I think I have a good idea of what is available, just having difficulty coming to a decision.

In order of cost with pros and cons that I can think off

1. Leave it with the stock cooler
The noise dosen't bother me that much but I would like to oc this card as far as I can. What is the expected % fps improvement over stock for a typical max oc? (the card can't be unlocked)

2. Third party air cooler e.g. Geilid icy or similar
A cheap option but most of the installs I have seen seemed to require some modification and also sticking heatsinks on which may be difficult to get off when reselling

3. Accelero hybrid
As above but perhaps better temps/lower noise. Still looks like you need to stick heatsinks on

4. Kraken bracket + all in one cooler
Some reviews have not used additional heatsinks for ram and VRM's and some have said it is a necessity. Does anyone know if the OCUK pre-installed ones have? Good in that can be run separate to the existing loop (applies to all above options too)

5. Full cover block and add to existing loop
Blocks are expensive but provide best cooling option. Would it provide enough cooling with the single 240? (cpu is i5 @4.6ghz 1.35v)

6. Full cover block + another rad to existing loop
Adding another slim rad to the top of the case (anyone have a recommendation for the top position of a cm690ii?)

7. As #6 but adding another dcc to the existing res thus giving a separate route
Most expense but saves messing with the existing route and also any flow rate drop. Expected best temps and probably most fun to do

Opinions please

I'm planning on going the Kraken route with heat sinks on the ram and VRMs, but I'm going to fit this myself instead of buying one pre-installed. Pretty sure the OCUK pre-installed won't have them on as it's not part of the actual kraken, but I guess that's up to them.

Also, OCUK pictures show no heatsinks on RAM or VRMs.

I put up a similar topic a couple of days ago, as i'm in the same boat.


I figured I'd go for lowest cost now, and go for water later in the year. The cheapest seems to be the Gelid icy rev 2 with thermal tape and some vrm heatsinks.

The only problem I have right now is the lack of Alpenfohn VRM heatsinks. It's out of stock virtually everywhere.

Well I'm going Hybrid and will be fitting it over the weekend.

If the stock cooler isn't an issue why not keep it? I used MSI Afterburner to stick a custom fan profile on and the max it would go to is 60%. @ 1050/1300 it kept the card at a 92C Max and I didn't realise I hadn't turned my case fans to the performance setting I have pre set. So can do the job.

One method Matt has mentioned is using the Gelid Extreme Paste to knock up to 5C off the temps overall

Mine's too loud at 42/45 at which I usually keep it. It's a new build that was dead silent before installing GPU, so I, personally, want to get closer to the "before gpu" state

8. Use it in an air conditioned room, I got a pair of them OC'd to the wall here running 74c max load, nice and quiet and can easily be done for only a few thousand ^^

Have ordered

2x 120mm Akasa AK-174BK-S Black Case FanUltra Quiet (17dBA)
Alphacool NexXxoS ST30 Full Copper 240mm
EK-FC R9-290X - Acetal, Full-cover Water Block for AMD Radeon R9 290X and 290

Hopefully will have it installed by the weekend so will post the pics

Likely will add the backplate at a later date

A simpler solution would be to sell your 290/x on the MM or ebay and just buy one of the new 290/x's with proper cooling on them such as the MSI Twin Frozr or Sapphire Tri-x or Asus Direct CUII. Would probably cost about the same and warranty left intact etc etc

That's what I'm going to do! Not as fun though mind...

WalderX said:

A simpler solution would be to sell your 290/x on the MM or ebay and just buy one of the new 290/x's with proper cooling on them such as the MSI Twin Frozr or Sapphire Tri-x or Asus Direct CUII. Would probably cost about the same and warranty left intact etc etc

That's what I'm going to do! Not as fun though mind...

Click to expand...

a 290 on mm went for 265 the other day and i personally think thats a little low for a card that was only a month old. Then you have the added cost of the newer custom cooled variety, by the time you have sold it and paid out for a newer variety then it could have cost you (379.99 - 265) 114.99.

A cooler you fit yourself in some cases may work thermally better but you have the hassle or fun of fitting it, and the cost would be around 95 pounds for a kraken and cooler if you dont have a spare h55 at home. Some of the manufacturers via ocuk are allowing you to remove the stock cooler and replace without losing your warranty providing you dont slip with a screw driver or something lol.

