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Message boards : Graphics cards (GPUs) : Going passive cooling on gtx 780 ti ??

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Wdethomas
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Message 41627 - Posted: 7 Aug 2015 | 0:41:24 UTC

Hello, I got a SYS4027GR-TR that is capable of 8 gpus. I know that it was made for the tesla model gpus, but I have installed four gtx 780 ti, one gtx titan and one gtx titan X. The titans will maintain a temperature of about 80 all the time. The 780ti with ACX coolers will also, but there is a 780ti that is in between other gpus and it's going all the way up to 87 at 100% fan speed.

This server has eight fans that blow a huge amount of air through a shroud to the gpus. I was wondering if I could removed the active cooling on the 780ti and that would improve the temperatures.

Even in an open tech station, I have noticed that on the 780 ti the hot air is coming out from the top of the card. On the titans, it comes out from the front, where the HDMI connector is. I am assuming that the fans are pushing the hot air out to the top.

The question is, do you think that taking the fans off the 780 ti and going passive would work? The amount of air this server pushes is a lot.

Thanks
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Message 41630 - Posted: 7 Aug 2015 | 8:45:56 UTC - in response to Message 41627.
Last modified: 7 Aug 2015 | 9:30:10 UTC

Hello, I got a SYS4027GR-TR that is capable of 8 gpus. I know that it was made for the tesla model gpus, but I have installed four gtx 780 ti, one gtx titan and one gtx titan X. The titans will maintain a temperature of about 80 all the time. The 780ti with ACX coolers will also, but there is a 780ti that is in between other gpus and it's going all the way up to 87 at 100% fan speed.

Axial type fans (like the ACX's fans) are better (than the standard radial type fans) when there's at least one slot space between the back side of the next card and the coolers (i.e. the PCIe slots are at least 3 slots apart). The more space the better: the best is to have only one such card, as these are emitting the heat inside the PC case, heating everything inside.
EDIT: You can check if there's enough air for the fans: put only this one card in a PC and turn the fans to 100% (by MSI afterburner or similar GPU tool) and check it's RPM. Then put the card back its original position and recheck the fan's RPM at 100%. If the RPM is significantly higher (by over 10%), then there's not enough air for the coolers. The RPM is going higher when there's not enough air because less (thinner) air has lower drag. Thinner air can take away less heat from the fins thus the card will run hotter. The fan has a top RPM, it won't rotate faster than that even in vacuum, so it won't pump more of the thinner air to compensate its thinness. The higher RPM and the higher temperatures will shorten the fan's lifespan.

This server has eight fans that blow a huge amount of air through a shroud to the gpus. I was wondering if I could removed the active cooling on the 780ti and that would improve the temperatures.

It won't.

Even in an open tech station, I have noticed that on the 780 ti the hot air is coming out from the top of the card. On the titans, it comes out from the front, where the HDMI connector is. I am assuming that the fans are pushing the hot air out to the top.

The direction of the cooler fins set the direction of the airflow. For those coolers which emit the heat on the top of the card the best solution is to place a cooler fan directly on top of them, pushing the hot air "upwards", out of the case (if there's no hole on the side (or top) plate for the cooler, it should be made)

The question is, do you think that taking the fans off the 780 ti and going passive would work? The amount of air this server pushes is a lot.

The direction of the airflow is important: it should be going in line with the cooler fins. If you remove the axial fans, the air won't penetrate inside the cooler fins, thus your GPU will overheat in a very short time.

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Message 41631 - Posted: 7 Aug 2015 | 15:14:40 UTC - in response to Message 41630.

Thanks for the reply. I had an idea that that would happen.

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Message boards : Graphics cards (GPUs) : Going passive cooling on gtx 780 ti ??

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