I have two MSI GTX460 Cyclone 1GB cards in SLI.

They are quiet (ish) at idle, but even after adjusting the fan speed using Afterburner, they are still fairly loud when gaming etc (although not too much of a problem as the speakers are louder).

Are there any coolers that work better in an SLI setup, or am I just going to have to put up with a bit of noise?

Have you tried to mod their firmware?

No - how do I do that?

I'm afraid you can't find an aftermarket cooler which fits your target -- SLI. Since most display card coolers in the market are huge, they would at least occupy 3 slots under single card situation. And you've to double 3 slots for SLI setup! In conclusion, I guess you've to put up with noise during load.

This might be of no consequence as you mentioned Afterburner, but apparently they updated the firmware three or four months back and adjusted the temperature roof to keep the noise down (measured to 21.5 dB if memory serves in independent testing) during gaming, if you haven't done it already.

It seems like the best option out of the box at least, with low idle measurements.

pes, when you mention "they" do you mean MSI? If so do you know where I can find the firmware? My cards are about 6 months old, so probably running old firmware and would be great if I can just update it.

Google is your friend. MSI cyclone gtx460 firmware, that should get you results...

A quiet SLI-capable aftermarket cooler would be the Scythe Setsugen 2.

I googled that but seems to be just reviews?

Also is the Scythe that quiet? I have used a Slipstream slim fan before, and it was quite a lot noisier than my S-Flex fans (don't get me wrong am a big Scythe fan).

Yep just MSI. The bios mod is separate. And this was for the Cyclone OC, I only noticed now that there is a non-oc version, but still - if you haven't updated the firmware it might be worth a try. Seems Msi uses some kind of live update application, so start there.

I only read it here http://ht4u.net/reviews/2010/msi_n460gt ... ndex29.php (http://www.google.com/translate), I am looking to get one for my new build. Might not help with your sli setup as it may need to ramp up of course, but who knows!

You might give a look here.
Also this other thread might be informative, broadly speaking.

You could simply replace the fans with slightly larger slim fans that are controlled by either your motherboard or a fan controller. Alternatively, Accelero S1's fit on some GTX460's. You can then attach slim fans to the top card (b/c you won't have much room). You'll also need to purchase a longer SLI cable to fit around the much wider Accelero.

For reference, this is how I cooled 2 x 8800gts 512mb in SLI (and those probably ran hotter than the 460). You'll probably want another fan that sucks air toward the front of the case (or blow toward the back depending on your layout). Cooling any SLI setup quietly takes considerable work.

You could also try cases with layouts that position the video cards vertically, eg. Raven line. These cases can greatly enhance the ability to cool an SLI setup quietly.

IIRC no, the GTX 460 run fairly hotter than your GTS 512MB, 30-40W more than the 110-120W (while gaming, 140-150W while benching) drawn by the 8800 (this is just as a side note).


IME it depends of the cooler (and of the GPU thermal envelope): a Raven it's good (to more quietly cool a SLI pair) with a Cyclone, or with an S1 (and up to 120-140W), but it's not quite as good with something like a Twin-Frozr, a T-Rad or AXP (and/or above 170-180W).

In the end, I sold the two 460s and bought this:

Is it the Phantom? Which model? How does it sound?

It is indeed a Phantom

It is the GTX570 version and sound pretty damn good! At full loaf (folding etc) it is noticeable, but definitely not hoover loud like the twin MSIs - very happy!

Oh and while I am posting pics - here is my Coolermaster V10 with Scythe S-Flex Es installed instead (keeps my i7 2600K @ 4.5GHz around 70c on all four cores at full load!):