Temperature a little high on my 980Ti, need some airflow advice?

[xtobymc]

Hi Guys,

I just recently switched to a micro-ATX form factor for portability reasons and I've been having a little trouble with my GPU temperature. I got an EVGA 980Ti Superclocked ACX 2.0 (non reference) and on load I'm hitting 80-83 celcius. It's not a dangerous temperature, it's just not something I'm comfortable with when gaming for hours, and fan noise gets quite annoying at 80+ degrees.

The reason I didn't go for a reference card was because in reviews they ran at above 80 celcius and produced a fair bit of noise, so I went with this EVGA one because its reviews showed it to run at about 73-76 celcius and much quieter, but this doesn't seem to true for my build.

My assumption is that the front radiator in the photo below is blocking a lot of intake airflow which means less cool air is hitting the GPU. This is the only place the radiator can go however. I also can't fit any more fans in the case due to cable restrictions and space. I tried putting a fan below the GPU and temperature fell from 83 to 80, but it's still not great.

I also tried reducing the power limit to 90% in Afterburner to underclock the card slightly, it does reduce temperature and fan noise but I feel like it's a waste to buy a 980Ti and have it under perform. I also don't have room for a water cooled 980Ti in the system.

What might you guys suggest?

Edit: front and bottom fans are intake, rear and top fans are outtake.

 

[ubercake]

First, that build looks great. Second, you're not really even close to the 92C max temp for that card. It's ok for it to run at the 83C temp.

When you put the ACX style cooling in a smaller space, you're going to run a little hotter. I noticed you have effectively two intakes (three fans but two are push/pull) and three exhausts. What happens if you unplug the top fan? Does your temp improve? What I'm getting at is you may currently have a negative pressure situation with more exhaust fans. When you have a video card blowing the hot air into your case, the negative pressure situation is not the best for this type of cooling.

What happens to the GPU temp when you unplug the top fan? Any effect?

 

[p_nut_uk]

Don't suppose your side panel has a fan slot? The issue is that the 980 is blocking a large portion of the natural upward direction of hot air, so it's just recirculating the hot air it just expelled, It looks quite narrow but if you could fit an exhaust fan just above the graphics card on the side panel I think that would help. Might need to mod the panel.

Run it with the side panel off and see the difference.

Edit: Beautiful build

 

[xtobymc]

Don't suppose your side panel has a fan slot? The issue is that the 980 is blocking a large portion of the natural upward direction of hot air, so it's just recirculating the hot air it just expelled, It looks quite narrow but if you could fit an exhaust fan just above the graphics card on the side panel I think that would help. Might need to mod the panel.

Run it with the side panel off and see the difference.

Edit: Beautiful build

Hi p_nut_uk

Interestingly I just tried running a benchmark with the side panel off and the GPU is sittingly fairly stable at 77 celcius which is quite an improvement. I've noticed that the exhausted air from the GPU is coming right out the side of it towards the side panel. The air blowing out the side of the case is very warm, but above the GPU where the exhaust fans are, the air is cool.

Unfortunately my side panel window doesn't have a fan slot, but perhaps modding it would be beneficial, despite my lack of DIY skills 😛

Thanks for the suggestion though, the side panel seems to be restricting a lot of exhausted air.

 

[bystander]

What direction is the fan on the bottom of the case flowing? Given the lack of natural air flow below the card, I'd highly recommend that lower fan blow out of the case, and not into the GPU. That way the air flows into that pocket. You may also need to elevate your case so air can freely exit from under the case.

You may also want to remove slot plates below the card, or use ones that have air flow so air can come in or exit the rear of the case.

 

[xtobymc]

What direction is the fan on the bottom of the case flowing? Given the lack of natural air flow below the card, I'd highly recommend that lower fan blow out of the case, and not into the GPU. That way the air flows into that pocket. You may also need to elevate your case so air can freely exit from under the case.

You may also want to remove slot plates below the card, or use ones that have air flow so air can come in or exit the rear of the case.

The fan at the bottom is acting as intake to pull cool air into the GPU. Upon putting it in the temperature fell by 2-3 celcius, plus all the hot air either rises or goes out the side. I don't think the bottom of the case is the problem.

 

[bystander]

What direction is the fan on the bottom of the case flowing? Given the lack of natural air flow below the card, I'd highly recommend that lower fan blow out of the case, and not into the GPU. That way the air flows into that pocket. You may also need to elevate your case so air can freely exit from under the case.

