Area-51 thermal/graphical issues with SLI/CFX

PM sent, thanks for your help.

PCI-E5 is only 8x and will hurt the performance of the GPU.

Appreciate the help Chris, but as Morblore says is it a trade off between Temperature and Performance..?

Morblore is correct, you will see a difference when running a synthetic benchmarking software. But, I do not believe anyone will "see" the difference while playing a PC game.

Hi Chris,

I understand that this 'adjustment' is for the the Area 51s but Im going to assume that the PCI spacing between E1 and E3 would be the same if not a bit smaller in the Auroras. So does that mean that the Auroras suffer from the same CFX 'thermal issue' but with no solution due to the lack of the third PCI Express slot?

Hi Chris,   I understand that this 'adjustment' is for the the Area 51s but Im going to assume that the PCI spacing between E1 and E3 would be the same if not a bit smaller in the Auroras. So does that mean that the Auroras suffer from the same CFX 'thermal issue' but with no solution due to the lack of the third PCI Express slot?

All spacing on all SLI/Crossfire motherboards no matter the brand or type is always exactly the same. It has to be for the SLI/Crossfire bridge, case slotting and component manufacturing.

The spacing on the Aurora is no smaller or no bigger then any other system on the planet. That is part of the form factor.

So then would there be a heat issue in Auroras as well then?

Any heat issue would be a result of a defective card or inadequate case ventilation.

I run two 480's which are about as hot as you can get and in the top PCI slots. They do hit as much as 93c sometimes but that is also inside the cards safe operating temperature.

All spacing on all SLI/Crossfire motherboards no matter the brand or type is always exactly the same. It has to be for the SLI/Crossfire bridge, case slotting and component manufacturing.

This is only somewhat accurate. I have seen ATX boards with a decent amount of space between two dual slots cards without skipping a slot. The do make sizes in crossfire bridges also. The Aurora is micro ATX and those boards no matter what company always have little spacing with two dual slot cards. The wind tunnel helps the issue though. You should not really have heat issues, it will run hotter than a full tower but well within the limits.

So then would there be a heat issue in Auroras as well then?

Perhaps an Aurora and Area-51 owner could measure the difference and post the numbers? It is difficult to tell from the pictures.

There is no reason to do so. Both systems are using a ATX motherboard. The ATX form factor has standards. To use a custom PCI layout would mean the rear would not match and in doing so it would not meet the requirements for the ATX form factor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATX

All spacing on all SLI/Crossfire motherboards no matter the brand or type is always exactly the same. It has to be for the SLI/Crossfire bridge, case slotting and component manufacturing.

This is only somewhat accurate. I have seen ATX boards with a decent amount of space between two dual slots cards without skipping a slot. The do make sizes in crossfire bridges also. The Aurora is micro ATX and those boards no matter what company always have little spacing with two dual slot cards. The wind tunnel helps the issue though. You should not really have heat issues, it will run hotter than a full tower but well within the limits.

I am sorry but you are wrong. There is a standard spacing on all SLI/Crossfire ATX boards. The Aurora Micro ATX has the EXACT same spacing between the PCI-E slots as any other board. If a motherboard maker skips a slot then it is noted as such and it will be 1 slot, 2 slots or 3 slots but no board has "a little extra space" it doesn't work that way. There is a standard.

Go buy a hard PCB bridge and see if it fits. Then go try to find a board it won't fit. All bridges come in the same standard sizes. If you don't want to believe me then go look it up or ask someone.

Perhaps an Aurora and Area-51 owner could measure the difference and post the numbers? It is difficult to tell from the pictures.

I understand this, but physically measuring would put the issue to bed.

I understand this, but physically measuring would put the issue to bed.

LOL, ok then instead of doing that then just use a hard PCB SLI bridge. I have pictures here on the forums of me using one for my 3-way. The only way it would work is if the board was an ATX board like Dell says it is.

I am also using a hard PCB bridge for my 2-way sli which again would only fit if it was a standard ATX board.

Another way to check it is to match up the mobo to another case. Again a ATX board will line up with the slots. A none standard board will not. People here have changed out the board and so to do so it ment it lined up with the slots and to line up with the slots means its an ATX case. If its an ATX case then the original board must be an ATX mobo.

So MORB, I agree with you that they should be the same as per the standards. So does that mean that the Auroras may/will have the same heating issues? The only reason I ask is that my 2 cards seem to get rather hot with just some simple gaming (Im talking like WoW not CD2 or other 'newer' games). I even ran some test this weekend and believe it or not ATI CC reported higher GPU temps when I INCREASED the PCI fan speed. I tested this a number of times and every time I lowered the PCI fan speed the GPU temps would go down a few seconds after the fans slowed down. Then when I increased the fan speed the GPU temps would increase and hold at a higher temp until I lowered the PCI fan speed.

Strange huh???? And no the room temp was not high, it was about ~68 F