Help with GTX 670 SLI top card running hot (90+ degrees)

[thegato]

Hi,

I have 2 MSI GTX 670s in SLI. The top card is running really hot under strain. Around 90-95C. At idle it sits around 35-42C. The bottom card is consistently 15-20C cooler.
Any advice on getting this card to cool down to an acceptable tempurature would be greatly appreciated!

Hardware specs:

Spoiler

• 
  •Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
  •Thermaltake Toughpower Grand TPG-1200M 1200W ATX 12V v2.3 & EPS 12V v2.92
  •4x Cooler Master JetFlo 120 - POM Bearing 120mm
  •GIGABYTE GA-Z77MX-D3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
  •Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge Quad-Core 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Desktop Processor (With retail heatsink fan)
  •4x G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2400 (PC3 19200) Desktop Memory
  •Western Digital WD Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
  •2x MSI N670GTX-PM2D2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5

OS: windows 7 64 bit

I've tried different fan curves for the GPUs and a few different case fan set ups.
Case fans currently set up as follows:
1 front lower: 1200RPM
2 top: 1600RPM
1 back top: 1600RPM

Do I need to get an after market heatsink/fan for at least the top Card or is there an easier solution?
If need to make a purchase, I would like it not be more than $125. As I am intending to save up for a complete rebuild in the not so distant future.

Thanks for any helpful advice!
-Gato

 

[Vosgy]

How are the fans on the top card, dose the heat sink need cleaning? Also are the fans working right, I have a pair of GTX570's in sli and the top card started crashing the machine, after having a little play with it I've noticed 2/3 fans appear to be ceasing up so I've sent it back to the manufacturer.
Might also pay off to organize the cables a bit better near where air will flow past the GPU's better air flow = better cooling.

 

[thegato]

How are the fans on the top card, dose the heat sink need cleaning? Also are the fans working right, I have a pair of GTX570's in sli and the top card started crashing the machine, after having a little play with it I've noticed 2/3 fans appear to be ceasing up so I've sent it back to the manufacturer.
Might also pay off to organize the cables a bit better near where air will flow past the GPU's better air flow = better cooling.

Hey. Thanks for the post, Vosgy!
The fan on the top card seemed fine. I'm not sure about the heatsink. I didnt have a precision screw driver to remove the case and check it. Which I will do later.
However...
I swapped the cards positions and the temperatures were the same. (meaning the former top[card 0] card still had the high temps).
Then I happened to notice that the power level for the former top card was at 50% on idle and checking the bios the cards had different versions.

I updated the bios for both cards an now they are both runnign at a more normal temp. 75C for the new top card and about 85C for the new bottom card.
I intend to swap again to verify and check the heatsink.

Calling it closed...

 

[hftvhftv]

Umm call it closed if it's still running hotter than it should eh? Tear down the card and reapply thermal paste/pads that should fix the issue, and make sure no dust is in it.

 

[bystander]

One other thing that can help is to remove the metal bar between the two cards at the back of the case to allow air to flow between the cards. With that spacer in place, the space between the cards becomes a dead pocket with little air circulation. I believe they even make fans that can be placed in that slot to help pull air through there.