Looking to add GeForce GTX 980 to Main Server - Possible temperature concerns?

I am thinking about deploying a GeForce GTX 980 in my Main Server and passing it through to one of my existing Windows 10 VM's for the purpose of gaming.

As the box is so far away from the TV (1920x1080 Plasma) where I want to play games I am going to utilise the new Steam Link. For those who don't know this little box (which retails for about $100 AUD) will search my network for instances of steam running on a PC (in this case the VM) and will "Stream" the game to the TV over my Gigabit network. It has been reviewed (as well as Steam network streaming in general) to work within minimal lag and notice to the user.

My issue is not the setup of the game it is the placement of a Video Card which has operating temperatures up to and including 90'C into my unRAID box which has an ambient temperature of anywhere between 25'C (20'C day no load) to 45'C (41'C day full load) and the impact that is going to have on the temperature of my drives.

Fractal Design Define R5:Motherboard X10SL7-F: CPU E3-1241v3: RAM 32GB ECC UB: PSU HX850i

The box (which the above temperatures are based on too) currently has the above Hardware plus 7 Mechanical HDD's in it and 3 SSD's and I plan to eventually expand the box to include the maximum of 14 Mechanical HDD's plus the 3 SSD's.

What would others think is the best way to ensure this box can take this card and still keep the case and the current and future drives nice and cool?

I have no problems with temps with a severely overclocked GTX780.  The 980, I believe has a lower heat output.

It also depends on the type of cooler on your GPU.  Is it the reference type, which exhausts out the back, or is it one of the "1337-g4m3r" type with 3 fans that haemorrhage heat in to the case? 

I have no problems with temps with a severely overclocked GTX780.  The 980, I believe has a lower heat output.

 

It also depends on the type of cooler on your GPU.  Is it the reference type, which exhausts out the back, or is it one of the "1337-g4m3r" type with 3 fans that haemorrhage heat in to the case?

That's good to know that someone else is going through the same thing?

I haven't selected the model yet BUT from what you are suggesting it sounds like the reference model would better suit my needs than a modified one. If I can get decent gaming performance AND by design of the card exhaust the GPU heat out of the case! Win Win!

What an intelligent design!! If it works of course!!

Seems people are raving over this one: http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16814487068

Just wanted to close this thread off by saying I did this.

- Not a GTX though - I managed to get a VERY cheap Gigabyte Radeon HD7970 Overclocked 3GB.

- Didn't use Steam Link - downloaded SteamOS for free.

- Bought 3 x XBox360 Wireless Controllers for each client

So I set it up. Passed through the GPU. Dual Booted my NUC's (x2) around the house with OpenELEC and SteamOS. Booted into SteamOS (Which Picks up Steam installed on the VM on my unRAID Server). Installed Controller. Started Playing. Easy.

Have streamed games from the VM to my iMac, MacbookAir and the 2 NUC's.

Another thing to consider is going water cooled and putting the radiator outside of the case. Just make sure to secure the radiator so that it can't be knocked loose and become damaged. Then the heat dispersion is mostly outside the case already!

Another thing to consider is going water cooled and putting the radiator outside of the case. Just make sure to secure the radiator so that it can't be knocked loose and become damaged. Then the heat dispersion is mostly outside the case already!

It's funny you should mention that, I was just watching a Water Cooling Installation on Youtube at lunch yesterday.

Fortunately the Cooling is fine. Disk temperatures haven't increased which is good - not sacrificing my NAS for gaming - the CPU and the GPU are running well within specification too.

I did a FULL stress test to see if I could kill it. Had unRAID run a Parity Check. Played Call of Duty on the VM (via an NUC) AND extracted a 50GB .rar archive for kicks. System didn't skip a beat!