I would never consider using two high end GPUs with that Dell case, it's just not designed for it (whatever Dell may say). An SLI solution requires something on the line of an R5, and with that I'd always go with an open-air blower like this one. Why? Beefier heatsink, larger fans, better cooling (thus more performance) and less noise. What about the hot air inside the case? That's the job of the case fans, the front one(s) will push it back and upwards, the rear one will exhaust it. If by short you mean this, then they are open-air as well, blowing inside the case. Those mini cards only make sense with very small cases where space is at a premium, I'd go with the double fan ones.
OK! How about this for a plan, if a better plan please mention: (1) https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352056&cm_re=r5-_-11-352-056-_-Product (1) https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...cm_re=corsair_650w_psu-_-17-139-207-_-Product (2) https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...4487265&cm_re=gtx_1070-_-14-487-265-_-Product Any suggested CFM's for blow hole, I like the 140mm, intuitively, this seems like, not necessary for large cfm's here, so a range in values.
Hi Guys! #3 & 5 are intended locations for the two GTX 1070's, will there be enough space btwn the cards so they don't become too too hot? It looks like to me slot #5 card, would cover slot 4, & the 1070 in slot 3 would overhang towards slot #2. That gives the white space btwn slot 4 & 3 to remove heat, plus. Plus slot #5 fans would be blowing directly into, the card in slot #3. Is this a valid plan? slot #5 GTX 1070 be a single rear mounted fan blowing to the rear. The 1070 in slot 5 could be a short length, or a long card with multiple fans
The fans blow upwards, so card in slot 3 would blow heat up to the one in slot 5. That said it's possible to have two cards very close together like in micro-atx motherboards but cooling will certainly suffer. Under your circumstances I'd abandon the SLI option and go with a 1080ti. in fact I would use the 1080ti in the first place anyway, less power consumption, less heat, less noise, less cables, cheaper, close performance. Always best to go with the single top card than 2 mid/upper range ones.
Hi Joxx, That is certainly a tight fit. Is there a slot btwn the two GTX, like above diagram? This will NOT be SLI. I believe I will have ~ 0.5 to 0.75" free space btwn cards. I spoke with EVGA tech last night. 1. The card(s) are designed to handle the close proximity, as described, in the above diagram (Slots 3,4, & 5), he also added that one card would run slightly hotter than the other. I'm sure the hotter card would be in slot #3. 2. I believe using single (rear) fan 1070 in slot #5 will do a good job of keeping heat away from the next gtx. The tech agreed 3. Yes! A single 1080ti, would be easier, & adapting this Dell is no easy job! 4. The project intended use only cares about Cuda cores 1080ti = 3584, (2) 1070's = 3840 5. The case becomes more important for cooling. The R5 proposed, most likely won't fit. The MB is roughly 11 x 12" 6. I've just confirmed with Refurb guy by order # & Dell via service tag & chat, that it's a std ATX PSU, so perhaps the MB is also std. Fractal wants to know where my "standoffs" are before recommending, Fractals define series will handle the larger MB. 7. Yes! Several posts have, suggested single GTX as opposed to multiple, but silly me chose other. Thanks
I google searched "Dell precision t3500" and noticed the motherboard has an unconventional design, so you're right slot 3 would be on top and hotter. That's another issue I didn't realize, the motherboard won't probably fit most cases... it's a conundrum. I don't know what I'd do here, maybe keep the Dell case, use only one rear exhaust 1080 ti, and 2x92mm good quality intake fans at the back.
Hi Joxx, Wow! Your very thoughtful & nice, someone I'd like to have a beer with & just BS. Thanks!!! I'll keep my fingers crossed, that the PSU is std. ATX, so most likely the MB may also be std. (50/50 shot so far), next size of MB Fractal can handle, & most of the MB screws to case align (further hint std MB), currently half the MB is visible, making pics difficult & Fractal tech leery, without better photography. At this point, with all the info gathered, I'll drop it off to a shop, pay the labor & be done with it. Note this would be my first MB removal without a hammer. If your interested in actively contributing to the science to CURE disease (Stanford University) at zero cost, PM me, I can link to a current presentation Powerpoint, I gave to ~300 people. I understand this is not for everyone, but mentions attract others. Note: A guy in Dallas, TX (forum friend), has spent 6 figures, on dedicated machines, to cure disease (hardware to contribute), when my ASUS MB fried, from addition of 1060, to the existing 960. He sent me gratis, a new MB with CPU & 8Gb ram. Needless to say the guy is filthy rich. Altruism exists! Take Care & Thanks Again Rico
How much trouble does this pose? https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16811352029 This case will work, but only 8 out of 12 'Standoffs' would align.
