Question 970 SLI Temps Please Help

[ilovederp21]

Hello everyone. Here is my build:
2x Gtx 970
Ryzen 5 2600x
16gb DDR4 3200mhz
Asus ROG Strix x470-F Gaming

I am running SLI 970's founders editions, and when I am playing GTAV ultra settings the temps for the top card are usually 67-70 celcius, and the bottom card reaches 80 degrees and stays there as I play. Even in benchmarks the bottom card reaches 80 degrees. I am worried that this might not be normal for these cards. I have a push pull fan config with 4 fans. Someone please tell me if this is normal or not.

 

[1LiquidPC]

Hi there. That is indeed normal operating temps for aircooled 970s w/ reference design coolers. I had 2 myself in SLI, and still have one stored away. For several generations, GeForce GPUs will continue to boost the GPU clocks up until about 80C, before dropping the frequency down a bit. Afterwards, the clocks fluctuate and temps will float mid 70s to 80C range. Usually, the lower card would be cooler as the top is starved for air, but in your case/cooling setup things are a bit different. Temps are perfectly normal though, no real reason to be alarmed. If you still suspect one card may have an issue, you could always swap the two around to see if there is any change.

 

[ilovederp21]

Hello, you don't know how much I appreciate you taking your time to reply with that answer. That helped a lot! thank you! Also, do you know if there is any other way I can cool these cards to where they don't have to drop the frequencies to stay cool? And, when MSI Afterburner lists GPU1 and GPU2, do you know which one is the top and which is the bottom?

 

[1LiquidPC]

I can't comment on afterburner, but my guess would be GPU1 is the one in too x16 slot, as its always primary. Regarding cooling, a cheap way to shave off a few degrees with reference cooler would be high quality thermal compound replace, kryonaut is what I use. Otherwise, you are limited by the reference design itself and case cooling. This all said, best case may be sustaining higher boost a bit longer by a few degrees cooler. Marginal performance gain is most realistic.