metalnwood Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Hi guys, I am getting to this question in a bit of a convoluted way. I currently have a i7 920 @3.8 and I just put in two 6970's to replace my 5970. That has given me a very noticeable improvement to my eyefinity set up so I am happy to this point. The design of the 6970's mean that if they are placed side by side, one card does not get good cooling and in my case it can run nearly 30 deg hotter than the other. Without crossfire running that card with the bad cooling is the main card and then has more load and I have seen it get to 97, I jumped to desktop when I saw that to let it cool off. Too hot for my liking. So, I thought I would space them further apart and get a long CF bridge. Now I know my motherboard wont let me do that without one running on a x4 pci lane.. No go there. Next thought - replace the motherboard and if I do that should I get another chip. The cheapest fastest route there is to get a sandy bridge that I know I can clock a lot further than mine. Looks like I should always get 4.5 and depending on the toss of the coin I could get more. I know that spending this money is a subjective thing when it comes to how you value the improvement so I am looking for people who have some knowledge with respect to A10 and what benefits I might get from the move. I know that by going to 2600k both card will only run on x8 slots but it seems from various sites that this is OK. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moa Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 (edited) Kia Ora metalnwood. If you do replace the motherboard get the fastest RAM you can. Past a certain point it's diminishing returns for CPU and GPU with LockOn/DCS. They do move a lot of textures around so having fast memory seems to make a big difference. LockOn/DCS is 'multithreaded' in the sense that the game runs on a single thread while sound runs on another thread. Work is underway to make DCS fully multi-threaded but in the mean time the main difference comes down to relative improvements on a single core (in contrast to something like Arma2 that just loves four cores). I have a 5970 and it has a design where one of the GPUs gets exhaust air from the other so runs a few degrees hotter. Even worse, the video RAM is relatively poorly cooled. Unless something has changed the 6970 probably has the same design - so you may have to monitor several components on the board (one may be fine while another is red-lining). You probably already have the free 'GPUZ' program (or equivalent), but grab it if you don't - they provide a wealth of information of what is going on under that big fan. By the way, your rig sounds pretty flash, eh? At the current exchange rate of the $kiwi I hope it didn't cost more than your Holden :) Edited April 4, 2011 by Moa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalnwood Posted April 4, 2011 Author Share Posted April 4, 2011 Hi Moa. I am going hot and cold about this.. Throwing another grand to get some nice ram,mb and a i7 2600k has me wondering a little bit. It will solve the heating issue as I can choose the right motherboard to make sure of that. If another 0.7 - 1Ghz on the clock will make a difference is another story.. Having just bought the 6970s I feel dead keen to upgrade some more but the smarter part of me is saying the return is not going to be anywhere as good as the graphic card update was. I am using gpuz to keep an eye on them. I got a bit caught up having a go at BFBC2 and didnt see the temp. The computer shut itself down. I guess it got too hot. I have seen it get to 97 then I backed off. That was running the fan at 60% which is loud. If I could be convinced that a cpu upgrade would give me a noticable improvement I would do it for sure but I just dont get that vibe now.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BHawthorne Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 IMHO, the move between 920 and 2600K isn't worth it. Your current hardware isn't antiquated by any means. It probably is better than 75% of the people around here. I would only upgrade if you're the type that upgrades on a yearly cycle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalnwood Posted April 4, 2011 Author Share Posted April 4, 2011 Yes, I am starting to see things your way, as well as others. I will probably have to get an aftermarket cooler for the card that is getting hot and call it quits until I am going to get a better return for the $$. Not sure if the 1366 replacement will do it but lets see towards the end of the year. I am really happy how well the 6970 is doing by itself, the game is a lot smoother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loz Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 I'm not up on the latest with CPUs so can't comment on the benefits of a 2600K over the i7. However Metalnwood and I have spoken in PM a bit about the cooling of the 6970, as I also have two of them close together, and the temperatures that they generate, especially the primary, does give me some cause for concern. Having done quite a bit of web searching on this, I think the only viable alternative at the moment is water cooling. PowerColor already market one as reviewed here but as we already own the cards we should be looking at aftermarket solutions of which there are plenty on the web. Whilst to install this on to one or both of the cards is not going to be easy or cheap, it