-Post pics of your computer-

[BababooeyHTJ]

aside from the obvious total over the top setup i'd be also curious about the noise it produces.

I'm sure that he'll say quiet. Lol

[Munkus]

I'm sure it is quiet (when it's turned off).

Still jelly!

[bill dennison]

looks parched, add water

[BababooeyHTJ]

looks parched, add water

[shadow001]

Yup, once you hit 4 card setups, it's no longer the case of being quiet or not but rather how loud is it, because even going at it conservatively and rating each card at only 200 watts TDP, that's still 800 watts of heat being generated within a fairly small area of the system, and in the worst case scenario, each card may instead release 300 watts TDP and if you use 4 of them, that's 1200 watts of heat out in the wild.

It's the kind of heat output that if it were a CPU causing it, one could be forgiven for wondering if it was in danger of melting from that much heat, never mind overheating or the cooling being loud.

[demo]

Depending on ambient temps and air flow, it's entirely possible they're not loud.

[BababooeyHTJ]

I couldn't stand 7950 tri-fire at the stock 800mhz with a low voltage with a space inbetween each card. I can't imagine that being tolerable but thats just me.

Noise seems very subjective apparently.

Edit: those cards had 7970 reference blower coolers too.

[shadow001]

The last quad setup that would have been close to acceptable with the stock coolers in terms of sound, would likely be this:

http://www.casafree.com/modules/xcgal/albums/userpics/10045/normal_quad-nvidia.jpg

Each GPU only used a tiny cooler and didn't even use 100 watts for each GPU....Notice the single 6 pin power connector, so the entire card for both GPU's had a 150 watt power budget for everything( GPU's, memory, cooler).

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Nvidia+7950GX2+pictures&FORM=IQFRBA&id=8A016B42C2B73236B1AE31DE2C5711F4EEE5B395&selectedIndex=0#view=detail&id=21C86F6E8FAAE2ADB0E485E3D4011C35B6D128AD&selectedIndex=1

We've long since crossed that mark for high end cards, and their cooling requirements.

[demo]

While it's certainly more of a challenge, with enough air flow and good ambient temps it can be manageable.

[shadow001]

While it's certainly more of a challenge, with enough air flow and good ambient temps it can be manageable.

On my sixth quad setup, used cards from both makers, with the most quiet fans possible and variable fan speed adjustment control units that allow changes in 20 RPM increments, along with sound deadening foam to absorb sound, and especially when it's the summer, I never managed to make it quiet enough to not make it's presence easily noticed, especially when the cards are under load.

Once the cards are overclocked, then i'm really screwed and water cooling is 20x more efficient that any air cooler....Seeing cards never exceed 55*C under load, in the hottest summer days, overclocked and silent as a mouse is worth every penny and impossible to reach that performance with air while keeping it near silent.


Now that fab processes are getting delayed and it affects everyone, new architectures get delayed as a result and that goes double for the high end parts, as the next ones might have upwards of 10 billion transistors at the 20nm process, so they absolutely need the latest lithography process to make them feasible, so the easiest gains are already behind us now, as we'll be sticking with the same cards for longer, before there something out there 30~40% faster in order to be worth sinking 2000~3000$ into getting them...


Even mighty intel is still having yield issues with broadwell CPU's using their 14nm process, and this is a company that makes ~40 billion dollars in net profit every year, and having the best engineers in the business with the latest equipment on planet earth....

[demo]

Cool story bro.

[shadow001]

Cool story bro.

Just detailing my experiences over the years, and now that high end cards are using more power than ever( 250~300 watt TDP's), it's even harder to pull off when using 4 of them.....A pair of 7950GX2's which were Nvidia's fastest card for 6 months before the 8800GTX's were released, used less than 600 watts between the both cards, and the 4 GPU's onboard.


Don't get me wrong, the GTX980's are awesome in power/ performance, but you know and I know and everyone and their dog knows they are not the high end version of Maxwell, which will not only be a faster GPU obviously, but also come with the extra power consumption beyond GM204 levels, given all the extra shaders, texture units, rops, wider memory bus and more memory modules in total, as there's no such thing as a free lunch, never mind using 4 of them and overclocking them and keeping it silent in the process.

[demo]

I still think it can be manageable given the right conditions.

