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Crossfire / Eyefinity / Temps / PSU Help Please

post #1 of 10
Thread Starter 
Hello All. It's been a while since I've been active on here and I know you guys are pros when it comes to these kind of questions. Because you guys have insane rigs and setups and the experience and knowledge to offer great advice.
My setup is not ideal, I know, I should probably ditch these cards ASAP and go powerful BUT please bare with me for a bit, humor me and help me out unless you absolutely think I have no chance of enjoying my setup, even then info would be appreciated

So I have had a single 6870 X2 and I am very happy with it, I had a chance to return it within the 90 days when the 7950 came out but I chose to keep it due to benchmark results in Crysis, Crysis 2 DX11 and Metro DX11 Max settings. Now I was going to buy a regular 6870 for tri-fire and upgrade to 3 monitor portrait eyefinity this holiday season. I know tri-fire works with my current rig but I am unsure if I was really pushing it as I only got to test tri-fire using a friend's card for a couple of days. Recently I got a good deal on an X2 and figured it would be worth it since I want to run eyefinity.
1. What PSUs are recommended for crossfire X2s with all sata ports filled, all PCI-E ports filled, Ram OC'ed and CPU OC'ed with a bit/some breathing room
I would love to do 2560x1440 eyefinity but would be willing to settle for 1920x1200 eyefinity. There seem to be no quad-fire 6870 benchmarks besides the famous Tom's Stutter elimination article, and there's definitely no eyefiniity quad fire 6870 benchmarks that I could find at all.
Obviously the lower the res the easier to run and add eye candy to the already ludicrous eyefinity resolution, but...
2. Is 3x portrait 2560x1440 out of reach for quad-fire 6870? Is 3x portrait 1920x1200 still too hard for current games with some AA?
Like I mentioned my case is very full, and I am a bit worried about temps. I use a H50 for CPU in hopes of eliminating as much heat as possible, I would not be opposed to Heatsink suggestion/upgrades. I have the H50 Heatsink sandwiched in a push/pull intake setup at the back of the case. I have a single optical at the top front and 3x 4-in-3 hard drive cages all with intake fans at the front blowing past hard drives. The two top case fans are dedicated to blowing air out of the case from the intakes, front and back. I have a fan on the side of the case blowing air out, hoping to eliminate heat from the video cards. If this might better be used to blow air onto the video cards I would gladly switch it up.
3. Am I running the risk of melting my X2s? Should I buy an expansion slot exhaust blower for between the GPUs? Where does most of the heat from X2 GPUs escape out from [besides the intended exhaust]? The PCB? The Fan Area? The Power Connector side?
I appreciate any input and am looking forward to working on my rig again. I hope I can pull this off, it would be sweet ^_^

As a Bonus question, I was running PhysX Hack with a GTX 470 768MB before I got the other X2. Is it possible to put a GT 640 into the last PCI-E x4 slot and use it with the PhysX Hack. Will it not work because it requires newer drivers than the PhysX hack supports? Or am I able to go back to older drivers since the card will essentially only be a PhysX card?
Edited by PsychoKilla666 - 8/22/12 at 7:49pm
    
