Overclocking SLI 7800gt's

[RyDogg1]

So, I have a couple of BFG 7800 GT OC's in SLI mode and the thing that pisses me off about them the most is the f'n cooling units. Absolutely the most difficult things to clean in terms of the fan. Now I know these two cards are getting a bit long in the tooth, now that Nvidia has announce G80, so I'm thinking about the overclocking the OC's. Ironic isn't it?

So I had the latest MaximumPC with information on overclocking 7800's, in fact they used the same cards I own. Bios hax apply here so I haven't gotten that far yet, but I did pickup a couple of the cooling units they used. $22 each from Newegg. Pretty good price.

Here's the pics:

Still in teh package:
http://rydogg1.shackspace.com/7800gt_x1/PA040792.JPG

Out of the package:
http://rydogg1.shackspace.com/7800gt_x1/PA040793.JPG

Old and busted:
http://rydogg1.shackspace.com/7800gt_x1/PA040791.JPG

Adding new memory heat transfer pads. Probably the most tedious of jobs. Fortunately I didn't have memory on the back of the card:
http://rydogg1.shackspace.com/7800gt_x1/PA040789.JPG

One down, one more to go:
http://rydogg1.shackspace.com/7800gt_x1/PA040795.JPG

Snug as a bug:
http://rydogg1.shackspace.com/7800gt_x1/PA040796.JPG

SLI backed together:
http://rydogg1.shackspace.com/7800gt_x1/PA040798.JPG
http://rydogg1.shackspace.com/7800gt_x1/PA040800.JPG

The core ambient temp went down about 8-9 degrees C, when I was playing CS:S with shackers last night, the peak temp never went above 51 degrees C and that was about 6 degrees above the ambient with the stock cooler on it, so I'm looking forward to getting to the overclocking this weekend.

 

[nitromullet]

NIce job, and nice pics too. Do have have anything blowing on them from the side to give them some fresher air (adding a 120mm to the side of my case dropped my cards' temps considerably)? I see that you have the A8N-SLI Premium, I really like the slot layout of that board (better than on my current board). You should take advantage of the layout though by trading the slots for used by the sound card and the rear USB header. By placing the USB header next to the bottom card, you give it more breathing room. Just wrap the cables from the motherboard to the USB backplane around your sound card.

 

[RyDogg1]

No the P180 Antec case that I have doesn't have a side fan, and thanks for the advice on the sound card. I probably will swap the posistion on them.