[BababooeyHTJ]

That's very subjective

[bill dennison]

I still think it can be manageable given the right conditions.

sure if you want to wear a thermal suit when running your system in a walk in freezer

[demo]

How would you know? You've never even tried with Nv reference coolers.

But sure quad is probably pushing it, especially when ambient temps get a little warmer. Never had an issue with 3-way in a modded case though. Not saying it's silent, but it's not bad.

[nycdarkness]

How would you know? You've never even tried with Nv reference coolers.

But sure quad is probably pushing it, especially when ambient temps get a little warmer. Never had an issue with 3-way in a modded case though. Not saying it's silent, but it's not bad.

temps aren't bad with ref coolers. For my old titans and current cards, this is very true. The noise however is another story.

[bill dennison]

How would you know? You've never even tried with Nv reference coolers.

But sure quad is probably pushing it, especially when ambient temps get a little warmer. Never had an issue with 3-way in a modded case though. Not saying it's silent, but it's not bad.

if I don't like the noise from my dcii's and only two of them why would louder( by all reviews ) nv reference coolers matter at all

[shadow001]

temps aren't bad with ref coolers. For my old titans and current cards, this is very true. The noise however is another story.

For me, the bonus is both much lower temperatures than any air cooler as my GPU's never exceed 55*C in the summer, overclocked and under load, and way quieter too so while i'll be the first to admit it's time intensive to install all the blocks, fill and bleed the loop, check for leaks and it isn't cheap once you add it all up, it's in a class by itself when it comes to overall performance and silence....If the card can't overclock any higher, it isn't because it's running too hot basically.


Add that fab processes are getting delayed, which in turn delays new product introductions for both companies no matter which you pick, especially if your preferred market segment is the high end, but since we always want faster and faster cards because we are performance junkies of the highest order, i wouldn't be surprised that as cards cross that 300 watt TDP threshold more and more often, both Nvidia and AMD start designing their top end models with closed water loops and built in pumps right from the start....


Basically doing what we see with the R295x2 cards, but applied to single GPU cards costing 600$+ in a few years from now, as we'll only have the 20nm process and maybe the 16nm process by then, so saving power by shrinking the process down further, and consequently being easier to cool where a regular air cooler is still enough, is on it's last legs unless an unexpected technological breakthrough happens in the meantime.

[demo]

Short and sweet shadow, short and sweet.

if I don't like the noise from my dcii's and only two of them why would louder( by all reviews ) nv reference coolers matter at all

It would matter because reference GTX980 is actually 1db quieter than GTX680 dcii, and 8db quieter than 290x dcii.

Sandwich those puppies together and those model dcuii's would get even louder over time due to no exhaust.

temps aren't bad with ref coolers. For my old titans and current cards, this is very true. The noise however is another story.

Depends on your case cooling. I mounted a 120mm fan at the front of the cards, another at the side of the cards and slightly wedged the cards apart. It was fine. The fans barely went higher than a single GPU.

[nycdarkness]

Short and sweet shadow, short and sweet.



It would matter because reference GTX980 is actually 1db quieter than GTX680 dcii, and 8db quieter than 290x dcii.

Sandwich those puppies together and those model dcuii's would get even louder over time due to no exhaust.



Depends on your case cooling. I mounted a 120mm fan at the front of the cards, another at the side of the cards and slightly wedged the cards apart. It was fine. The fans barely went higher than a single GPU.

I have a 780T case for those cards. Very good airflow case, I have a 140 MM fan mounted right at the rear of the gpus as well. With the fans running at low rpm, my temps never go past 74c in 100% load. However, the gpu fans are spinning at 70-75% as well. Maybe I am more sensitive to fan noise, but 3 fans at 70% is more than audible.

[shadow001]

Short and sweet shadow, short and sweet.

Ok...I don't ever need to worry about temperatures or noise no matter the conditions....EVER.

[bill dennison]

Short and sweet shadow, short and sweet.



It would matter because reference GTX980 is actually 1db quieter than GTX680 dcii, and 8db quieter than 290x dcii.

Sandwich those puppies together and those model dcuii's would get even louder over time due to no exhaust.



Depends on your case cooling. I mounted a 120mm fan at the front of the cards, another at the side of the cards and slightly wedged the cards apart. It was fine. The fans barely went higher than a single GPU.