You may also want to remove slot plates below the card, or use ones that have air flow so air can come in or exit the rear of the case.

The fan at the bottom is acting as intake to pull cool air into the GPU. Upon putting it in the temperature fell by 2-3 celcius, plus all the hot air either rises or goes out the side. I don't think the bottom of the case is the problem.

The problem is, the GPU does not take air and send it out the case. It takes the air and blows it right back into the case. And that same air is being blow right back at it from the front of the case and from under it.

While it does improve things, it is slight. You would likely see better results if you can get the air flow to work together, so you get more fresh air into the GPU at a more rapid pace.

You lose nothing trying. The other option is to have the case fan in front sending air out the front, effectively changing the direction of air flow of your whole case from back to front. You'd probably want to change all the fans of the case to accomplish this. So the back fans blow air to the front as well.

 

[coozie7]

How much gap is there between the graphics card and side panel? It's hard to gauge from the photo but there seems to be very little space for the hot GPU exhaust to pass upwards, or, indeed outwards and the fact you see a significant temp/fanspeed drop with the side panel removed does suggest a lack of airflow as the problem.

 

[Bossyfins]

I'd try putting the bottom fan at the GPU up so it gives the GPU fresh air.

 

[bystander]

I'd try putting the bottom fan at the GPU up so it gives the GPU fresh air.

If nothing else is pulling the air out, you may ended up with less fresh air.

When the front of the case is sending air at the GPU, and the bottom sends air at the GPU, and the GPU expels air to the area right below it, you have 3 sources of air all pushing against each other. You get far more fresh air if something expels the air out of that area, while another source feeds it. The bottom fan could be used for feeding air, but something else has to expel it, or it won't be very effective.

That leaves 2 choices, either you need a fan in the front to blow air out the case, or that bottom one needs to do it. Maybe you could get one of those PCIe slot exhaust fans out the back of the case below the GPU, but something needs to suck the air out of the area below the GPU.

 

[p_nut_uk]

2 ideas (without modding)

1, move the rad to the back and remove the fan at the bottom, that allows the lower front intake pour cool air over your gpu and hopefully push it out the expansion slots rather than warmish air being blown over and the bottom fan causing air turbulence, also if possible increase the speed of the lower intake fan, as shown in this hastily drawn example

http://s278.photobucket.com/user/p_nut_uk/media/AIRFLOW.jpg.html

2. move the push pull fan combo to the lower part and increase the speed of the fans if possible and again remove the bottom fan, the fan looks like it would be close to your card and that's good as you should create a nice isolated area of the case and the pressure of the intake fan should push the hot air out the expansion slots.

edit, sorry just saw the rad is way bigger >_< but try the 2nd option

 

[Justkeeplookin]

Im not that suprised. Your fitting a beast into a small cage (Case) so the temp's should be rising but. It seems with your setup the air is circulating. Id recommend turn that bottom fan to push air outside but not pushing air to the GPU

 

[ubercake]

Again, the temp for that GPU is well within spec with no change.

 

[p_nut_uk]

Again, the temp for that GPU is well within spec with no change.

OP doesn't want the higher noise

 

[ubercake]

Again, the negative pressure situation currently in place could call for one less exhaust. Try removing the top fan and see if the increase in positive pressure helps with the temperature. Less fans in the case=Less noise in the case.

 

[junkeymonkey]

I wonder if the card is able to get the reuwired power ? like all appliances that cant draw the electricity it needs it gets hot ? being a m-atx board it could be [with oput knowing what board you have] 4 phase vrm that may not supply stable power to the card at the slot ??

looking at your case arrangement don't seem air flow should be at issue seeing its clean and nicely open ?

then seeing how evga seems to be having issues keeping cards in stock they may hurried things up on the line and goofed the cooler in some way [ no paste too much too loose ??]

I also brought this up in threads about the temps and told no there cool running cards [as you believed ] and why the demand for the hybrid style and kits are in high demand ??-

one thig I would also try seeing you don't have anything to loose it turn off the bottom case fan [one right below the card ] it maybe causing a turbulence that may affect the cards fans air flow in some way ??

I forgot to see if you did any adjustment to the fans profiles ?? maybe there not ramping up as heat builds correctly or needs to be set at a higher rpm's??