I have had nonstop cooling issues since getting my 11.6" long XFX R9 280X. It *barely* fits in my case, and that's only because the 3.5" drive bays are in line with the PCI-E 3.0 x16 slot, which gives me a little more wiggle room. But the card is pretty much in contact with the drive bays, so my airspace is split.
Also apparently this card pulls in from the bottom of the case and exhausts into the case. The VRMs get super hot, the PCB almost burns to the touch, then it crashes..
I've read and read about cooling, and as I said I've tried ALL arrangement of intake/exhaust/positive/negative. I've got a cardboard box with about 8 different fans from various attempts.
My case is a Rosewill Challenger-U3. The hard drive bays are not removable (rather, not built to be so). Bottom, facing sideways, are about 5 bays (think they're 5.25"), where I have two 2TB hard drives and my 256gb ssd. Above those are 2 3.5" bays, and above those are 3 forward facing 5.25", topmost has my DVD. Bottom two are open, but I haven't found a fan I could put in there.
The whole front of this case is a mesh with rather small holes, and the PCI slots are also meshed. The side fan mounts are large holes, not really a mesh.
Case fan mounts:
1 x 120mm bottom front
2 x 120mm side, vertical, towards the rear of the case
1 x 120mm top rear
1 x 140mm top
The problem is the long video card essentially splits my case into two "compartments" and while gaming the top of the GPU PCB gets so hot it'll burn my finger then crash. I have to run with the case opened like a door (hinge to the back) with a small vertical floor fan blowing against the vid card, along with the bottom side fan, which does work. I've thought of sealing the side vents/fan mounts, to encourage internal case flow, but being that the front and rear are all meshes, this case is a sieve anyway.
Currently I have a 140x38mm fan (which has 120mm mounts) that pushes 171CFM in the bottom side, trying to feed the GPU cool air. (Can't use top-side as the cpu radiator & lower fan blocks it). The front bottom is a yate loon d12sh-12 88cfm, currently exhaust. Top is a 140CFM Yate Loon D14SH-12, blowing down onto my Hyper 212+. Rear top is another Yate Loon D12sh-12, blowing inwards at my cpu cooler. I have a Noctua NF-F12 on the Hyper 212, blowing towards front of case. The reason I have airflow going forwards was to try and get cool air to the front of my case where the gpu needs it. But I think the GPU could adequately cool itself if I just optimally set it up....Right now the air can't flow, the only opening for GPU airflow is between it and the side of the case, where the 2x120mm mounts are - so air won't flow in a nice S anyway.
I know this is not the traditional direction of airflow but I've had it reversed in the past with even worse results. The hot spot feels like it's on the end of my card closest to the 3.5" bays, plus another spot in the 1/2inch between my card and the Hyper 212 radiator.
I have some pretty hefty CFMs moving here, I have no issue with CPU cooling. I have even tried internal fans blowing right against the top of the GPU PCB, but no luck.
So to open up the top compartment for better air flow, I got a Corsair H80i GT.
Figure that'll let me use the top-side fan mount, etc. Haven't installed yet. Plan to install push/pull *exhausting* out the top rear (I know ideally intake, but my CPU less of the concern here). Will flip the top 140mm to exhaust. Will flip the bottom front to intake (and maybe even cut the cheese grater mesh off). And finally, think I might pull the monster 171cfm 140x38mm fan -- I think it might be overwhelming the 2 "Double Dissipation" Gpu cooler and/or creating turbulence, as, due to its size, it actually goes over the top of the vid card a little. I'm thinking I'll replace with a 120mm, maybe one of the cougars I have around or the extra Yate Loon from top rear, doing intake for cool GPU air.
Since top-side will open up, I might put the yate loon 120mm there - but not sure if exhaust or intake would make sense there. It's above the vid card. Exhaust might help clear up hot air on top the vid card, but might also just stupid with bottom fan blowing in. Once the tops are set to exhaust (and maybe I'll put the 171CFM monster as the topmost exhaust, if its 120mm mount fits) I'm thinking maybe even pop off the front case cover for the 3.5" hard drive that's in line with the GPU, so cool air hopefully would get pulled in and across the PCB.
I've tried a 90mm internal fan blowing right onto the PCB, doesn't help. I have a PCI slot exhaust fan I haven't tried yet either.
I know that's a lot to read. Sorry. Thanks if you've made it this far.