How do you know that? I am not sure you yet understand the deal on standoffs. First, this is a standoff. These standoffs screw into the case. Then the motherboard sits on top of the standoffs and the motherboard mounts and is secured to the standoffs via motherboard mounting screws. The location of these standoffs, and the motherboard mounting holes are dictated by the ATX Form Factor standard. This standard is what allows us consumers to put any ATX compliant motherboard and any ATX compliant PSU into any ATX compliant case and know they will fit (and align properly) and connect via standard connectors and be compatible with standard voltages. I have assembled many 100s of computers and never - NOT ONCE - seen any standoff alignment issue. NEVER EVER! But there almost always will be more standoff mounting holes in the case than there are motherboard mounting holes. This is because cases are designed to support 1000s of different motherboards of different sizes. But even so, if the motherboard is a µATX or a full ATX board, the motherboard mounting holes WILL BE located in specific places that WILL align with a corresponding standoff. So your job is to make sure you insert standoffs ONLY where there is a corresponding motherboard mounting hole. As for that case, the only problem it will pose is the mere fact it is HUGE! WAY bigger than you need. A nice mid tower is plenty big.
I sent two pics, to Fractal's tech support: The tech guy was trying to find a case that would work, The 'Define XLR2', he said 4 standoffs will not align.
The image on the right shows built in stand-offs - those humps. They "align" perfectly with 5 mounting holes in the image on the left. If they really don't, then something is not ATX compliant. Note the purpose of the standoffs is to prevent the many 1000s of leads sticking out of the bottom side of motherboards from shorting out on the case. It does not matter if some are missing in that regard. The other purpose is to provide a solid background to avoid flexing the motherboard too much when inserting RAM or expansion cards. Assembling the motherboard components outside the case can avoid that flexing problem.
The pics are from owners manual for the machine. Fractal says 4 of the twelve, will not, line up with the new case The guesstimate measurement (mb in case tape measure approx 4 - 6" above MB) I got approx 11 x 13" When told to Fractal, only case they have accommodating, is in the define series
Then it is your motherboard that is non-compliant, not the Fractal Design case. As seen here, that case supports ATX, Micro ATX, mini-ITX, E-ATX, and XL-ATX motherboards. It would seem Dell, once again, decided to go proprietary to force consumers to only buy Dell accessories.
@bill 6 in one, half a dozen in the other. Contacting Fractal support, was to see, if my MB, would fit, in the new Fractal case. Based on my L x W of MB (~11 x13), they came up with model in post #35, with the caveat 4 standoffs, would not align (case to mb). I suspected, proprietary parts, may be problematic, therefore I contacted support. To see if the shoe fit the foot. I think this will work at least the tech said, I could get a refund. @Joxx Yeah! live & learn Okay! Time to get that square peg, in that round hole
Except it is not, really. It is way more lopsided than that. The very purpose for the ATX Form Factor standard was to ensure total compatibility regardless the manufacturer. Without the ATX Form Factor standard, we (consumers) could not buy an "ASUS" motherboard, "Corsair" RAM, "Seagate" hard drive and "Samsung" SSD, "MSI" graphics card, "EVGA" power supply, and put them all in a "Fractal Design" case, connect it to an "LG" monitor, install "Microsoft" Windows and expect it all to work. Without the ATX Form Factor standard, we could not then swap out the Corsair RAM for Crucial, or the EVGA PSU for a Seasonic, then put them in an Antec case and install Linux on it. It is because there is no ATX Form Factor standard for notebooks that (1) Notebooks are so darn proprietary and expensive and (2) there is no aftermarket notebook parts industry. If there were no ATX, there probably would be no Newegg, TigerDirect, or MicroCenter.