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Core i7 2600K Asus P8Z68-V Pro Gen3 AMD Radeon 6870 X2 G.Skill DDR3 2000 
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24" 1920x1200 Creative Prodi-Keys + Gaming-Claw Cooler Master 750W Cooler Master Centurion 
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24" 1920x1200 Creative Prodi-Keys + Gaming-Claw Cooler Master 750W Cooler Master Centurion 
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post #2 of 10
Asking the tough questions, eh? bigeyedsmiley.png
Quote:
1. What PSUs are recommended for crossfire X2s with all sata ports filled, all PCI-E ports filled, Ram OC'ed and CPU OC'ed with a bit/some breathing room
1000W should be enough or 1200W if you want headroom.
Quote:
I would love to do 2560x1440 eyefinity but would be willing to settle for 1920x1200 eyefinity. There seem to be no quad-fire 6870 benchmarks besides the famous Tom's Stutter elimination article, and there's definitely no eyefiniity quad fire 6870 benchmarks that I could find at all.
Obviously the lower the res the easier to run and add eye candy to the already ludicrous eyefinity resolution, but...
2. Is 3x portrait 2560x1440 out of reach for quad-fire 6870? Is 3x portrait 1920x1200 still too hard for current games with some AA?
I find this incredibly hard to answer. headscratch.gif I have absolutely no idea how well 6870s scale beyond 2 (and in eyefinity). If I had to guess, and it could be totally off, 3x 1920x1200 medium settings. Again, a shot in the dark total guess.
Quote:
Like I mentioned my case is very full, and I am a bit worried about temps. I use a H50 for CPU in hopes of eliminating as much heat as possible, I would not be opposed to Heatsink suggestion/upgrades. I have the H50 Heatsink sandwiched in a push/pull intake setup at the back of the case. I have a single optical at the top front and 3x 4-in-3 hard drive cages all with intake fans at the front blowing past hard drives. The two top case fans are dedicated to blowing air out of the case from the intakes, front and back. I have a fan on the side of the case blowing air out, hoping to eliminate heat from the video cards. If this might better be used to blow air onto the video cards I would gladly switch it up.
3. Am I running the risk of melting my X2s? Should I buy an expansion slot exhaust blower for between the GPUs? Where does most of the heat from X2 GPUs escape out from [besides the intended exhaust]? The PCB? The Fan Area? The Power Connector side?
I appreciate any input and am looking forward to working on my rig again. I hope I can pull this off, it would be sweet ^_^
Most of the heat from your X2s should be going right off of the chip, and right into the case (and onto the back of other card (They are dual fans, yes?)) What are the temps under load of your current X2? I wouldn't be too concerned about it melting.
Quote:
As a Bonus question, I was running PhysX Hack with a GTX 470 768MB before I got the other X2. Is it possible to put a GT 640 into the last PCI-E x4 slot and use it with the PhysX Hack. Will it not work because it requires newer drivers than the PhysX hack supports? Or am I able to go back to older drivers since the card will essentially only be a PhysX card?
I don't know anything about this, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. tongue.gif
:O
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i7-3930k Rampage IV Formula ASUS HD 7970 DCII 16GB G.Skill 1600Mhz 
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1.5TB WD Caviar Black 64GB Crucial M4 Corsair H100i Windows 7 
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Asus 24" 1920x1080 Thermaltake 750w NZXT Phantom Orange (special edition!) Sennheiser HD 280 
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:O
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Hard DriveHard DriveCoolingOS
1.5TB WD Caviar Black 64GB Crucial M4 Corsair H100i Windows 7 
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post #3 of 10
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sapientia View Post

Asking the tough questions, eh? bigeyedsmiley.png
1000W should be enough or 1200W if you want headroom.
I find this incredibly hard to answer. headscratch.gif I have absolutely no idea how well 6870s scale beyond 2 (and in eyefinity). If I had to guess, and it could be totally off, 3x 1920x1200 medium settings. Again, a shot in the dark total guess.
Most of the heat from your X2s should be going right off of the chip, and right into the case (and onto the back of other card (They are dual fans, yes?)) What are the temps under load of your current X2? I wouldn't be too concerned about it melting.
I don't know anything about this, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. tongue.gif
Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it
1000 watt sounds right, I actually came across a guy's post today that had crossfire x2's and his power output read just under 900 watts.
Do you know a good model 1000ish watt PSU?
As a lot of cards scale better with higher resolution, I assume this should be true with eyefinity quad-fire. I would love to find out and report back to the community tongue.gif
Yes they are dual fans, that makes sense about the heat, I'll consider adding some kind exhaust/intake blower in between the cards if I can find one. Should I switch the side fan to blowing onto the video cards, I am beginning to have doubts it can exhaust the hot air from the bottom X2 with it being so close to the top X2, so more fresh air seems best in my opinion. I'll switch that around.
Hehe, I doubt it'll melt, just being funny.
Regarding the PhysX Hack, IIRC the hack hasn't been successful on new drivers recently, so I am worried that the minimum drivers the GT 640 requires is too new to support the PhysX Hack
Edited by PsychoKilla666 - 8/23/12 at 3:00am
    
