Top Gpu 30-35 degrees hotter that bottom (90c on top)

[PureMoney]

I recently started live streaming again. Before I started live streaming again my computer would crash often while playing bf3 and other games. Well when you crash while your live streaming it can be a huge hassle. So I decided that I need to make the cards run cooler. They are 2 Asus direct cu 2 7970s. I have had crossfire before so I did some of the things that I thought would help.
I took off the side panel and put a huge fan right near the gpus. I downclocked both gpus to 850mhz. stock is 1000. After doing that I still get 90c on a burn in test. I ran msi kombustor for about 20 mins and it is sticking around 90c. I just wanna know what the best step after that is. I have a corsair 900D case so its not like i'm suffocating the gpus. My bottom card runs at 60c under full load. I really don't wanna take a card out. Unfortunately I bought the computer off of craigslist and the guy had it set up this way. After my first time having crossfire I definitely wanted a single card. Anyways any responses will help. Thanks !

PC Specs:
CPU: i7-4770k oc'ed 4.5ghz
Ram: 16gb of some brand
Hdd/ssd: 2x ssd in raid0 - 2tb storage
PSU: Corsair ax860
Gpus: 2x Asus HD 7970s in Xfire
Case: Corsair 900D
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100

 

[Jay Lavistria]

Are they both stock models?

 

[PureMoney]

Yes, I believe.
Is there a way for me to check?

 

[Jay Lavistria]

Simple.
Are they black rectangles with an internal red fan 😛

 

[PureMoney]

Yes. They are the Asus DirectCUII 7970s. I thought you meant like overclocked version or not.

 

[PureMoney]

Do you think changing the bottom card to the top would help?

 

[Jay Lavistria]

It just sounds like you have 2 hot cards.
Although 90c on a DCUII model card is too hot even for an AMD card (Nvidia never does that shit)
Switch them about, one might be more worn down than the other.

 

[PureMoney]

Ok I will try that, thanks for the quick response.

 

[PureMoney]

Ok, after a long time of trying to get the frigin thumb screws in the 900 d I gave up. Anyways the bottom card is on top now and is running at 85 c under full load with the case closed and no additional fans which is a definite improvement. Anyways don't buy a 900 d. I wanna shoot the dummy who made it.

 

[aaronfield]

The 900D is GREAT. Just impossible to lan party with unless the party is at your house. I do, however, agree the case screws are a bit tough to get used to.

Anyways, do you have a custom fan profile set on MSI Afterburner? You can make your own profile to aggressively up your fan rpms and enhance cooling. Also install top fans (if you dont know how the top mesh slides off towards the "open" side/ left when facing the front) and have them ramped up for aggressive cooling. You should have top fans first for the one massive reason... heat RISES. You could also rig a 120mm or so fan near the backend of the two cards with zipties to have direct airflow on them. And this goes on, I apologize as i have a 900D and have had a heat suffering 7970ghz, try taking the front metal panel (the one that says Corsair on it) off. I've found that significantly helps temperature wise (3-5 degrees C). Try spacing them differently if you have the extra pcie lane and a longer x-fire cable. If its the bottom card that is now hotter (due to switching) buy a slot fan such as:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspxItem=N82E16835888112&cm_re=slot_fan-_-35-888-112-_-Product


Thats about all I can suggest unless you want to really butcher the 900D.
Aaron