R9 290 + Kraken G10 (closed loop wc)

[Asa]

Hi,

I have a crossfire R9 290s, 1 is a gigabyte windforce a the other MSI GE.

The MSI is the top card, and I'm having some trouble with temperatures and resultant throttling whenever I run a game with no cap on frame rate.

I am considering taking off the MSI GE cooler and having a go with a Kraken G10 and an Antec Kuhler (or similar Asetek closed loop CPU cooler).

From what I have read this can achieve great temperatures on the core, but VRAM modules are pretty much untouched and I've seen differing reports on whether that is OK or not.

I planned to get some mosfet heatsinks and just stick them on anything that looked like it could use the cooling, but when I asked about it on the OCUK watercooling forums I got just the one response saying that it wasn't a good idea, that even with heatsinks the VRAM modules cook.

Has anyone here got an R9 290 running OK with a Kraken G10 that can offer up any feedback? Even better if anyone has set this up on an MSI GE, as I hear they have larger capacitors than a reference card?

Thanks

 

[Asa]

Thanks for the responses and particularly the pictures, that saves me some research down the line.

I am still looking for some kind of validation that the G10 can effectively cool an R9 290. With the state of the reference coolers I suspect numerous people must have tried it already and I generally trust the feedback I get here, so if anyone does have firsthand experience please let me know

 

[Asa]

Hi,

I'm not really looking to push performance any further, my main aim is just to get the temperature under control and perhaps tone the noise down a little. Currently running 1041 core 1270 memory, no over-vaulting at all. If I end up with some headroom to push those numbers up then that's a pretty nice bonus, but it's not my target.

Side question: The top card only has 1 slot of 'breathing space', before the hot air hits the back of my sound card (assuming the cooler blows out that way?). Would it be worth sticking a PCI slot extractor fan in the gap, or would it just cramp the airflow and make things worse? I do already have a 120mm extractor fan on the side of the case...

Thanks

 

[Asa]

I thought the only 290s that exhaust were the reference ones. If the GE does then changing my side fan to intake may help.

Swapping the cards over is on my list of things to do, but I had them the other way round previously and I'm not expecting it to make the difference that I need.

Thanks again for the input.

 

[Asa]

Thanks for the input. I think I may give it a go.

The G10 is pretty hard to get at the moment, can't even get it direct from NZXT. There is an online retailer that has them in stock, but I'm not sure it's acceptable or fair to say who.