I think we are seeing this trend because ....
a) SLI has become pretty much a non-factor outside of 4k.
b) I don't see that changing until AMD offers up some competition at the high end. The only effect of improved SLI performance would cannibalize sales of the high end nVidia cards which reap greater profit than a pair of lower tiered cards.
c) We are seeing more folks choosing higher end MoBos which provide 3 slot spaces.
d) Noise ... the smaller cards are loud.
As for cooling, that's always going to be a balance between how fast you are going to go and how much cooler you are willing to provide. I can't quite look at EVGA to "lead" here, at least w/ the SC series, as their VRM solutions have always been weak and the 9xx and 10xx series coolers were significant failures.... with 10xx even on the FT W series. I do like the extra monitoring capabilities of the new iCX series coolers, but given the choice, I'd rather have better cooling / lower noise than the info. In TPUs eviews, the SC came up with a 9.4 rating, just above the reference card's 9.3. The AMP got a 9.6 and everyone else 9.7 to 9.9. So it would appear that squeezing into the 2 slot width has a downside.
Their 1080 Ti SC has been noted for ...
a) Again the SC uses what is just a teeny variant from the FE reference design; the VRM circuitry ... yet again ... remains unchanged.
b) This time around, EVGA did provide thermal pads for the VRM circuitry at least
c) At 37 dbA, that's significantly higher than the 2.5 slot coolers.
d) As is typical for the CS series, there's no update to the power delivery which means the power limit is set much lower than competing cards.... because of their higher power limit, the other cards need more cooling.
To avoid these pitfalls, you'd have to jump to the FT3 which provides comparable features to the AIB's competiting cards, tho to get features comparable to the competitor's $740 cards, you'd have to spend $780 for the FT3. They did manage to make this card a 2 slot unit but again, with the slim fans ... even w/ 3 fans, there is a noise impact that is mitigated when ya use thicker fans. So it's basically a decision of what matters most to you... the space or the noise.
1. On any mobo, single card will work just fine.
2. On Mobos that have the PCIE slots as 1 and 3, ya can't fit two cards with the 2.5 slot cards .... but there, with no space between the cards, you are stuck with feeding the top card's fans with the lower card's exhaust.
3. With SLI air cooled builds, we have always selected boards with PCIEs are provided such that:
Top Card = Slot's 1 & 2
Bot Card = Slot's 4 & 5 (or 5 and 6)
That solves the fit problem, leaving you between 0.5 and 1.5 slots between the cards
With a MP fan mounted on the back of the HD cage blowing fresh cool air between the cards, have been able to maintain minuscule temp differences between the cards. Tho most SLI builds that we have been involved in have been either custom cooled or comprised of OLC type AIO (i.e Swiftech) or supplied with factory installed EK Water blocks (Seahawk) and an extra rad.
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