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Core i7 2600K Asus P8Z68-V Pro Gen3 AMD Radeon 6870 X2 G.Skill DDR3 2000 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
SSD DVD-Burner Corsair H50 Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
24" 1920x1200 Creative Prodi-Keys + Gaming-Claw Cooler Master 750W Cooler Master Centurion 
MouseMouse PadAudio
Cooler Master Sentinel Cooler Master Tactics [LOL] Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music 
  hide details  
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Core i7 2600K Asus P8Z68-V Pro Gen3 AMD Radeon 6870 X2 G.Skill DDR3 2000 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
SSD DVD-Burner Corsair H50 Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
24" 1920x1200 Creative Prodi-Keys + Gaming-Claw Cooler Master 750W Cooler Master Centurion 
MouseMouse PadAudio
Cooler Master Sentinel Cooler Master Tactics [LOL] Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music 
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post #4 of 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by PsychoKilla666 View Post

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it
Anytime! smile.gif
Quote:
1000 watt sounds right, I actually came across a guy's post today that had crossfire x2's and his power output read just under 900 watts.
Do you know a good model 1000ish watt PSU?
Corsair, OCZ, Coolermaster, Antec, any of which should be good smile.gif
Take a look at this
Quote:
As a lot of cards scale better with higher resolution, I assume this should be true with eyefinity quad-fire. I would love to find out and report back to the community tongue.gif
DO IT! biggrin.gif We'd love to see it. You should then promptly go to 7870s, you know, for science whistle.gif
Quote:
Yes they are dual fans, that makes sense about the heat, I'll consider adding some kind exhaust/intake blower in between the cards if I can find one. Should I switch the side fan to blowing onto the video cards, I am beginning to have doubts it can exhaust the hot air from the bottom X2 with it being so close to the top X2, so more fresh air seems best in my opinion. I'll switch that around.
Hehe, I doubt it'll melt, just being funny.
Some cases have 200mm fan spaces on the sides for GPU cooling, if all else fails you could take the side off haha
Quote:
Regarding the PhysX Hack, IIRC the hack hasn't been successful on new drivers recently, so I am worried that the minimum drivers the GT 640 requires is too new to support the PhysX Hack
An extra card in your case might also be more trouble than it's worth in terms of restricting airflow.
:O
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i7-3930k Rampage IV Formula ASUS HD 7970 DCII 16GB G.Skill 1600Mhz 
Hard DriveHard DriveCoolingOS
1.5TB WD Caviar Black 64GB Crucial M4 Corsair H100i Windows 7 
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Asus 24" 1920x1080 Thermaltake 750w NZXT Phantom Orange (special edition!) Sennheiser HD 280 
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:O
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Hard DriveHard DriveCoolingOS
1.5TB WD Caviar Black 64GB Crucial M4 Corsair H100i Windows 7 
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post #5 of 10
Thread Starter 
How is this Antec?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371032
Seems like a good deal

I wish they would make a new mid range X2, I would be all over that, the 7870 X2 from Asus was cancelled

@Sapientia: Out of morbid curiosity, how did your H60 Die?
    
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SSD DVD-Burner Corsair H50 Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
24" 1920x1200 Creative Prodi-Keys + Gaming-Claw Cooler Master 750W Cooler Master Centurion 
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Cooler Master Sentinel Cooler Master Tactics [LOL] Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music 
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Core i7 2600K Asus P8Z68-V Pro Gen3 AMD Radeon 6870 X2 G.Skill DDR3 2000 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
SSD DVD-Burner Corsair H50 Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
24" 1920x1200 Creative Prodi-Keys + Gaming-Claw Cooler Master 750W Cooler Master Centurion 
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post #6 of 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by PsychoKilla666 View Post

How is this Antec?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371032
Seems like a good deal
I wish they would make a new mid range X2, I would be all over that, the 7870 X2 from Asus was cancelled
@Sapientia: Out of morbid curiosity, how did your H60 Die?
I don't see anything wrong with it, go for it!
The side of my case is off (I think I just like to stare inside, really. Maybe I'm too lazy to put it back on?) And the stupid dog BIT THROUGH THE TUBING. Managed to take the 1090T with it.
:O
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i7-3930k Rampage IV Formula ASUS HD 7970 DCII 16GB G.Skill 1600Mhz 
Hard DriveHard DriveCoolingOS
1.5TB WD Caviar Black 64GB Crucial M4 Corsair H100i Windows 7 
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Asus 24" 1920x1080 Thermaltake 750w NZXT Phantom Orange (special edition!) Sennheiser HD 280 
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Reply
:O
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
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Hard DriveHard DriveCoolingOS
1.5TB WD Caviar Black 64GB Crucial M4 Corsair H100i Windows 7 
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post #7 of 10
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sapientia View Post