I was going to get a Kraken and an AIO but the stock info on the NXZT doesn't look to promising

Batch 1 Ship Date: Dec. 16, 2013 (Orders before Dec. 11)
Batch 2 Ship Date: Mid-January TBD (Orders between Dec. 12-16)
Batch 3 Ship Date: Late-January TBD (Pre-Order Pending)

And also I would have wanted more VRM cooling so would have ended up sticking heatsinks to the card which is a reselling problem

And I have been saying I was going to put a top rad in since I did the initial work on the case.

I reckon it would be pretty cost neutral against selling and buying a newer one with custom cooling but I hadn't considered that beforehand so for someone who doesn't like messing with stuff that would be a reasonable option

AC Extreme with the Alpenfohn 'beast' vrm after a little 'dremel time' on the heatsink fins, BF4=55c@1100MHz under the Extreme and custom fan profile aimed at max cooling.

You could probably snip the fins clean off if you don't want to dremel and save time, but where's the fun in that?


If I had an existing water loop though, it would be added to that instead.

My vote is for #6. 240 for CPU and a 290x is too little for decent temps. At the top you can fit a Black ice stealth rad, RS240 but if you can fit a 40mm radiator, i would go for the EK PE 240.

#7 wont give you better temps unless your pump is already struggling, which it shouldn't do with only a block or two.

My 290x is sitting super cool in my own custom loop and am grateful for my lucky clocker.

atomic7431 said:

a 290 on mm went for 265 the other day and i personally think thats a little low for a card that was only a month old. Then you have the added cost of the newer custom cooled variety, by the time you have sold it and paid out for a newer variety then it could have cost you (379.99 - 265) 114.99.

A cooler you fit yourself in some cases may work thermally better but you have the hassle or fun of fitting it, and the cost would be around 95 pounds for a kraken and cooler if you dont have a spare h55 at home. Some of the manufacturers via ocuk are allowing you to remove the stock cooler and replace without losing your warranty providing you dont slip with a screw driver or something lol.

Click to expand...

Yeah don't get me wrong, it may be a little more expensive doing it that way but I think it is easy to get bogged down thinking "how the hell can I cool this card better" when the easy option for most would be to sell and buy a replacement, especially when talking current gen cards as they hold value well on ebay etc...

I only say this because I have been through all this with my 290x and even wrote a guide on how I did it:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18553466&highlight=prolimatech+fitting+guide

I had issues with board flex, VRM cooling and crashing in games so ended up putting the stock cooler back on. Perhaps I messed up somewhere but in hindsight I would have just kept the card at stock and then sell up if I decided I wanted a custom cooled one - which is where I am at now

BUT it was fun fitting it and I learnt a great deal about VRM's and how GPU pcb's are designed etc so I wouldn't want to put anyone off doing it, it just didn't work out in my case.

Watercooled cards have great support if the tubing is done correctly or if you decide to go acrylic. Just sayin

WalderX said:

Yeah don't get me wrong, it may be a little more expensive doing it that way but I think it is easy to get bogged down thinking "how the hell can I cool this card better"

Click to expand...

yeah thats me all over, but i want quieter and cooler, at a good price point, hard to please

tommybhoy said:

AC Extreme with the Alpenfohn 'beast' vrm after a little 'dremel time' on the heatsink fins, BF4=55c@1100MHz under the Extreme and custom fan profile aimed at max cooling.

You could probably snip the fins clean off if you don't want to dremel and save time, but where's the fun in that?


If I had an existing water loop though, it would be added to that instead.

Click to expand...

What's this alpenfohn "beast" that you speak of? is it the vrm heatsinks that are sold out everywhere or something else?

It's the rather large Alpenfohn VRM heatsink which comes with their GPU heatsink kit.

You can it here:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18559998&highlight=username_Terminal_Boy

I went with the VRM heatsinks which came with the Acrtic Accellero Xtreme 3.

All installed with the EK full cover block

55 deg at 1100 stock volts in bf4 up to 65 deg in furmark burn in

EK block install was very simple. Very happy. it's been a while since I had a Watercooled GPU and the difference it makes to sound levels (especially compared to the ref 290) is fantastic