Do any crossfire bridges exist that are long enough to connect these?

[mike88931]

Just thought I would dedicate a whole thread to make a last ditch effort to answer this issue that has been really causing me trouble lately. Do any CF bridges exist long enough to connect two 3 slot cards with a slot separating them? Have 2 7970ghz vapor x cards that get super duper hot and cannot find any crossfire bridges long enough to connect them if i were to separate them a slot. T

I have been linked to the 100mm one many times and that is what I was using but it was not long enough.

If anyone has two of these cards and good temps tell me your secret (pretty pretty please with EIGHT cherries on top)

 

[iam2thecrowe]

the longest i have seen is the 100mm ones. If they get too hot you should have a big case fan blowing or sucking air from the side panel right next to the cards. If your case doesn't have a fan mount there you might need to cut a hole in it. So, your options are - fans and/or mod case, new case with more airflow, or a new motherboard with more space between the 2 primary pcie slots.

 

[mike88931]

I cannot do the mobo option because no CF bridges are long enough if 100mm is the longest. I have a haf x with a 200mm side fan though. PLEASE answer this though because people keep ignoring the damn question: A molex pin came loose for the plug powering the side fan but the other 3 pins making up the plug are still in place. Does the fan still have enough pins powering it to run at max rpm's?

 

[iam2thecrowe]

depends weather the fan 3pin - 4pin molex adaptor is set up for 12v or 5v, the yellow wire is 12v the red wire is 5v. just make sure the fan says 12v on it if you connect it to 12v. 12v fans at max rpm are pretty noisy though. Make sure your case airflow is set up correctly too, intale at lower/front, air exhaust at upper/rear. sometimes having the fan pointed at the cards can have a negative effect, blowing hot air back into them, try reverse the fan and see what happens.

 

[bystander]

Yes, they do make Crossfire and SLI bridges that span 3 slots. I have one for Crossfire and one for SLI. They came with graphics card purchases in the past, and I'm not sure which purchase, just that I hold onto them for when I need it. I currently have 680's that span 4 slots (3 between, 2 if you take into account the 2 slot HSF).

http://www.amazon.com/ATI-CrossFire-Interconnect-Bridge-Connecctor/dp/B003NLGR7I

EDIT: 100mm is enough to span cards 4 slots a part (3 between). It only has to reach the 1st slot of each card, it doesn't have to reach to where the HSF reaches. I measure the distance at only 3.25" between connections which is 82.55 mm.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

he just said in the OP that he was using one but wasn't long enough "I have been linked to the 100mm one many times and that is what I was using but it was not long enough." I dont know what motherboard he is using but its not long enough apparently :S

 

[bystander]

I know, but that either means he is actually putting 2 slots between the cards, the cards are 4 slot cards, or he doesn't actually have a 100mm crossfire bridge.

I have two, and they do span 4 slots with 3 slots between them, 2 with 2 slot HSF's and would leave 1 slot with 3 slot cards. Something doesn't add up in his explanation.

 

[bystander]

Perhaps you can take a ruler or tape measure, and measure the distance between the crossfire bridge connections on the cards. That might help us figure out what is not adding up.

 

[pckid22]

As soon as i get some parts back from an exchange i will happily do so but that may take long enough that i will need to start a new thread.

Hopefully this will help cleas some stuff up. This picture is without the cf bridge on it:
http://i1297.photobucket.com/albums/ag29/mike88931/IMG_0070.jpg

as you can see the elevated custome fan design with the word sapphire on it is raised enough that the bridge has to kind of curve up to go over it. THis reduces its reach which may be at fault. What do you think? DO you understand waht i am referring to?

 

[bystander]

Interesting. Just how much does that HSF stick out (the picture shows the spacing, not how much the HSF bulges). In that current alignment, that is 1 less slot of spanning than I use with my 100mm bridge. The HSF must stick out a lot for it not to be able to wrap it.

 

[mike88931]

Go to this newegg link and look at the pic from the angle where you can see:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202005&Tpk=7970ghz%206gb

 

[bystander]

That certainly wasn't designed well. They could easily have allowed a bridge to go straight across had they planned for it. I wonder if that shroud can be taken off and still function.

 

[mike88931]

If you know of a way please let me know. This would probably solve my problem. If having them sandwiched gave me 90 celsius temps what would separating them a slot give me? 80 celsius max? or is that very wishful thinking?

 

[bystander]

Looking at the picture above, it might not make that big of a difference, as they don't take a full 3 slots, more like 2.5 slots. It still may make a 5C difference.

As far as removing it, that would require you to pull out a screw driver set and see what is under it. If the fans are attached directly to the plastic cover, you are out of luck with only a modification to it as your option, which would void your warranty.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

take off the plastic sapphire shrouds, assuming the fan is not actually attached to them.