The side of my case is off (I think I just like to stare inside, really. Maybe I'm too lazy to put it back on?) And the stupid dog BIT THROUGH THE TUBING. Managed to take the 1090T with it.

WOW, that's a new one LOL

Sorry for your Loss tongue.gif
    
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Core i7 2600K Asus P8Z68-V Pro Gen3 AMD Radeon 6870 X2 G.Skill DDR3 2000 
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SSD DVD-Burner Corsair H50 Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
24" 1920x1200 Creative Prodi-Keys + Gaming-Claw Cooler Master 750W Cooler Master Centurion 
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Cooler Master Sentinel Cooler Master Tactics [LOL] Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music 
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
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SSD DVD-Burner Corsair H50 Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
24" 1920x1200 Creative Prodi-Keys + Gaming-Claw Cooler Master 750W Cooler Master Centurion 
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post #8 of 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by PsychoKilla666 View Post

WOW, that's a new one LOL
Sorry for your Loss tongue.gif
Perfect excuse for an upgrade whistle.gif
:O
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
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Hard DriveHard DriveCoolingOS
1.5TB WD Caviar Black 64GB Crucial M4 Corsair H100i Windows 7 
MonitorPowerCaseAudio
Asus 24" 1920x1080 Thermaltake 750w NZXT Phantom Orange (special edition!) Sennheiser HD 280 
  hide details  
Reply
:O
(12 items)
 
  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i7-3930k Rampage IV Formula ASUS HD 7970 DCII 16GB G.Skill 1600Mhz 
Hard DriveHard DriveCoolingOS
1.5TB WD Caviar Black 64GB Crucial M4 Corsair H100i Windows 7 
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Asus 24" 1920x1080 Thermaltake 750w NZXT Phantom Orange (special edition!) Sennheiser HD 280 
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post #9 of 10
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sapientia View Post

Perfect excuse for an upgrade whistle.gif
Haha, I like your style
Gotta kick that stock fan to the curb LOL
    
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SSD DVD-Burner Corsair H50 Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
24" 1920x1200 Creative Prodi-Keys + Gaming-Claw Cooler Master 750W Cooler Master Centurion 
MouseMouse PadAudio
Cooler Master Sentinel Cooler Master Tactics [LOL] Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music 
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
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Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
SSD DVD-Burner Corsair H50 Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
24" 1920x1200 Creative Prodi-Keys + Gaming-Claw Cooler Master 750W Cooler Master Centurion 
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Cooler Master Sentinel Cooler Master Tactics [LOL] Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music 
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post #10 of 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by PsychoKilla666 View Post

Haha, I like your style
Gotta kick that stock fan to the curb LOL
Soon! I'm quite frankly impressed by it though, that I can do 4.2 on a $15 cooler is impressive IMO. That said I can't wait to shove an H100 in here tongue.gif
:O
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i7-3930k Rampage IV Formula ASUS HD 7970 DCII 16GB G.Skill 1600Mhz 
Hard DriveHard DriveCoolingOS
1.5TB WD Caviar Black 64GB Crucial M4 Corsair H100i Windows 7 
MonitorPowerCaseAudio
Asus 24" 1920x1080 Thermaltake 750w NZXT Phantom Orange (special edition!) Sennheiser HD 280 
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Reply
:O
(12 items)
 
  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i7-3930k Rampage IV Formula ASUS HD 7970 DCII 16GB G.Skill 1600Mhz 
Hard DriveHard DriveCoolingOS
1.5TB WD Caviar Black 64GB Crucial M4 Corsair H100i Windows 7 
MonitorPowerCaseAudio
Asus 24" 1920x1080 Thermaltake 750w NZXT Phantom Orange (special edition!) Sennheiser HD 280 
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