dual 6950's, reference best?

[Dorkenstein]

Is it safe to say that as a rule, reference cooler cards are better for crossfire? Not only for the heat of the video cards, but also the heat levels of the rest of the case? I'm trying to make up my mind, I like the lower noise and newer features of 3rd party cards but the method of the reference cards (vapor chamber, heat exhausted OUT of the case) seems to be a better fit for crossfire. Thanks for any help.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Exhausting out the back of the case is a great advantage of reference coolers. Sadly they can be loud as a result of their blowers. Depending on the spacing and air flow of your case, you might want to go with reference cards because of their ability to exhaust effectively. If you don't have enough airflow, a lot of those quieter coolers will just end up stirring hot air around till the cards throttle.

Also if you buy reference you can unlock you 6950s

 

[Dorkenstein]

Hmm, I thought that some third party cards can unlock. MSI even has a powerpoint guide to unlocking the Power Edition with the Frozr III cooler. Until I know from someone who had the same dilemma as me, I won't know for sure. I will probably have to try it myself and see what the temps are. I have a CM Haf 932 case. There should be a full pci slot between the two cards with my motherboard. Thank you.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

I also have a Haf 932 and ran dual reference 6950s unlocked with 1 slot between each cooler. When my cards weren't water cooled, as long as they weren't running furmark or doing DC work the noise level was quite tolerable and the temperatures were well within spec.

I would say that the HAF has plenty of airflow for non-reference/non-exhausting coolers.

 

[SZLiao214]

If you have a case with good airflow then heat being exhausted into your case isn't that big of a deal.

I use a fortress 2 case so air being blown into my case doesn't raise my cpu temps much. I have a 2500k and even with overclocked on only a 212+ the temps are far from high.

If you decide to go the non reference way make sure the coolers on your card aren't more then 2 slot coolers. The msi twin frozr 2/3 coolers are fantastic and do really well in reviews. The asus direct cu cards are very nice but are sadly 3 slot designs.