Best Blower? 980ti

[jackstar7]

I'm now shopping for a 980ti.

My case is the FT-02, so I would like to find the best blower available so that the card will work with me, and not against me.

Is there a particular version? Or should I just be trying to get any reference and look for best warranty?

I appreciate suggestions and info.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I think all the reference cards are the same.

 

[showb1z]

Why would you want to limit yourself by getting a blower?
I have an FT02 as well and blowers simply can't touch the performance of a good open air cooler. Just pick a card where the heatpipes don't run vertical when rotated 90°, that could give issues.

 

[Compddd]

Why would you want to limit yourself by getting a blower?
I have an FT02 as well and blowers simply can't touch the performance of a good open air cooler. Just pick a card where the heatpipes don't run vertical when rotated 90°, that could give issues.

If you are an EVGA fan like me then you are basically SOL on any of their ACX cards for 980 Ti. The heat-pipes all run vertical and the heat-sink fins run horizontal when the card is rotated 90 degrees.

 

[jackstar7]

Thanks. I'm looking at the MSI G6 as well as standard blowers just looking for a viable card. I might also talk myself out of this gen and just ride out my 7990 until whatever hits next year.

 

[Compddd]

I have an FT05 (used to own FT02) and if I were you I would buy the MSI G6. It has the horizontal heat-pipes and vertical heat-sink fins, just what the doctor ordered for FT02/FT05.

 

[jackstar7]

I have an FT05 (used to own FT02) and if I were you I would buy the MSI G6. It has the horizontal heat-pipes and vertical heat-sink fins, just what the doctor ordered for FT02/FT05.

Appreciate the specifics. I'll keep my eye out for one.

 

[RampantAndroid]

I have an FT05 (used to own FT02) and if I were you I would buy the MSI G6. It has the horizontal heat-pipes and vertical heat-sink fins, just what the doctor ordered for FT02/FT05.

Not really. If you believe in the whole huge effect deal (and that they're using the cheaper pipe design) then the MSI has the same issue - heat has to travel downwards.

 

[showb1z]

Not really. If you believe in the whole huge effect deal (and that they're using the cheaper pipe design) then the MSI has the same issue - heat has to travel downwards.

I don't know if this effect has actually been proven, but it's what I read when I did my research on my card. So I didn't want to take the chance.
I had a MSI 970 Gaming which has the same cooler as the 980ti and didn't have any issues with it anyway. Temps were great. Of course, a 970 is 100W less than a 980Ti.

 

[RampantAndroid]

I don't know if this effect has actually been proven, but it's what I read when I did my research on my card. So I didn't want to take the chance.
I had a MSI 970 Gaming which has the same cooler as the 980ti and didn't have any issues with it anyway. Temps were great. Of course, a 970 is 100W less than a 980Ti.

Buy one from amazon and then test it by running something (furmark for max temps?) in the rotated position, and again by resting the case on its side. If the perf is worse when the case is upright (with the PCI bracket up to the sky) then you have an answer, and Amazon's return policy. I've got some GTX670s from ASUS that run just fine. According to what I've read, the lower half of the heatsink block should be cooler than the top part. I might just borrow a friend's IR temp gun and detach the fans from my 670 (and then do something with mild GPU usage. Or maybe I can just remove the shroud to get clearer access to the heatsink to measure temps) and measure top vs bottom.

That said, our dog is coming up for a $500 XRay now it seems....so I'll have all the time to wait for a 980 ti to come in to stock. :/

 

[Compddd]

Not really. If you believe in the whole huge effect deal (and that they're using the cheaper pipe design) then the MSI has the same issue - heat has to travel downwards.

What about all the tests/research on this topic on the Silverstone threads over on Overclock.net?

 

[RampantAndroid]

What about all the tests/research on this topic on the Silverstone threads over on Overclock.net?

Have not read them. But no heatsink out there has the heatpinks travelling such that heat only goes up.

 

[dragantoe]

have you considered water cooling? if there's room for a 120mm rad, then you could get a bracket for the gpu to install a closed loop liquid cooling system

 

[jackstar7]

Going custom water cooling isn't an option for me. Way too expensive (time and money). And my one 120 exhaust is taken by an H80i, so even looking at something like a Hybrid ain't gonna work out ideally for me.

 

[Compddd]

I'd just get the MSI 6G then and call it a day.

 

[jackstar7]

G6 has been ordered (via pre-order at B&H). We'll see when I get it... but I read enough reviews to see this should be the upgrade I'd like from the 7990 and moving to a single-gpu solution. Should be lots of upsides.