definitely would be a cheaper solution than going for a new Mobo and CPU. I have yet to make my mind up which way to go. I'm somewhat put off by the reality which is, at the moment neither of the two flight sims that I am currently using, this and Il2 CoD, utilise Crossfire and until they do I can't justify the cost. Until they do I should (but probably won't) really remove one of the cards!! :huh: i9 9900x at 5.1 Ghz // ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula EK Bloc // 64Gb Corsair Vengence 3600Mhz DDR4 Ram // Gigabyte Aorus 3090 Watercooled block//Samsung SM951 M2 x4 SSD // Windows 10 64 Bit //48inch LG48 @ 3840x2160 120Hz//Asus ROG Swift PG35VQ 3440 x 14440 144Hz // TM Warthog HOTAS (Ser. No. 00836) //MFG Crosswind Pedals // TrackIR 5 //Varjo Aero An old pilot is one who remembers when flying was dangerous and sex was safe. My YouTube DCS World Four Screen Videos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BHawthorne Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 (edited) If you've ever pulled the standard fan housing off of a GPU and checked the factory seating of the cooler on the GPU you'll often see that they apply TIM like it's peanutbutter not a medium for heat exchange between the GPU and the heatsink. First thing I'd do is swap out the factory TIM with something like AS5 and have it properly applied. If you do pull the heatsink, be mindful that often on video ram there are TIM pads there for a reason. Don't tear or lose those as they ensure direct contact between the video ram and the heatsinks over them. My post is not specific to any video card type, it's general information that is applicable to all. Edited April 4, 2011 by BHawthorne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowze Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 If you have tons of money to burn then go ahead I could not seeing it being a worth while purchase tho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalnwood Posted April 4, 2011 Author Share Posted April 4, 2011 Hi B! You are probably correct but the main issue is the rubbish design of these cards which restricts the airflow when you have two side by side. Lots of motherboards have the two x16 slots next to each other so there is no other place to put them. The only air intake for the fan is on the side and that side is pushed right up to the other card which is presumably radiating heat. There is a gap of about 1mm between cards so there is no chance it can pull in cold air, only push through hot air from around it. I think one of these will be in order for the affected card. http://www.thermalright.com/new_a_page/product_page/vga/spitfire/product_vga_cooler_spitfire.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loz Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 I think those things are too big and as I pointed, out you also need a cooler for the Vram. Best bet, I think, are these or something similar. i9 9900x at 5.1 Ghz // ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula EK Bloc // 64Gb Corsair Vengence 3600Mhz DDR4 Ram // Gigabyte Aorus 3090 Watercooled block//Samsung SM951 M2 x4 SSD // Windows 10 64 Bit //48inch LG48 @ 3840x2160 120Hz//Asus ROG Swift PG35VQ 3440 x 14440 144Hz // TM Warthog HOTAS (Ser. No. 00836) //MFG Crosswind Pedals // TrackIR 5 //Varjo Aero An old pilot is one who remembers when flying was dangerous and sex was safe. My YouTube DCS World Four Screen Videos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalnwood Posted April 4, 2011 Author Share Posted April 4, 2011 I must have forgotten the size bit. I think it would be ok in my case, I think it hangs over the other card but you are right about the vram, it's just heatsinked and there would be no fan around. I like the idea of watercooling but it's so damn expensive . On the plus side I could probably clock them quite happily and the main watercooling components would last trough a few upgrades - except the blocks themselves. I just bought a pc watercooling system but installed it on my CNC's spindle, It's a bit too far away to share I am afraid.. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalnwood Posted April 4, 2011 Author Share Posted April 4, 2011 (edited) I found the EK blocks I can get locally, but $180 NZD each $138USD My cards last me a bit between 12 - 18 months so thats a lot to throw away when I upgrade.. I wonder if the fan is mounted to the outside casing? If I remove the outside casing and the fan is mounted to the PCB that might give me better performance with the side fan blowing on it. Edit. Forget the last line, the fan is in the wrong place, comes off and wouldnt work if it could stay on :) Edited April 4, 2011 by metalnwood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalnwood Posted April 4, 2011 Author Share Posted April 4, 2011 Of course, if I did go down that water cooling route I may then be able to get another half gig from my i7 920 d0 to help justify the costs... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilikepie Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 you make laugh MNW...... Action After Contemplation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalnwood Posted April 4, 2011 Author Share Posted April 4, 2011 I can justify anything pie. I saw a cat cross the road the other day, thats what made me get the 6970's. It seemed obvious at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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