Watercooling MSI R9 390 Gaming 8GB

[Oriaz]

That's where I thought they were, but, unless I totally missed something, there didn't seem to be any heat transfer material on them when I removed the standard cooler! Although I may be wrong!

I think I probably have enough spare heat sinks and thermal tape to cover those boys up, so I will give it a shot.

Thanks again for all of the help, at least the main GPU temperature is significantly lower!

 

[Uncle Petey]

You can use the copper heatsinks that you put next to them, as there doesn't need to be any on there in case you weren't sure.

 

[Oriaz]

My problem now really seems to be finding a reliable method to bond the heatsinks onto the VRAM/VRM without it falling off!!

2 of the heatsinks on the main VRAM surrounding the main GPU have already dropped off .. whereas others using exactly the same thermal adhesive tape seem very solid.

The Akasa stuff seems ok, but the VRM sections are very small and it feels like there isn't enough surface area on each one for the tape to get a good grip. I'll try it anyway, but it's always concerning when the heatsinks can 'slide' about with a small amount of pressure. Also doesn't help that they all hang upside down once the GFX card is in place, so gravity doesnt help!!

Anyone know any other good options that actually stick? But not so much that they can't be removed again? Can I use thermal paste at all? I have some AS5 and the EKWB stuff too?

I did clen everything down with alcohol before using the thermal tape btw.

Cheers!!

 

[pingu666]

think theres been a couple of vrm kits, if you can find stock somewhere

other option i can think of is to find a rigid peice to sit ontop of those heatsinks like a metal bar with 2 holes in, then use the holes in the pcb and those with zip ties to clamp em down.

u could also try double sided tape on the vertical side of those square components, so u stick on the vrm and the side, if you can

 

[TonyTurbo78]

That's where I thought they were, but, unless I totally missed something, there didn't seem to be any heat transfer material on them when I removed the standard cooler! Although I may be wrong!

I think I probably have enough spare heat sinks and thermal tape to cover those boys up, so I will give it a shot.

Thanks again for all of the help, at least the main GPU temperature is significantly lower!

Your VRM are to the right of your high copper heatsinks. You will have to cut them down as the area around the vrm's are a bit uneven, you need to cut them so they are rectangular like mine mate

This is the reason why I decided to modify the original MSI cooler so I could mount it with the black bracket which brings it into contact with all the hot points. Also, keep the blue heat pads that come with the cooler, they might come in handy if you decide to getto mod the cooler like I did haha

 

[Oriaz]

Hmm, I've moved all of those copper heatsinks over to the VRM's on the right, but I am still having a lot of issues with the VRM Temperature 1 reading. Still fine on the desktop (around 40-45), but this is what happens after 10 minutes on WoW:

And it was still climbing up when I bailed out back to the desktop. But are VRM 1 and VRM 2 in different places? VRM 2 seems totally fine, but it's VRM 1 that goes nuts. The only other places that I found heat transfer material on the standard cooler are the ones I've marked on the left here:

I've put a heatsink on the top one, but not the bottom. Maybe they just aren't shifting the heat for some reason? The other temps show that the watercooling loop is working like a dream, so it's just these little jerks that are ruining everything!

The heatsinks that I have did come as part of a kit, you can see them in one of the pics I put earlier on. The problem is that even the transfer strips that come with the kits seem to suck at sticking .. although for now everything seems to be in place!

Cheers!

 

[Oriaz]

This is what I've ended up with now:

But the temps still rocket past 100 in under 10 mins of gameplay. I know that VRM does run very hot, but I've been too scared to see if it ever levels off. Also, the heatsinks just keep dropping off .. it's driving me nuts now!!

What's more annoying is that the one VRM temp just sits nicely around 40-45, and the other goes 110+ until I close/minimize the game!!

 

[new boy]

You could try using the mounting holes beside the vrms to install something that would press down on the heatsinks. Cables ties might do it.

EDIT - what are the copper sinks next to the vrms meant to be cooling?

Edit 2 - on the picture of the bare pcb, vrm 1 is the strip down the right, vrm2 is the small cluster on the top left.

 

[Uncle Petey]

Nothing. They don't need to be there.

 

[TonyTurbo78]

Oriaz, those heatsinks you have on the VRM's they look far to big. I seriously think the reason you are still getting high temps is because they are not sitting flush. Around each of those VRM is a few little high points which sit higher than the actual VRMs, I bet they are not making great contact.

Again, this is exactly why I decided to chin off the heatsinks and go getto on the MSI cooler. I use the the heatsink from that, the large black plate and the blue thermal pads that were on as factory. Everything sits totally flush on the vrms, they are bolted down and the surface area is huge to spread the heat.

 

[Oriaz]

So .. I've been messing about a bit more, and this seems more and more like an issue restricted to World of Warcraft!

