XFX DD 390X R9-390X-8DB6 waterblock

Schnippzle · 18 Aug 2017 at 15:13

Howdy,
With the release of Vega I'd like to move to watercooling my 390X. I know that the XFX DD 390X has had a few revisions and most of them require slightly different waterblocks. The only real information I have on my version is R9-390X-8DB6 (which EK classify as either C or Z inductors) so I'm a little lost on which block is compatible. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Schnipps

pastymuncher · 18 Aug 2017 at 19:31

It would appear that if you have the card with Z inductors then it is a no-reference design and there are no full cover blocks to fit it. In that case you would have to use the Thermosphere or Supremacy VGA core only blocks and work something out to try to keep the vrm's cool which can be easier said than done.

If you have the version with C inductors you have a reference card and EK's cooling configurator says that the EK-FC R9-290X - Acetal+Nickel (Rev.2.0) full cover block fits it. That is a block that you should be able to pick up very cheaply considering it's age. Just remember if you end up buying one second hand that the thermal pads could be damaged or missing and may need replacing. Going by the installation instructions for the block which can be found here, you need 0.5mm and 1.0mm thermal pads.

At the end of the day with both versions of the card having the same part number you are not going to know which version you have unless you remove the cooler.

Schnippzle · 18 Aug 2017 at 19:47

Thank you very much for the reply. Ok, so taking off the cooler seems to be a requirement either way, no big issue. Will there be a clear indicator of which inductors I have once I have the cooler off?

pastymuncher · 19 Aug 2017 at 14:07

The two pictures don't look that different to me and I don't have one of those cards so all I can suggest is that if you open a pair of Firefox (or whatever browser you use) tabs and go to EK's cooling configurator on each of them, click through to each version of your card, you will see that they have ringed the difference in the picture. Granted it's a small picture but I am guessing that there is writing on the inductor but the pictures for both cards look to have a Z on them to me. If you compare your card to the C version because that picture can be blown up and it's identical then you must have that version and can use the 290X block.

Schnippzle · 19 Aug 2017 at 20:33

Thank you. Judging by their guide, the EK-FC R9-290X - Acetal+Nickel (Rev.2.0) [3831109869031] seems to fit both the C and Z inductors. Will have to have a closer inspection.

Thank you very much for your help pastymuncher.

pastymuncher · 20 Aug 2017 at 20:00

It doesn't fit the Z inductor version. Cooling Configurator atates that there is no block available for that version which is why I said you need to find out which version you have. There are no full cover blocks at all for that version of the card.