Affordable Cooling for Cards?

[endriuska]

Hi,

I have 3x7950 (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7542562&CatId=7387), on the hot day they run at 80C stable(at 80% fan), and the hot day is when it's 80F oustide,  my rig is in garage and when it's gona get to to 100F+ in the sun, the head will go up another 10C or so, because even right now it's really hot in garage and once i open the doors for like 5 minutes, the temp drops to 72C~.

Right now i have additional fan to blow all the hot air away from the cards, but at this point it's all hot..


Here's my rig setup:



I would like to cool down the cards, because again summer is coming and it's gone get hot!!!.

What would you recommend? an AC? bigger fan? water cooling or something? I'm really looking for something affordable or "do it yourself" type.

Thanks in advance.

[Stark-Fujikawa]

I've been looking into something like this:

http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/detail/index/sArticle/502/sCategory/2182

Does anyone have any experience with this product?

[notaek]

I would recommend a giant fan, like the one pictured above.  They are pretty cheap, and it should do the trick.

[scifimike12]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835209049

+

http://triptcc.com/product/fan-bracket/

+

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186076


Will yield much better results and is cheaper.

[CrazyMiata]

WOw scifimike12 amazing info thank you

[scifimike12]

Not a problem.  I have a couple of 7950s being cooled by a Thermaltake WATER2.0 Pro and a Corsair H110 with those GPU brackets.  One hits 42°C and the other is 38°C with LTC.

[greaterninja]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835209049

+

http://triptcc.com/product/fan-bracket/

+

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186076


Will yield much better results and is cheaper.

Really great info man.


I'd like to know the cheapest way to water/liquid cool a 7870xt or 7950, is this it?   I need to liquid cool 3-6 gpus....And this looks like its per video card / cpu..   I'm looking to find something slightly cheaper per video card...any ideas?

[dogie]

Ignore all these coolingthegpu tips. If you're ambient is high, you need to find a way around it. The options:

1) Get the smallest AC unit you can find. Doesn't matter if you can't vent the heat, as long as its blowing the cold air into box then its going to create a cheating heat evelope around the cards
2) Get some 'clothes dryer exhaust ducting'. I use it to transport all the heat from my desktop straight out the window. You can do the reverse and put one end at a window and the other at your inlet. Again = false low ambient but not as good. Helps to have additional fans blowing through the the tubing to increase flow if it gets too long.
3) Put the box in a windowsill in doors. If you don't want the heat inside, create a bubble. Ie put put a tarp around the whole window.

[cp1]

Unvented AC will help, but keep in mind that it'll heat the rest of your garage, and that may be annoying. Do you own the garage so that you can cut a hole in the wall?  Even if you don't you can make it look like a dryer vent.

[Ryu.Hayabusa]

Portable AC unit would probably be the easiest/cheapest (depending on the number of cards).  Those usually come with the large hose and window mount to vent the heat outside.

[crazyates]

Ya I'm going to agree with others here: cooling just the GPU core is NOT going to fix all your problems. You can switch to an Accelero or a homemade watercooling block, but that's not going to do much to cool the rest of the cards. Specifically, watch the VRM temps. If you swap out the stock cooler for that watercooling block with no VRM cooling and those high ambient temps, you're asking to burn out your VRMs while your core stays nice a cool.

GPU fans and box fans do a great job at blowing the hot air away from your setup, but in your case, you need to find the coldest air you can, and blow it into the GPUs. Ambient temps have a huge impact on mining temps, esp now that summer is basically here. I'll agree with the portable AC idea.

Ideal would be a full watercooling block, something that also cools the RAM and VRMs. Then have an AC blowing into the rad and then a big box fan blowing the hot air outside of the garage. Ambient -> AC -> RAD -> Box Fan -> outside

[Ryu.Hayabusa]

A watercooling setup would be close in price though compared to the portable AC, and will definitely use tons less power, so that is also something to consider.

You might want to try just replacing the thermal paste and thermal pads on the GPUs with some higher quality stuff to see if that doesn't help with the heat first, since that will only cost probably around $30-40 for all 3.  If the temps are still higher than where you'd like or if the room heat is still not where you want it, then add in the AC or watercooling system.

Also, taking the metal mounting bracket off (if possible) may help a bit.

[zvs]

i have some $200 fan, for about 20 gpus

window that opens from top and bottom, put fan in bottom,  seal the area around the fan, open the top up about 6-8 inches

two windows would be better 

[cp1]

It would be funny to see it running inside of a fridge.  I don't think the fridge would last long, and condensation would be terrible.  But it would make for a good picture.

[Ryu.Hayabusa]

It would be funny to see it running inside of a fridge.  I don't think the fridge would last long, and condensation would be terrible.  But it would make for a good picture.

That's what the freezer section is for!

[2D]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835209049

+

http://triptcc.com/product/fan-bracket/

+

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186076


Will yield much better results and is cheaper.

I don't get it. That liquid cooler looks like it's only good for the GPU itself. What about cooling the VRMs?

[scifimike12]

I don't get it. That liquid cooler looks like it's only good for the GPU itself. What about cooling the VRMs?

That's why I recommended getting the fan bracket + 92mm fan.  Or... you can get the basic bracket and rig a couple of your own fans onto the card (not that hard to do).

[greaterninja]

portable a/c on craigslist for $150, a $20 box fan, and Mike's watercooling setup are great ideas.
I have a portable A/C and a $20 box fan.   The $20 box fan takes 10-20C off my multi gpu setup.  The A/C i have yet to use for actual mining (just cooling down my apartment).

Power is no concern as I get electric included in one of my apartments.

[ryantc]

I've been looking into something like this:

http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/detail/index/sArticle/502/sCategory/2182

Does anyone have any experience with this product?

today I just ordered 3 Accelero Xtreme II for my 7950s (with EK adapter, it will fit the card no problem)
It's on clearance sale  
I'll let you know the result.

[Quix]

I've been looking into something like this:

http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/detail/index/sArticle/502/sCategory/2182

Does anyone have any experience with this product?

today I just ordered 3 Accelero Xtreme II for my 7950s (with EK adapter, it will fit the card no problem)
It's on clearance sale  
I'll let you know the result.

They should work well, I have a couple of those on the Nvidia cards I use for gaming. A bit pricey for Bitcoin rigs though. I'm a slave for price/performance ratio so I'm just using a couple of huge old fans.