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Reference 290X TIM replacing?

GoogalyMoogaly

GoogalyMoogaly

GoogalyMoogaly

Soldato
Joined
29 Aug 2010
Posts
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Hi,

So I'm using a reference 290X (Powercolor). We all know the cooler is loud, very loud.
You all know that and I knew it before I bought it, it wasn't a surprise.

I originally planned to watercool, but for me watercooling is something that always seems like a good idea right up until I actually have to strip everything down and fit it.

So, now I'm using the 290X with reference cooler.

Has anyone with a reference card changed the TIM but continued using the reference cooler?
If so, does it make much difference?
I know a while ago a few people replaced the TIM on MSI Gaming versions of the card (or 390s or something close) and it made quite a difference.
Does the same apply to the reference card? Or is the TIM not too bad on those, or the reference cooler isn't good enough for it to have much impact either way?

I'm hoping that if it can run a bit cooler it can run a bit quieter.
 
AlamoX said:
why the headach ? the only reason for getting reference multi-gpu or watercooling, you didnt do either.
so sell the card for like 150-200£ and get a sapphire 390 Nitro for £250, it already performs like the 290x or even better, and have room to overclock, and it's much cooler and silent and comes with double the memory, it would cost you about the same as getting a new cooler for your 290x
Click to expand...

Well I bought 3 of them back when they were £206 each to go 3 way CF. Also, as I said, I planned to watercool. That's why I went with the reference design. I just ended up doing neither. 3-way CF on air cooling is just hot and loud and as I said, watercooling is always a good idea until I come to actually do it. I think it comes from killing my 5870 when fitting a block to it (did the replacement 480 fine though).
I doubt the HG10 bracket costs £100, so not sure it'd be cheaper to sell and get a 390.
Also, this is my 3rd PC which pretty much gets hand-me-downs from my other 2, so don't want to be spending much money on this.

Dempsey22 said:
Dont think the Kraken G10 supports the H60. The Corsair HG10 A1 would be what you are looking for I say.

HG10_01.png
Click to expand...

Nice. Do you need a fan for it or does it come with one that's just not shown in the picture?
 
r7slayer said:
You can with software if your mobo supports it which i think it should as long as your using PWM fans. Have a look at speedfan, you can control individual fan speeds based on temps i believe and also corsair link does the same too. I have a fan controller in my case so i just have all my fans running at a certain speed where it's just audible but fast enough to keep my temps down which IMO is easier than messing with software running in the background.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'll probably do that too.
I was hoping you could attach it to the normal GPU fan header, but forgot you'd need to plug in the old fan.
 
I think the GPU fan header is different, so it gets really tricky as you need to split the GPU fan header and then convert one of those to a normal fan connector.
I'm also worried trying to draw that much power from the GPU fan header would cause issues. Maybe if they use PWM you could find a way to draw the power from a molex connector or something, but that's all getting over complicated I think.
 
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