Help me out of a tight spot!?

[Mr. Smith]

Hi,

I bought an Asus Direct CUII 7950 from one of our members. I have a Lian-Li PC-Q08 and can only fit a dual slot, the card I bought is tri slot.

I've been offered a refund but I was trying to source a flat I/O dual slot plate (a lot of the single/dual have a curved lip which won't work with the massive Asus cooler).

I think with a dual slot I/O backplate I can squeeze the card in.

This is an example of the space I'm working with:

I'm certain that the cooler would be touching the bottom of the case, not only that but I have the 4 HDD cage in my rig as it is also a htpc.

Do you think this is a viable option to have the card so tightly packed? Or should I send the card back for a refund and just buy a dual slot version?

Cheers

 

[SeekaX]

okay first of all you deserve a medal for buying a triple slot GPU for a case that only supports a dual slot GPU.
there is no point in keeping it, consider yourself lucky that he offers you a refund, he doesn't need to do that.
also upgrading from a 7850 to a 7950 isn't really worth it.

 

[Mr. Smith]

okay first of all you deserve a medal for buying a triple slot GPU for a case that only supports a dual slot GPU.
there is no point in keeping it, consider yourself lucky that he offers you a refund, he doesn't need to do that.
also upgrading from a 7850 to a 7950 isn't really worth it.

Thanks for the input...

I know he doesn't have to give a refund and I appreciate him being a stand up guy as it was my oversight.

The pictures, as stated, are an example and not my rig. Just something to help people unfamiliar with the case offer advice. I currently have a HD5550 in there (htpc) so it definitely is worth it

 

[looz]

okay first of all you deserve a medal for buying a triple slot GPU for a case that only supports a dual slot GPU.
there is no point in keeping it, consider yourself lucky that he offers you a refund, he doesn't need to do that.
also upgrading from a 7850 to a 7950 isn't really worth it.

But hey, this is a website with plenty of modders.

I'd look for a dual slot aftermarket cooling solution, and then just saw one layer off the back plate. It of course voids the warranty, however.

 

[SeekaX]

Thanks for the input...

I know he doesn't have to give a refund and I appreciate him being a stand up guy as it was my oversight.

The pictures, as stated, are an example and not my rig. Just something to help people unfamiliar with the case offer advice. I currently have a HD5550 in there (htpc) so it definitely is worth it

ah okay, well there are plenty of dual slot versions and the 7950 isn't that expensive anymore.
do you have a budget? if you want AMD and a DC2 cooler the 280x might be something for you.

But hey, this is a website with plenty of modders.

I'd look for a dual slot aftermarket cooling solution, and then just saw one layer off the back plate. It of course voids the warranty, however.

those layers of the backplate are just useless extra weight anyways, right? :lol:
/edit
just realized you mean the I/O shield and not the backplate, makes the idea a whole lot less scary.

 

[looz]

Well usually the bit which covers the third expansion slot is just cooling rivets.

Edit: Yeah I perhaps didn't use the best choice of words.

Edit2: That case seems to have an intake under it. Heck, even the DCII might work, if you find a way to install a dust filter there and ensure the case doesn't hug the floor.

 

[Mr. Smith]

Haha, yes the I/O plate like I said

I looked into aftermarket cooling but not a lot came up and that pushes the price up to the point where I can get a new card that fits.

The case floor does have some ventilation but I don't think it would be ideal to be pressed against it?

Edit: anyone know where I can get an alternative I/O shield that would fit?

 

[SeekaX]

Edit: anyone know where I can get an alternative I/O shield that would fit?

most watercooling shops have I/O shields, but i don't know how much that would impair the cooler.

 

[NickOmega]

Are you looking for something like this: http://www.ekwb.com/shop/blocks/vga-blocks/i-o-brackets/ek-vga-i-o-bracket-hd7970.html ?

most watercooling shops have I/O shields, but i don't know how much that would impair the cooler.

Looking at the DCII it shouldn't impair the cooler, however, there are conflicting pictures for the card as far as the cooler and I/O shield are concerned:

Edit: There was a revision of the DCII cooler, but unsure why that would mean an extra DVI port appearing. However, looking at the particular card you've bought it's the revised model with the extra DVI port. I haven't seen any replacement dual slot I/O in my quick searches though.

 

[Seb.F]

The lower one is the revised cooler I think. They changed it around 9 months ago I think? May be completely wrong there though. Double DVI is usually an nVidia card isn't it?

 

[alpenwasser]

PCI brackets can often be found on eBay, though I'm not sure if a two-slot solution exists
for your model. Otherwise, as stated: cutting.

As for the cooling: I vote for adding some ventilation into the case bottom and making sure
the case is off the floor enough for the card to be able to breathe. Shouldn't be too difficult, even
with rudimentary tools (you could just drill many additional holes; would be some work, but totally
feasible with just a drill, unless the card actually is too thick and you'd need to make a hole
for the entire cooler).

 

[cooperman]

also upgrading from a 7850 to a 7950 isn't really worth it.

I beg to differ....

 

[Mr. Smith]

Cheers gents.

From searching around before, all the IO plates have a curved lip; this prevents them laying flat against the card (due to the cooler).

I was hoping to avoid any cutting/modding but it looks as though I'll have to now!

 

[NickOmega]

Cheers gents.

From searching around before, all the IO plates have a curved lip; this prevents them laying flat against the card (due to the cooler).

I was hoping to avoid any cutting/modding but it looks as though I'll have to now!

Yeah, if you had the model with the single DVI port it would probably have been fine looking at pictures of the card, but the lip on the top of the I/O replacement would foul on the outputs on yours. Not sure about it fouling on the actual cooler though without seeing exactly how it's mounted.

Of course you could still get the replacement I/O but then you'd need to cut/modify that which defeats the purpose I suppose.

 

[looz]

Well if you want to preserve the warranty you could get another io plate and get rid of the lip instead of butchering the original one.

 

[Mr. Smith]

Just thought I'd update. I removed the IO plate and installed it without one as it is fully supported by the case floor.

Temperatures aren't too bad, idles around 40 deg is and peaked at 70 deg after about 5 hours gaming.

Not bad considering I've increased the voltage and have it running at 1150/1600. I feel there is more to squeeze out, this card is a champ!

 

[tinytomlogan]

Just thought I'd update. I removed the IO plate and installed it without one as it is fully supported by the case floor.

Temperatures aren't too bad, idles around 40 deg is and peaked at 70 deg after about 5 hours gaming.

Not bad considering I've increased the voltage and have it running at 1150/1600. I feel there is more to squeeze out, this card is a champ!

Im not sure how much room there is under your case but it might be worth trying to raise it up a bit, if that helps you can easily find bigger feet you can fit

 

[iiBetrayforAR]

You deserve 2 medals, one for being such a moron, but one for being such a genius.

 

[RobCrezz]

Nice job making it fit. Btw, it looks like you have the wrong kind of fan attached to your AIO on your CPU, looks like an airflow fan with huge gaps between the blades.