Powercolor R9 290X with "The Red Mod"

WgizmO · 30 Jan 2014 at 00:46

Hi there,

I decide I will give a go to "The Red Mod" on my new r9 290x using NZXT G10. I will post guide here including pics and some video for people who still thinking about it and how easy it is to do.

First of all I will write down what I did use for this mod:

1. Powercolor Radeon R9 290X

2. Alpenföhn Passive DRAM / VRAM Chip Coolers

3. Corsair Hydro H90

4. Be Quiet! Silent Wings Fan Pure - 92mm

5. Kraken G10

6. Akasa AK-TT12-80 Thermal Adhesive Tape

7. Akasa AK-FN062 Apache Black Super Silent 140mm

This is how I did it in few steps:
1. Removing stock cooler:

2. Cleaning card from old thermal compounds:

3. Preparing VRM and Ram heat sinks:

4. Putting heat sinks on card:

5. Getting Kraken G10 ready with replacement of the fan with Be Quiet! Silent Wings Fan:

6. Installing Kraken G10 on card:

7. Final Look before cable management and dust remove  :

Here is video : http://youtu.be/LRfbtUIYYDw

Nelly · 9 Feb 2014 at 11:36

Nice work. What were your temps like?

Pic No 12 needs shrinking down in size by the way.

hyperseven · 9 Feb 2014 at 16:59

Have the same card but using a dwood bracket, kuhler 620 with sp120's and a gt15 on the bracket, but no vrm sinks.

Are you using stock firmware or Asus?
Temps and clocks please :-)

SiDeards73 · 9 Feb 2014 at 22:35

Nice job! I'm torn between pulling my 290 reference sapphire apart and fitting a cooler or just selling it and using the money plus the extra it would cost to buy the bits required to cool it and just buy a newer 290 like the msi gaming edition etc.

almighty15 · 10 Feb 2014 at 07:21

VRM temps?

varkanoid · 10 Feb 2014 at 11:58

its very satisfying when its completed !

Silent_Scone · 10 Feb 2014 at 12:01

I'll praise how you've done that tidily, but I cannot praise it as a mod in itself. Putting it under water through a custom loop really isn't that much more hassle, or money if only for one GPU.

SiDeards73 · 10 Feb 2014 at 12:33

In all honesty unless you get a ref 290 now at a crazy cheap price, its better to just buy an AIB one like the MSI GE, as in all honesty they come out of the box with a better cooling solution than modding it yourself unless your going to put it under a proper loop.

When you factor in the costs too its a no brainer, if you pay £300 - £320 for a reference, add on say £60 if your put an X3 on it, then add another £20 for tape and Vrm sinks, your already looking at £400. If your going for the Kraken Route then its £20 or whatever for the bracket, and then the price of an AIO ontop.

Makes sense just to buy something like an MSI Gaming Edition

MrMarvelous · 10 Feb 2014 at 12:46

Nice, you just need to re-size the pictures before a mod comes along.

WgizmO · 10 Feb 2014 at 17:05

Hi guys,

Stock firmware and i didn't clock anything yet. Fans are on push-pull on rad and they are at 8v instead of 12v then still not on max.

Temps are:

While playing BF4 with settings:

2014-02-10 16:59:49 - bf4
Frames: 18936 - Time: 192162ms - Avg: 98.542 - Min: 42 - Max: 153

Then i still have room for some oc. When i get some more time i will go for some oc. I dont think if I gain much but we will see.

P.S. What do you mean to resize images?

adwol48 · 10 Feb 2014 at 22:49

those VRM heatsinks really make a huge difference dont they. currently got my pack of alpehfohn heatsinks sat on my desk need to go pick up some thermal adhesive tape. Does the be quiet fan make much difference, currently got the stock nzxt hooked upto a fan controller and its silent.

gpuerrilla · 10 Feb 2014 at 23:06

MrMarvelous said:
Nice, you just need to re-size the pictures before a mod comes along.

This.

Thanks for the guide as I am considering doing this too. Looking forward to the youtube vid.

WgizmO · 11 Feb 2014 at 11:45

I cant even hear Be Quiet fun but the whole idea was to put fans with big air preasure and flow.

gpuerrilla · 11 Feb 2014 at 23:00

Overall impression then Wgizmo?

Worth the effort and cost?

WgizmO · 14 Feb 2014 at 21:38

Th0nt said:
Overall impression then Wgizmo?

Worth the effort and cost?

Ofc! Now all what I need its oc the card when I get some more time as now I do have baby and work then not much time for my pc but soon i will have time. Anyway you can see results from above

gpuerrilla · 14 Feb 2014 at 21:57

I cant believe how loud the stock cooler is - it's definitely funny I was chuckling to myself like an evil villain even when it hit 70%!!

gpuerrilla · 16 Feb 2014 at 19:44

Gizmo did you buy the tape and not use the adhesive?

WgizmO · 16 Feb 2014 at 21:15

Th0nt said:
Gizmo did you buy the tape and not use the adhesive?

I did use tape on heat sinks only nothing else on heat sinks

gpuerrilla · 16 Feb 2014 at 22:35

Any leftover tape/glue?