AMD Radeon R9 295X2 Owners Thread

[nails666]

Amazing the difference adding a random extra fan has made to the temps. Was hitting 74C and throttling in the Witcher 3. Now only hitting 65C and the card is cooling down much more quickly between intense scenes. Curious to see the difference the new fans make when they arrive tomorrow.

Have your sp120s arrived and been fitted yet, curious to see your results

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Hi Matt or anyone who could chip in. I am considering to either mount the radiator at the bottom or my case, or on front of my case and have it intake air.

This may sound strange, but my cpu is watercooled anyway and I have plenty airflow in the case to deal with the radiator. Does the radiator get hot with long gaming sessions? Is it really important to have it exhaust air from the back? If I can, I would rather have the tubes facing down than up as it would be more aesthetically pleasing to me, lol.

Does the orientation of the radiator make any difference?

Finally I have a spare Scythe S-FLEX 120mm 1600RPM, is it okay to use it together with the XFX fan? Would it cause issues having one static?

Yes, the radiator gets very hot - nowhere near as hot as the card itself though. I just stuck a random second fan on mine as an exhaust and temps have dropped by about 10C. I would just try various combinations and see what happens.

On a related note, my new fans came today...will test them later

 

[TNA]

Yes, the radiator gets very hot - nowhere near as hot as the card itself though. I just stuck a random second fan on mine as an exhaust and temps have dropped by about 10C. I would just try various combinations and see what happens.

On a related note, my new fans came today...will test them later

Thanks for the info dude.

I will experiment a little tomorrow after installing my new PSU

I look forward to your result

 

[~Mike~]

That's definitely not true!

You used to tell us what a lovely place it was.

 

[mrkambo]

As for fans, Noctua Industrials are the best but you'll need a fan controller to use them with the 295x2. If you want auto fan speed (less hassle) then you have to pick low power fans, otherwise the 295x2 may not be able to drive them, especially if you use two. The Corsair SP120 Performance editions work fine in push pull, tested and confirmed by several users so these are probably your best bet.

Wait...the 295 actually controls the 3pin fan?

I thought i ran at a constant speed so i stopped using it

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Wait...the 295 actually controls the 3pin fan?

I thought i ran at a constant speed so i stopped using it

Controls it based on pump speed. I am just trying to find the best way of controlling two. The problem is that the pump doesn't run them very quickly.

 

[LtMatt]

Wait...the 295 actually controls the 3pin fan?

I thought i ran at a constant speed so i stopped using it

Correct. Both fans (Rad Fan + VRM Fan) have two different speeds, idle and load.



For more information check out the Anandtech review, they cover it in detail.

Starting with the fans, because AMD is relying on a split cooling design with both an on-board fan and a CLLC, AMD doesn’t offer any fan control options for this card. In the case of the CLLC this is because the CLLC itself controls its own fan speed, with the single 120mm fan slaved into the pumps and the pumps in turn adjusting the fan based on their own sensors. Since the 120mm fan is under the control of the pumps and not tied into the board’s fan controller, there’s no way to control this fan short of introducing a physical fan controller in the middle.

The 120mm fan in question is a simple 2pin fan, which is rated to operate between 1200 RPM and 2000 RPM (+/- 10%). Using an optical tachometer we measured the fan operating between 1340RPM at idle and 1860RPM under load, which is a bit high for idle based on AMD’s specifications, but within the 10% window for load operation. The fan does get up to full speed before the GPUs reach their75C temperature limit, so whether it’s FurMark or Crysis, in our experience the 120mm fan maxes out at the same speed and hence the same noise levels.

AMD Radeon R9 295X2 120mm Radiator Fan Speeds
Spec Measured
Idle 1200 RPM +/- 10% ~1340 RPM
Full Load 2000 RPM +/- 10% ~1860 RPM
Meanwhile the smaller fan on the card itself is rated for 1350 RPM to 2050 RPM, and is tied into the board’s fan controller. However since this fan is responding to board component temperatures rather than GPU temperatures, AMD has not made this fan controllable. AMD’s APIs do not directly expose the temperatures of these components (MSI AB was only able to tell us the GPU temperatures), so it’s not unexpected that this fan can’t be directly controlled.