In WoW I am getting temps that go up to 110 and beyond (I shut it off before it goes much further). So I tried a few other things, and this is what I found for VRM 1 results (I just realised that the other VRM sensor just stays at 49 regardless):

World of Warcraft - 110+
Hearthstone - 68
3D Mark - Skydiver Benchmark - 86
3D Mark - Firestrike Ultra (4K) Benchmark - 70

So for some reason, WoW seems to push everything into crazy numbers even though it's not the most graphically demanding game. But the 3D Mark benchmarks are designed to stress these things, and they are well within acceptable limits for the VRM temps ... it's very strange.

The great news is that my main GPU never went above 40 degrees, even on the Firestrike benchmark. It hit 95 degrees when I ran it with the stock cooler.

I know the copper sinks aren't really needed, but I had some spare so I left them on anyway. I see TonyTurbo was cooling this area too from his photo above, and the heatsinks are very hot to the touch too .. so I guess it can't hurt.

Anyway .. maybe everything is actually fine, and it's just WoW throwing it's toys out of the pram?

And thanks for the suggestion New Boy, I was looking at all sorts of crazy solutions to hold the heatsinks on, but cable ties should do the job just fine. This is all still temporary until that EKWB block comes out!

Cheers!

 

[Oriaz]

@ TonyTurbo .. I kept all of the original blue pads etc from the stock cooler. If I stick those on the VRMs, put heatsinks directly on top, and lash them all down with cable ties, do you think that would work ...

.. or does that go beyond ghetto and into pure renegade territory

 

[TonyTurbo78]

i dont think you need the pads and the small passive heatsinks, but only one way to find out haha.

 

[Oriaz]

Heheh, you mean I can just use the pads and nothing else?

I'm still not 100% convinced there is an issue though ....

I just did 25 mins of Fallout with graphics on Ultra running at 2K, and the max the VRM went to was 64. I just think WoW makes everything go nuts for some reason!

 

[This never ends well]

Heheh, you mean I can just use the pads and nothing else?

I'm still not 100% convinced there is an issue though ....

I just did 25 mins of Fallout with graphics on Ultra running at 2K, and the max the VRM went to was 64. I just think WoW makes everything go nuts for some reason!

Just cable tie a 120mm fan over the vrm's as it needs air.

 

[Oriaz]

So this (still temporary) McGyver solution seems to be keeping things in check for Warcraft. Or at the very least, the VRM temps are going up much slower. At 80 degrees now after 10 mins, where I would have been at 110+ before!

EKWB - See this ... this is why you need to release your full cover for the MSI R9 390 asap, it's making us do stupid things ...

 

[P4Clock]

This is what I've ended up with now:
But the temps still rocket past 100 in under 10 mins of gameplay. I know that VRM does run very hot, but I've been too scared to see if it ever levels off. Also, the heatsinks just keep dropping off .. it's driving me nuts now!!

What's more annoying is that the one VRM temp just sits nicely around 40-45, and the other goes 110+ until I close/minimize the game!!

adding an heat sink is good, but an heat sink need AIR, do you have a fan blowing at the card, not round the card but AT to card to cool the heat sink.

EKWB - See this ... this is why you need to release your full cover for the MSI R9 390 asap, it's making us do stupid things ...

its not worth there time to **** about and make one. 390/x is now a budget card and not worth there R&D costs to make one
sadly if you want budget water buy an 970

 

[Oriaz]

Look at the picture above . I already added a fan blowing directly onto the card and things have got better now (around 80/85 degrees now instead of 110+).

Also, read up .... EK already confirmed that they are making a block for the MSI R9 390, due for release sometime around mid-Feb. I wouldn't classify the R9 390 as a 'budget' card though! At £250-£300 or so, it sits in exactly the same bracket as the 970, with at least equal, if not better, performance.

If anything, it makes it more worth the time and R&D costs as many more people can afford to own the R9 390 compared to things like the 980ti, Titan or even Nano. More people owning it = more potential customers to sell waterblocks to .

Cheers

 

[TonyTurbo78]

adding an heat sink is good, but an heat sink need AIR, do you have a fan blowing at the card, not round the card but AT to card to cool the heat sink.

I've no fan on my heatsinks, my temps on my VRM do not go about 50c with my core staying well below 40c even from hours of gaming. Having a large surface for the heat to spread is just as good.

its not worth there time to **** about and make one. 390/x is now a budget card and not worth there R&D costs to make one
sadly if you want budget water buy an 970

390x a budget card?? at over £300 that is not a budget card. I would still class the 390x as a high end card, there aren't many games a 390x would struggle with.

 

[BluD]

I would just check the back of your air cooler and see where the pads are, that gives you a clear idea of where you need to put heat syncs. Make sure youve not missed anything that was cooled by the stock cooler, and make sure you have good contact like tony said. If your unsure about contact on one of the components its always a good idea to test it by sticking a little blob of paste on then pressing your heat sync on and check it pushes all the paste out, that means its sitting lvl and good contact, obviously leave the protective tape over the adhesive while ya do it.

Little self adhesive heatsyncs do work fine aswell, we all used to use them on mosfets for years before decent boards started adding cooling to them.