I have 4 980 EVGA cards. duel fan, lower power etc. was wondering how long could I play before they get super super hot and overheat? I played crysis to test it today since I just got my 4th card to complete my build and it was on fire. I didn't check temps or anything. ignore the ugly wiring etc.
 
the case is always open.
 
 
 
 

ty_ger07
Well, if the fourth card is currently on fire, the other three will probably be dead in less than a minute.  Is this a serious question?

I meant it felt on fire not it was. thank you for your extremely "kind" answer.

ty_ger07
Ok, if you are being serious, I would guess that you can play for exactly 3 years before you have to worry.  If the cards overheat and break within that period of time, EVGA will replace them through their warranty process.
 
Of course you should fix your wiring mess, add some more fans in your case, and monitor the video card's core temperature.  But, if you completely neglect the cards, you still have a warranty backing you up.
 
Beyond that, what kind of question was that?  How are we supposed to know?  You didn't tell us your room temperature.  You didn't show us the finished build.  And you didn't tell use the core temperatures of the video cards.

what I meant was, could they burn up in 10 minutes and completely die?  the temperature  for each one is around 70 idle right now but it is very hot.
 
and that was the finished build?

bcavnaugh
I would add at least 6
 Two each laid atop the gap between each two Graphics Cards.

between? how?

I would get a bigger case, As ty_ger07 Pointed out that 4th card has NO AIR FLOW.

70C at idle?!?! Something isn't right.

Sajin
70C at idle?!?! Something isn't right.

its really hot right now if that counts as anything

bcavnaugh

Justin579

bcavnaugh
I would get a bigger case, As  Pointed out that 4th card has NO AIR FLOW.

I see. I did buy a bigger case  when i built this since mine was phantom 410

Bigger

 

huh, I  thought the Phanteks “ Enthoo Pro Series “ PH-ES614P would be enough

I tried folding for a little while on full and it is stuck at these temperatures. if it stays at these all the time I'm fine with it.
 

bcavnaugh

Justin579
I tried folding for a little while on full and it is stuck at these temperatures. if it stays at these all the time I'm fine with it.
 

Was that with SLI Enabled or Disabled?
The Font is a little hard to read.
 
Also while you were Folding did you have any Core 15 Projects running because the will run 10C to 15C Hotter than the Core 17 Projects.
I noted on my GTX 980 Cards when a Core 15 P8018 runs my GPU Temps go up and my CPU Usage goes DOWN.

it is always enabled. (still at 86c atm) and I have no idea what that means. I downloaded, joined a group I was in, pressed start and moved bar to full. and my cpu seems to be about 80c

sorry, I don't think I'll spent money on water cooling since something better will just come out and the blocks will be useless.
 

 

bcavnaugh
It is not about water cooling it is about the tool  It give more info in Detailed Mode.
 Your are maxed out on your Temps on Card 3
 

gpus throttle at 95? I don't think any damage will be done.

You know the case door is there for a reason too. It actually helps the thermals and air flow in your case. When you take that side door off you interrupt the whole design.....so you better have a 20" box fan blowing in that open side then. 70c idle is pretty ridiculous for 9xx series cards even if they are ACX coolers and quad sli. At temps like that, I highly doubt they will last three years even. Nothing kills electronics better than heat.....or maybe a lightning bolt, lol.

Obviously your cards are too hot... You spent $1000's on a build you can't even game with currently and your being told if you spend an extra $100-$200 the build will work. Either buy a new case and fans for the extra money or take one/two of the cards out so it doesn't become an oven in the case you have now. I wouldn't be surprised if you have already damaged your motherboard PCI slots. I also don't understand why you just didn't buy 2 980's or 2 970's, it would of been cheaper and maybe even better than your 4 960's. Tbh, if I where you and it hasn't been 30days or whatever, ask for a refund in store and buy 980's or 970's, there memory interface is a lot better and they outperform the 960 in a lot ways.

Those ACX coolers just don't work very well for a SLI system, and for 4-way SLI even less. Reference model blower style coolers would be much better although even those with only 3-way SLI GTX 780s I had in the past, cards eventually always throttle to the default clocks without any additional boost due to the extreme heat and lack of cooling space between cards. Raising the fan speed helps a bit then, but I wouldn't go for 3- or 4-way SLI anymore on air. 
 
Also another problem with those ACX coolers is that they act like a heater and probably heat up your motherboard and CPU, actually everything inside your case as the heat has to go somewhere. :)
 
The only real solution to your problem is water cooling properly done.