 

[mrkambo]

Ahh i see...so in your opinion

Which method would work best, i currently run 2 SP120 in push pull at 7v, but i find sometimes the temps reach throttling threshold, normally excessive length gaming session 4/5 hours

Which SP120 should i get the card to control, the one in push or the one in pull, im sure its just a matter of trail and error, but i only game on a Saturday evening so time wise its a bit touch and go

 

[LtMatt]

Ahh i see...so in your opinion

Which method would work best, i currently run 2 SP120 in push pull at 7v, but i find sometimes the temps reach throttling threshold, normally excessive length gaming session 4/5 hours

Which SP120 should i get the card to control, the one in push or the one in pull, im sure its just a matter of trail and error, but i only game on a Saturday evening so time wise its a bit touch and go

Firstly undervolt the 295x2 by -0.050v. Secondly I'd use a fan splitter and connect both SP120 Performance Editions to the Pump/Rad. Thirdly I'd have the Fans+Rad positioned as intake sucking in cold, dust filtered air from outside the case.

Experiment with and without the 7v adapter and see what works best.

 

[mrkambo]

Firstly undervolt the 295x2 by -0.050v. Secondly I'd use a fan splitter and connect both SP120 Performance Editions to the Pump/Rad. Thirdly I'd have the Fans+Rad positioned as intake sucking in cold, dust filtered air from outside the case.

Experiment with and without the 7v adapter and see what works best.

Right ill try that when i get a moment, i think i have a splitter somewhere

Thats currently how my case is laid out, excuse the horrendous mess, im currently in-between 3 different builds, bits and pieces change cases on bi daily basis

 

[LtMatt]

This is how I'd have it if i was using your case.

Spoiler

I'd also install two rear fans to suck out the heat, and I'd have the 120MM Fan on the 295x2 pushing cold air through the rad, if possible.

 

[mrkambo]

This is how I'd have it if i was using your case.

Spoiler

I'd also install two rear fans to suck out the heat, and I'd have the 120MM Fan on the 295x2 pushing cold air through the rad, if possible.

yeah thats exactly how the airflow goes, how you've marked.

The rad is in push pull, just can't see the fan at the front, rubbish angle of photo!

 

[LtMatt]

yeah thats exactly how the airflow goes, how you've marked.

The rad is in push pull, just can't see the fan at the front, rubbish angle of photo!

Cool. Just need some rear fans then.

 

[mrkambo]

Cool. Just need some rear fans then.

ill get on that now, shame they dont make 80mm Corsair fans, suppose that gives me a reason to go all Noctua

 

[CaptainRAVE]

So I have tried the SP120s in push/pull (as an exhaust at the back of the PC):

both set at 'full speed' (using MB) - too loud, but impressive cooling.

both set at 'normal' - card got too hot (or at least hotter than before).

push fan controlled by GPU and pull fan at 'normal' - reasonable temps, but could be better.

So next I will try pull with a 7V cable at 'full speed' and then also both of them with a 7V cable at 'max speed' to see what the noise/cooling is like.

I can manually set the speed in the bios, so if all else fails I will find an acceptable noise/cooling level for both of them. This is a bit of a pain since it doesn't apply the setting until you exit the bios.

The problem with my case is that it is so big (Cosmos 'S' Sport) that the radiator won't reach any acceptable intake position (not that I want all of that heat coming back into the case tbh).

Case cooling is pretty good though - 1 200mm side intake, 3 intakes at front, 1 at bottom, PSU just cools itself (in and straight out), 2 exhausts for CPU radiator at top of case, 1 exhaust for GPU at back of case. Shame my room is 25C usually with the windows open

 

[nails666]

Nice work CaptainRave, have you got a splitter so you can just run both of them directly from the card itself?
Have you got the performance edition sp120s or the quiet edition ones?

 

[LtMatt]

Would definitely recommend using a splitter for the best performance.

Did you find out if your 295x2 was stable at -0.050v Captain? If not just dial it down a tad until you hit the sweetspot.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

The splitter I bought didn't fit due to the 4 pin housing. Can someone spec me one? Will the card run both fans?

Put the voltage back to stock - the problem in the witcher stopped, so will work back down. Maybe -40 region.

 

[LtMatt]

The splitter I bought didn't fit due to the 4 pin housing. Can someone spec me one? Will the card run both fans?

Put the voltage back to stock - the problem in the witcher stopped, so will work back down. Maybe -40 region.

I tested a cheap 3 pin splitter from Maplin which worked fine, you might want a black one though to match the cables.

Good shout on the voltage. Mine behaves similarly at -0.060-0.065v, but -0.050v - 0.055v seems stable.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

I tested a cheap 3 pin splitter from Maplin which worked fine, you might want a black one though to match the cables.

Good shout on the voltage. Mine behaves similarly at -0.060-0.065v, but -0.050v - 0.055v seems stable.

Will see what I can find, certainly the easiest solution. Lots of the black splitters seem to be out of stock everywhere, so might need to be a temporary fix.