Well! That mb, would not fit many cases, regardless of form factor, that standard may have been overlooked, for my MB. It does not matter to me, if it's the fault of the MB (reason for not fitting, or the form factor, being the reason for non-fit. Bottom line it don't fit regardless of, or 6 in 1, half dozen in the other. Bill, I understand 'standardization', is important to mfg's & consumers, way back when std. was 33 1/3 rpm for LP's, would be chaos without. VCR's & Betamax, was fought & eventually settled. On & on it goes, two competing ideas, finally one std. For me a novice in building a rig, I'm learning the hard way, all I want, is for the mb to fit. Consulting Fractal tech, guided me to a more likely fit, with some caveats. Do u remember the old Egg? Old brick & mortar store called Egghead
Not the same thing. The AT and then ATX Form Factor standards were established when all the major players actually got together and agreed on the standards together. The ATX standard was primarily developed by Intel, but even AMD was on board with it. There wasn't any battling between different factions or ideas (if you don't count Apple Macs). Out of these standards the IBM "clone" industry was born. Consumers actually had little, if any, say in the matter. For the VCR vs Betamax, it was a HUGE battle between JVC's VCR format and Sony's Betamax. And it was all about consumers choosing the VCR format over Betamax. Betamax went away because consumers didn't buy it. Egghead was mostly a west coast chain. I was stationed in the UK in the mid 80's. By the time I returned the states, they were already starting to close up most of their brick and mortar stores and concentrating on their on-line business until bought out by Amazon. I never personally saw any of their stores. Heck, they don't even have a Fry's or MicroCenter anywhere near Eastern Nebraska where I live. The closest Fry's is 450 miles away in Illinois. And the closest MicroCenter is 185 miles away Kansas.
Was said the tipping point in favor VCR, was those small 'draped' rooms in the back of rental store. Or helped give the nod to VCR. Newegg is owned by Amazon?
Suggested, but never proven. What really put the VCR in the lead was the fact Betamax tapes were limited to 60 minutes while VCR tapes could hold 120 minutes. So you could not even get a normal length movie on 1 tape. By the time Betamax times were extended, VCR already had the better foothold. Plus, Betamax players cost considerably more than VCR players. Even though Betamax offered slightly better video and audio quality, most consumers didn't care and/or did not have good enough TVs and sound systems to matter. No. Don't confuse Newegg with Egghead. Totally different and unrelated companies.
Well! This old server, is now on line, solving mysteries of disease (protein folding), probably would be in the trash heap; but for me looking for 2 pcie slots 16x. Modifications 40# case empty Fractal define XLR2, EVGA gold 750W, 2 Gigabyte 1070's one rear blow, other a short card. Glitches - No front USB, McGyver'd case power switch to MB. Real interesting, in the original case, CPU has a heat sink, then attached to the case was a 120mm fan blowing, directly onto the cpu. I used in addition to the stock case fans, fans from the previous case. And a fan kinda hits the cpu. It's a positive air flow cooling system, (more air blowing in than exhaust, CFM's) With Folding@Home (distributed computing) set for 24/7 operation full speed, after two hrs. operation. Speccy CPU 76, GPU's 82 & 68 deg. C. Intake/suction air 78F Hindsight, I think both card should have been, blow it out the rear Unknown - Scratch thy head I could not get a DVI to VGA adapter, to give a signal to monitor, monitor works before & after! I thought GPU's were dead, on a lark tried HMDI, to nearby TV. Happy!!! Windows showed up. I thought this very odd, but both cards would not give signal, via vga tried several adapters, and the before & after thing. I can live without, as no monitor is connected, normally & HDMI is functional. I retired a 32 bit machine retrieved its GTX 750ti & it's now, in this machine, thinking it will become a screen saver folder. Another strange thing, hooked HMDI, updated driver, all was going well, black screen with mouse, wait wait & more wait (1hr), shutdown, using (sodered power switch) reboot, black screen. RATS, I unplugged & re inserted the HDMI & like magic, win 10 is showing. Ugh! Allot of work & education + expense. So if any you guys get sick, then get well from medicine, well Your Welcome! Extra Special Thanks to Wilders & Messrs Bill_Bright, Joxx, plat1098, Mirmir, & NGRhodes. Without your help m y contribution to science would be much less, delaying cures. THANK YOU! btw 3732 cuda goes to 6784.
Glad you got it going. I am sure it was a real learning experience and that is always a good thing. Thanks for the followup post.
