful? I need to do more digging around.
75 degrees is fine, below throttling so I'd be chuffed with that. Looking at the Corsair 540 Air case now.
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jlp209
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/11/09 15:52:55
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AdrianIscariot
Thanks guys. Buying 2 blower-style coolers is an option, I wondered if the negative point of blowing hot air into the case would be offset by the fact the cooling solution is more powerful? I need to do more digging around.
75 degrees is fine, below throttling so I'd be chuffed with that. Looking at the Corsair 540 Air case now.
That 540 case looks like a really cool case! That should work. The most important factor is good case air flow. Prior to finding my optimal case fan set up my cards ran very hot, I even forced under-volting to no avail, the top card hit 80 very quickly. I have a space between the 2 cards also. So based on my own experience my answer to your question is no, the negative point of hot air blowing into my case was not offset by the better cooling solution on the ACX cards *because my air flow was abysmal.* It IS offset by good case air flow.
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AdrianIscariot
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/11/10 10:49:04
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Great. I'm researching what sort of fan configuration would be best in that case, also looking into mobo's like the Gigabyte Z87X-OC as I would have more space between the 2 cards. The Hero seems so easy to work with though, hopefully that will
be suitable.
DeadPhoenix, can I ask what case you have? Your cards are very similar to the ACX so that'd be really interesting.
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Vadie
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Re:GTX 780 temperatures in sli: an informal test.
2013/11/10 13:27:22
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I took a look at that Maximus VI Hero board and, just by looking at it, there looks to be enough room to sli in the first two slots and still leave a bit of room for airflow to feed the cards. That 3rd PCI-e slot doesn’t strike me as being anything you’d want to try to tri sli with; if you were to decide to go that route in the future. 
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