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R9 290X Aftermarket Cooler

Casterina

Casterina

Casterina

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17 Nov 2011
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852
I've picked up the PowerColor AMD R9 290X reference card for £145 and would like to replace the stock cooler with aftermarket cooler to keep the noise and temperature down, which is the best cooler to use?
 
Look at hybrid cooling with one of those Corsair bracket things and a compatible AIO.

On my 290x I have an Antec 620 and a dwood bracket with SP120's and a GT15 over the VRM strip.
 
Single gpu mode the AC Extreme works very well-I used an aggressive custom fan profile that hit 100%@70c which usually kept it round about 60c, 67c tops@summer iirc, but I modded mine to fit the massive Alpenfohn vrm heatsink, more importantly, couldn't hear a thing.

I had mgpu and tried two AC Extremes but the temps sat higher but I didn't like them high-liked them cooler, so I used AIO's and Krakens which worked better as they vent the heat straight out the case.

My Extremes were the original 5870 versions, well worth the money 5870>6950>7950>290X:D
 
III is a three slot job with individual heatsinks, IV takes up four slots as it has a massive back plate that sits on top instead of the individual heatsinks.
 
Casterina said:
Both will fit into my case but which one will be better in terms of cooling?
Click to expand...

The IV will perform slightly better than the III due to the increased heatsink size. The backplate does take up a lot more room than the III, but is a lot easier to fit than the individual glue-on heatsinks (I've had a III on a 7970, and now Hybrid II's on my 290s that use the same heatsink as the Xtreme IV).

The IV's heatsink does take up a full PCI slot above the GPU, and actually takes up another couple of millimetres too - on my motherboard the heatsink just fouled my, admittedly massive, Silver Arrow CPU cooler. I swapped to the Phanteks 120mm CPU cooler and it fitted fine, but just something to bear in mind.

Both the Xtreme III and IV are impressively cool and very quiet, just be aware it will dump the heat back inside your case rather than the stock cooler which ejects it out the back. Not an issue in a well ventilated case, but could be an issue in a smaller or less airflow friendly case.
 
^
Great info.:)

Going by past experience with the Extreme and 290X, I would go with the IV and leave it at that if your running stock or light oc's.

If your going for larger clocks, also add some heatsinks for the long bank of vrms at the rear and some on the vram vrm(not the individual ram chips).
 
I've checked my case today and it seems the IV won't fit as it will interfere with the heatsink so my only choice is to go for the III, the supplied thermal paste is good enough or shall I get alternative?
 
The standard thermal paste for the main cooler to the GPU chip is certainly up to the job. The thermal adhesive looks to have changed (mine had two tubes that needed mixing, but the current parts list only lists a single tube, which is nice) but will be the best for the job. It acts as a glue and sticks the RAM and VRAM heatsinks to the appropriate bits of the GPU. Don't try replacing this with normal thermal paste/compound as you'll find all your heatsinks fall off when the card is moved to be put into the case!

I found it was best to assume it will take ages rather than try to rush it. I set aside an evening to mix the glue and fit the heatsinks (only took under an hour in the end) and then left it for 12 hours before moving the GPU in the morning back towards the PC to ensure all the heatsinks had stuck properly. Was a bit fiddly - hence my liking of the IV's rear heatsink - but worked very well and stays in place so long as you don't rush the installation or try to move stuff after the glue's started to cure.

If you're after quiet, the Accelero coolers are excellent and you shouldn't be disappointed.
 
Thanks for all your help! Will report back the before and after results when I've installed this cooler

EDIT: Would a OCZ 550W PSU be able to handle the R9 290X with AC Xtreme III cooler, 3570K CPU, 6 Case Fans and 2 HDD?
 
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Casterina said:
Thanks for all your help! Will report back the before and after results when I've installed this cooler

EDIT: Would a OCZ 550W PSU be able to handle the R9 290X with AC Xtreme III cooler, 3570K CPU, 6 Case Fans and 2 HDD?
Click to expand...

Stock or very light overclocks? Yes
High overclocks? Maybe, but to be on the safe side I'd upgrade to 650W-750W
8-Pack overclock level? NO!!! :eek:
 
I had a 8350 @ 5Ghz and a 290x on a OCZ 750 Fatal1ty (original one not the bad revision) and that would hit the current protection on the 12v when it spiked. Although the 8350 @5 is using a fair bit more power than the i5, i think you are walking a fine like with that ocz. I would say that any other 500w on a more reputable brand would do fine.
 
It has 38A on the 12V. Thats cutting it pretty close. The card can spike to 350+w and the CPU i think has a tdp of 77w. When you chuck in things like the motherboard and such then you are walking a fine line if not crossing it completely.

It will probably boot up and run fine until you have the card get toasty under load and a spike could trigger the protection the PSU.
 
Never used the glue myself, I always used Akasa Thermal tape for heatsinks, but some don't like it as they can fall off if you rush assembly and aren't thorough when cleaning the residue off of the vrms/vrams, take your time and clean them well, it doesn't fall off.
 
Avenged7Fold said:
It has 38A on the 12V. Thats cutting it pretty close. The card can spike to 350+w and the CPU i think has a tdp of 77w. When you chuck in things like the motherboard and such then you are walking a fine line if not crossing it completely.

It will probably boot up and run fine until you have the card get toasty under load and a spike could trigger the protection the PSU.
Click to expand...
Would a 600-650W PSU be sufficient enough (Bronze or Gold rated?) as I want to overclock the card in 1-2 months time to the max and my 3570K is clocked to 4.2GHz as well
 
For gaming, 1100Mhz/1350MHz I found is the sweet spot for stability and performance, but I'd be looking at a good quality PSU@750W if you are going to really push it.
 
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