High R9 280X Crossfire Temps in mATX Case: HELP!

jasperhuang93

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Nov 24, 2014
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Posting this because it does not seem many have Crossfire or SLI set-ups in mATX cases, so I was wondering if I should give up my Crossfire set up and move onto maybe a GTX 980 single card (and whether I would take a significant performance hit).

Some context
I recently moved out of a Fractal Design R4 into a Corsair Carbide Air 240 (the mATX little brother of the Air 540). The reason for the move was that I wanted to hand off the R4 to my younger brother for a gaming build.

I was running an ASRock Z87 Extreme4 mobo, i7-4770k, 16GB Corsair Vengeance RAM, and two Sapphire Dual-X R9 280Xs in crossfire.

  • - H100i cooled the CPU, vented to exhaust out the top
    - Rear 140mm exhaust, dual 140mm intakes up front
    - Side 140mm intake to bring cold air to the Crossfired GPUs
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    - CPU temp idle would sit around 26-28c, load could hit 40s
    - GPU temps would idle around 35-43c, load could hit high 60s, low 70s
Since moving into the Air 240, I've upgraded to a Maximus VII Gene mATX board, all other internals the same besides cooling.

  • - H100i cools CPU, radiator is front mounted intaking air
    - Two Noctua 80mm exhausting out the back
    - Single 120mm exhausting out the top
    - Single 120mm in opposite chamber exhausting HDD, SSD, and PSU heat
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    - CPU temps idle around 30-35c
    - GPU temps idle around 60-63c now! 🙁
I haven't done any load testing yet, a little scared, to be honest (I know I know, it's just a machine). My build looks almost identical to this one, below, which is actually a Corsair photo show that dual-GPU set ups are possible in this thing.

AIR240_BLK_11.png


The cards sit almost right on top of one another, and though the bottom is ventilated, there's barely any clearance and the 60c idle temp scares me a little. This is a snapshot of what I'm running at currently.

p6ezjQ8.png


The ultimate question is -- since I'm giving the R4 case, as well as the ASRock Z87 mobo to my brother, should I hand over the Crossfire set-up too, and go with a GTX970 or a GTX980, and if so, reference or a particular brand?

Apologies for the long post - hopefully someone as some expertise/advice to share!
 
Solution
cross firing 280x's will give the same performance and little better than the 980 heres a single 280x vs 980
http://www.hwcompare.com/18226/geforce-gtx-980-vs-radeon-r9-280x/

I would recommend a 980 because youll not have the stutter that you would get in Crossfire but you will also not be able to use mantle
cross firing 280x's will give the same performance and little better than the 980 heres a single 280x vs 980
http://www.hwcompare.com/18226/geforce-gtx-980-vs-radeon-r9-280x/

I would recommend a 980 because youll not have the stutter that you would get in Crossfire but you will also not be able to use mantle
 
Solution
Ended up purchasing a 780 Ti because a Micro Center in my area had the ASUS GTX780Ti DirectCU II open box (complete) for $420, which was a steal relative to the $580 price tag for even the cheaper of the 980s...

Buyer beware, though, neither the 780Ti, nor 980 cards will not fit in the Corsair Carbide Air 240. Length of the card is okay, but it is too wide for the case - returned the Carbide case, and am back in the Fractal R4, will probably pick up the Corsair 350D to downsize a bit.