I can get an r9 290 w/ a stock cooler really cheap from work, but I've heard they're very loud and run very hot. Are these claims true? I really do need to get a new GPU anyway it's just that the r9 290 will give the most performance for my money. I might be able to get an AIO liquid cooler and mount for it later down the line. But I will have to live with the stock cooler for a month first. Anyone used it with the stock cooler and have any advice?
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How bad is the r9 290 stock cooler?
- Thread starter TubbyGreg
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Soldato
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If it's really cheap, deal with it for a bit then put an aio on it. I've had a reference card and it was noisy but couldn't hear it with headphones
The 290 is a hot card but it appears hotter due to the fact that the stock cooler and BIOS aim to keep the card around 90 degrees or so. This is perfectly fine for the most part and the cooler isn't that loud.
However if you want to keep the temps down, turning the fan up will start to make it louder obviously.
However if you want to keep the temps down, turning the fan up will start to make it louder obviously.
Soldato
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If you put it in a case with good airflow, then you wont suffer that bad. Both mine were mid 80s without touching the fan curve before i put them under water.
I had an airy Carbide 540 and a Obsidian 650d though, which are pretty cool running cases. Now i can max out their clocks on MSI AB and laugh as i watch them barely crawl to 50 degrees.
I had an airy Carbide 540 and a Obsidian 650d though, which are pretty cool running cases. Now i can max out their clocks on MSI AB and laugh as i watch them barely crawl to 50 degrees.
With custom fan profile and a bit of undervolting it can be considered "tolerable".
It has been quite a while since I had a 290X but I recall I undervolted by -37mv (in afterburner) and had my fan profile maxing out around the 60% mark at 85 degrees.
It has been quite a while since I had a 290X but I recall I undervolted by -37mv (in afterburner) and had my fan profile maxing out around the 60% mark at 85 degrees.
Soldato
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I guess results could varies quite a bit depending on how good the airflow is.
I recall for my 290x when it was still on stock reference cooler, I had tried fan profile set to 55% max and 60% max and it was overclocked to 1080MHz on stock voltage, after half an hour of looping Heaven Bench for two times (half an hour for 55%, half an hour for 60% fan speed), it was maxed at 85C at 55%, 81C at 60% (granted it wasn't summer, but around this time of the year as well).
Of course. Your results will vary depending on air flow and ambient temps.
In my case it was a Corsair 250D.
Soldato
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I think noise level wise, 55% is "acceptable" for most people as long as they don't have their PC at ear level and are not playing games on mute (lol), but at 60%, it reach the point of dividing between "still bearable for some/not so bearable" for most people, if they are not gaming with headphone.
Soldato
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There's no doubt that the 290 and 290X run hot and loud on the reference cooler. They just do, all the reports at release and associated GIFs, etc. came about because of this.
That said, like all things, they were over exaggerated for effect.
I've been running a reference 290 (or 2 in crossfire) since release. The fact that I'm still running one tells me that I can't find it that bad.
With a bit of tweaking with Afterburner or similar you'll probably be able to find a fan curve that gives you an acceptable trade-off between cooling and noise. If you can't, then the AIO option is there. Even reapplying the TIM may help a little bit, as will undervolting.
It'll probably depend a bit on what you're coming from and what sort of noise you're used to. For example, I've also got reference 980s and while they do also run hot, they're not nearly as loud.
For that price though, the 290 is a cracking card that I think I'd find too hard to pass up. If you have to spend a bit more fixing the cooling it lessens the value but it's still a good card.
That said, like all things, they were over exaggerated for effect.
I've been running a reference 290 (or 2 in crossfire) since release. The fact that I'm still running one tells me that I can't find it that bad.
With a bit of tweaking with Afterburner or similar you'll probably be able to find a fan curve that gives you an acceptable trade-off between cooling and noise. If you can't, then the AIO option is there. Even reapplying the TIM may help a little bit, as will undervolting.
It'll probably depend a bit on what you're coming from and what sort of noise you're used to. For example, I've also got reference 980s and while they do also run hot, they're not nearly as loud.
For that price though, the 290 is a cracking card that I think I'd find too hard to pass up. If you have to spend a bit more fixing the cooling it lessens the value but it's still a good card.
My MSI reference 290 was hot and loud when I bought it. I put it under water and all that went away. Its a great card at 1080P and is still serving me well.
If you can get it cheap, you can put an aftermarket shroud and cooler on it and you will be alright.
If you can get it cheap, you can put an aftermarket shroud and cooler on it and you will be alright.
The reference one has been sold, but I've got one coming on it's way that I've bought. What was the most common cooler that the r9 290 came with? My bet would be twin frozr. I won't acutally know which cooler it has until it arrives though.