Specs:
Core i5-3570k OCd (Hyper 212+ air 4.4, Corsair H80i water - to be seen)
XFX R9 280X DD 3GB
Asus Z77A-G45 motherboard
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB
Crucial M4 256gb SSD
Seagate 2TB/WD Green 2TB
Corsair Builder 600W PSU
Rosewill Challenger-U3 case
Also apparently this card pulls in from the bottom of the case and exhausts into the case. The VRMs get super hot, the PCB almost burns to the touch, then it crashes..
I've read and read about cooling, and as I said I've tried ALL arrangement of intake/exhaust/positive/negative. I've got a cardboard box with about 8 different fans from various attempts.
My case is a Rosewill Challenger-U3. The hard drive bays are not removable (rather, not built to be so). Bottom, facing sideways, are about 5 bays (think they're 5.25"), where I have two 2TB hard drives and my 256gb ssd. Above those are 2 3.5" bays, and above those are 3 forward facing 5.25", topmost has my DVD. Bottom two are open, but I haven't found a fan I could put in there.
The whole front of this case is a mesh with rather small holes, and the PCI slots are also meshed. The side fan mounts are large holes, not really a mesh.
Case fan mounts:
1 x 120mm bottom front
2 x 120mm side, vertical, towards the rear of the case
1 x 120mm top rear
1 x 140mm top
The problem is the long video card essentially splits my case into two "compartments" and while gaming the top of the GPU PCB gets so hot it'll burn my finger then crash. I have to run with the case opened like a door (hinge to the back) with a small vertical floor fan blowing against the vid card, along with the bottom side fan, which does work. I've thought of sealing the side vents/fan mounts, to encourage internal case flow, but being that the front and rear are all meshes, this case is a sieve anyway.
Currently I have a 140x38mm fan (which has 120mm mounts) that pushes 171CFM in the bottom side, trying to feed the GPU cool air. (Can't use top-side as the cpu radiator & lower fan blocks it). The front bottom is a yate loon d12sh-12 88cfm, currently exhaust. Top is a 140CFM Yate Loon D14SH-12, blowing down onto my Hyper 212+. Rear top is another Yate Loon D12sh-12, blowing inwards at my cpu cooler. I have a Noctua NF-F12 on the Hyper 212, blowing towards front of case. The reason I have airflow going forwards was to try and get cool air to the front of my case where the gpu needs it. But I think the GPU could adequately cool itself if I just optimally set it up....Right now the air can't flow, the only opening for GPU airflow is between it and the side of the case, where the 2x120mm mounts are - so air won't flow in a nice S anyway.
I know this is not the traditional direction of airflow but I've had it reversed in the past with even worse results. The hot spot feels like it's on the end of my card closest to the 3.5" bays, plus another spot in the 1/2inch between my card and the Hyper 212 radiator.
I have some pretty hefty CFMs moving here, I have no issue with CPU cooling. I have even tried internal fans blowing right against the top of the GPU PCB, but no luck.
So to open up the top compartment for better air flow, I got a Corsair H80i GT.
Figure that'll let me use the top-side fan mount, etc. Haven't installed yet. Plan to install push/pull *exhausting* out the top rear (I know ideally intake, but my CPU less of the concern here). Will flip the top 140mm to exhaust. Will flip the bottom front to intake (and maybe even cut the cheese grater mesh off). And finally, think I might pull the monster 171cfm 140x38mm fan -- I think it might be overwhelming the 2 "Double Dissipation" Gpu cooler and/or creating turbulence, as, due to its size, it actually goes over the top of the vid card a little. I'm thinking I'll replace with a 120mm, maybe one of the cougars I have around or the extra Yate Loon from top rear, doing intake for cool GPU air.
Since top-side will open up, I might put the yate loon 120mm there - but not sure if exhaust or intake would make sense there. It's above the vid card. Exhaust might help clear up hot air on top the vid card, but might also just stupid with bottom fan blowing in. Once the tops are set to exhaust (and maybe I'll put the 171CFM monster as the topmost exhaust, if its 120mm mount fits) I'm thinking maybe even pop off the front case cover for the 3.5" hard drive that's in line with the GPU, so cool air hopefully would get pulled in and across the PCB.
I've tried a 90mm internal fan blowing right onto the PCB, doesn't help. I have a PCI slot exhaust fan I haven't tried yet either.
I know that's a lot to read. Sorry. Thanks if you've made it this far.
Specs:
Core i5-3570k OCd (Hyper 212+ air 4.4, Corsair H80i water - to be seen)
XFX R9 280X DD 3GB
Asus Z77A-G45 motherboard
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB
Crucial M4 256gb SSD
Seagate 2TB/WD Green 2TB
Corsair Builder 600W PSU
Rosewill Challenger-U3 case
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