980 stock 41db to 980 strix (dcii) 39db both louder than my whole nv system

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/asus_geforce_gtx_980_strix_review,10.html

[shadow001]

Oh this is regardless of voltage used so far, or clock speeds once overclocked, or game / benchmark used.

If it isn't stable, it's not because it's running hot....Cards simply can't handle more.

[t0adp1p3]

WHAT???? Sorry Guys I cant hear you!

[demo]

You have 3x reference 290x's???

I have a 780T case for those cards. Very good airflow case, I have a 140 MM fan mounted right at the rear of the gpus as well. With the fans running at low rpm, my temps never go past 74c in 100% load. However, the gpu fans are spinning at 70-75% as well. Maybe I am more sensitive to fan noise, but 3 fans at 70% is more than audible.

Yeah you have to understand it's about pushing the air out that's between the cards. I'm sure your case is great but you still need small fans directly at the front and side to get enough turbulence to move that air before it heats up. Slightly wedging the cards apart also helped greatly (I used small rubber blocks).

980 stock 41db to 980 strix (dcii) 39db both louder than my whole nv system

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages...review,10.html

No m8, reference 780's are actually quieter than 290x DCUII. I know because I've used them both. Being an elitist doesn't mean other solutions aren't manageable.

[BababooeyHTJ]

Some people are more tolerant to noise than others.....

Four gpus is a lot of heat to dissipate. I just can't imagine that being quiet. While there may be ways to help I can't think of any way for it to be quiet. Unless you have a different definition of the word quiet.

Is that going to annoy someone watching tv in the same room? Lets use this metric

[bill dennison]

cool and quiet and 4 in parallel with their 3/16" inside piping in them woul be about the same flow rate as a 3/8" tube

[CurrentlyPissed]

They dont come with a better SLi cable than that?

[Megaman]

What's wrong with the cable? (Apart from looks)

[Mangler]

What's wrong with the cable? (Apart from looks)

What do you mean apart from the looks?

Does anything else matters!?

[Megaman]

Bandwidth

[CurrentlyPissed]

Looks was the reason, is all.

[badsykes]

cool and quiet and 4 in parallel with their 3/16" inside piping in them woul be about the same flow rate as a 3/8" tube

Feeling like looking at a pacient with breathing aparatus in coma...

[bill dennison]

They dont come with a better SLi cable than that?

it's nv they don't come with any bridges

the bridges come with the MB's and the first one I had on my 680's went to sh*t ( red flashing in sli ) and all I could find fast was a long one
I got some more around here somewhere just need to find one

Feeling like looking at a pacient with breathing aparatus in coma...

new fittings on the way

[BababooeyHTJ]

I rarely look at my computer after everything is put together and working well. I don't go overboard on the looks department.

I'm actually debating going back to air and tossing my pc into a smaller case when I get around to cleaning my loop. I just don't feel like dealing with water anymore.

[andino]

So how does that loop go? CPU-> Video Card-> Video Card or Video Card-> Video Card -> CPU?

Also, aren't CPUs supposed to be on their own loop?

I'm not being a dick, I'm just really curious.

[badsykes]

I rarely look at my computer after everything is put together and working well. I don't go overboard on the looks department.

I'm actually debating going back to air and tossing my pc into a smaller case when I get around to cleaning my loop. I just don't feel like dealing with water anymore.

Intersting that people go from Ferrari to a regular car.

[bill dennison]

So how does that loop go? CPU-> Video Card-> Video Card or Video Card-> Video Card -> CPU?

Also, aren't CPUs supposed to be on their own loop?

I'm not being a dick, I'm just really curious.

CPU to Video Cards to reservoir to pump to rad and back to cpu

as to one or two loops
if you flow rate is fast enough the water won't heat up much each pass to notice and a good big rad will take it back out each pass

unless your trying for a extreme overclock on both cpu and gpu's it won't matter that much
a d5 pump puts out about 5 gallons a minute

[BababooeyHTJ]

So how does that loop go? CPU-> Video Card-> Video Card or Video Card-> Video Card -> CPU?

Also, aren't CPUs supposed to be on their own loop?

I'm not being a dick, I'm just really curious.

Makes no difference whatsoever. Water temp in the loop shouldn't vary by a degree. It takes a while for the water to warm up.

I don't like the idea of separate loops. When your cpu loop isn't taking full advantage of the rads why not let the video cards take advantage of them.