Warning to SLI and DFI users

[Stangs55]

Just got my new DFI Lanparty SLI-DR mobo and 2xBFG 7800 GTX's in the mail and in my rig...but I'm not as happy as I had hoped to be . The nF4 chipset fan is DIRECTLY underneath the PCI-E slot and, therefore, my 7800...they're almost touching. Seeing that the 7800's can produce some intense heat when gaming and the chipset shouldn't get too much over 55c...this makes for a very dangerous combo. My chipset at idle is @ 51c and under stress I've seen it get to 68c (I haven't even run it that hard yet) b/c the air from the 7800 heats the intake air to the chipset fan .

I've made a post about it in the DFI forums here: http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18757&page=1&pp=15 and this seems to be a known problem with this board. Personally, I see this as rather pitiful for a $200 mobo that's supposed to be the best of the best.

 

[n7]

You have too much money

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Seeing that the 7800's can produce some intense heat when gaming and the chipset shouldn't get too much over 55c

Actually. The nForce4 chipset doesn't have a thermal probe in it. I'm dead serious (or could this just be for the A8N-SLI, I got this info from the A8N-SLI Chipset Replacement thread).

1) Case mod (cut open hole on side)
2) Side fan
3) Duct mod to divert airflow
4) ..........
5) Profit!?

 

[mOeeOm]

Originally posted by: n7
You have too much money

 

[mOeeOm]

Hey atleast you didnt get a dead slot(unless I wrong), my x800xl will only work in one of my x16 slots -_-.

 

[suicidalpigeon]

with that system im pretty sure you'll be able to afford a vapochill or a water chill set. kthx.

 

[rise]

yeah, my single 7800gtx added ~10c too over my 6800gt. i was a little stunned but looking at it, with the 7800 so much longer, now the cooler is actually over the chipset whereas before only some of the pcb extended over it.

i ended up moving it down a slot which you obviously can't do.

can you position a 80 or 92mm fan to blow over the area? many have done that and improved temps alot.

i also use as5 under the stock cooler and i've vented my pci slot covers so that the front intake fans can push a little of that air out of there.

 

[Hacp]

Are you sure? THe 7800GTX is supposed to run cooler than the 6800 series.........

 

[rise]

anands benches had the 7800gtx running at ~80c.

i just know what happened when i put it in. heatwave on the chipset. with the cooler extending over the chipset its not going to be cool.

 

[w00t]

get a artic silence on it so it repostions the heat away from chipset.
also you have lotz of money i bet so maybe water cooling

 

[imported_burningrave101]

You could put a fan in the chipset area to lower temps. Make sure chipset voltage is at default because you shouldn't need to raise it to overclock. The NF4 chipset is rated to something like 90C so i wouldn't start to worry about it that much unless you notice instability. If its getting too hot then the system will become unstable.

 

[Wahsapa]

Originally posted by: n7
You have too much money

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Originally posted by: Hacp
Are you sure? THe 7800GTX is supposed to run cooler than the 6800 series.........

Nope. It's supposed to consume less power than the 6800 series

 

[NatePo717]

Originally posted by: n7
You have too much money

 

[Cheesetogo]

I have a dfi nforce4 ultra-d and a 7800gtx, and it's the same thing. I have yet to notice a problem.

 

[govtcheez75]

I have a easy solution to your problem OP. I'll trade you my non-SLI NF3 Ultra-D + X800 Pro VIVO AGP for your SLI + 2x7800. I don't have any of the problems that you mentioned.

hehehe

 

[imported_Frallan]

55C isn't an issue on that chipset.

Even 70 is rather ok.

 

[Heckler 5th]

frallan is right. but if you still wanna bring chipset temps down, take off chipset fan, remove the crappy paste in there and replace with a smidge of AS5. won't make a HUGE difference but you'll see it. or put a passive heatsink on it and use a fan on your case window and you'll definitely be fine (and quieter).

 

[DaveyTN]

I was having the EXACT same problem you were having with my DFI mobo and 6800gt SLI cards. The NB was getting about 60C under load. I read on another board and actually tried the following with great SUCCESS!

- Take about a 90mm fan and put it in the drive cage and aim it directly at the North Bridge. Make sure the air flow is going toward the NB. The fan will pull in air from the front of the case and onto the NB. THIS MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD!!

- You can install the fan by using wire ties or whatever of your choice.

My NB now never goes above 45C even after playing Far Cry for hours. It has also made my system quieter because when the NB gets above 55, that fan on it kicks in and it makes a loud whining sound. Now that I never get above 45, the NB fan never has to kick in high.

 

[imported_michaelpatrick33]

Hmmm, I haven't noticed an issue or whine with mine. I have a 7800GTX over mine (the long card stopped me from using my waterblock on it) and since I may go SLI down the road I didn't bother to put the card in the other slot. I did put AS5 on there instead of the pad. My 7800GTX is watercooled so I can't really give you my temps on it but I have had no instability running at 250 "FSB" on my X2 4400+

 

[imported_Kensai]

Your temperatures are still within specs.. You could always mod an Alpha heatsink to fit..

 

[biostud]

Just get the DFI Infinity SLI, the southbridge is located in the end of the regular PCI slots, also have 3 PCI slots.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Something I found that helps is to pop the little oval shaped ring that is above the actual heatsink off (you'll have to removed the board and the whole heatsink though). It dropped temps several degrees when I had two 6800GTs in (I actually needed to remove it for clearance issues as one of the cards was pushing on the heatsink causing it to tilt funny).

 

[Aquila76]

Like frallan said, the nf4 chipset can take a lot of heat; I believe the max is 90C. Mine usually hits about 58C during gaming/encoding and I've never had issues with stability/performance.

 

[Polish3d]

I've heard many different acceptable temps for the chipset, from 55 to 90c.


I just dropped the voltage on mine from 1.6 to 1.5 so hopefully that may help (if it was an issue.)

Mine typically idles at 42c and will hit 55-58 under load I believe.