290 Waterblock

T

Tactical_Strike

Limp Gawd
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Aug 15, 2009
Messages
129
I just ordered an XFX R9 290 (Unlockable), (Elpida), P/N: R9-290A-ENFC from a fellow [H]ard|Forum member. As far as I am concerned "Unlockable" means "YOU MUST WATER COOL THIS CARD" I have begun research into waterblocks.

To start things off, my cooling setup is in Mountain Mods CYO U2-UFO Case, Two PA120.3, Two MCP655 pumps, mounted to Two XSPC reserviors, and Twelve Scythe GT 120.

My base hardware is a Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD5H, Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 CMZ16GX3M2A1866C10, Intel 4770K, Corsair AX1200, and of course, the soon to be in my possession XFX R9 290.

I like the look of the XSPC blocks, both cpu and gpu, but there is no confirmation on the site for the ENFC versions of 290, however there is one for the 290X. kinda funny. I just dont want to keep buying and returning over and over until I find the one that is supposed to work.

Another question, With reference PCB, any way to tell by research, or is it a crap shoot weather or not the PCB says AMD?

Other than that, I guess I gotta choose one of the 5 "Cooling Solutions" "Visually Confirmed" waterblocks at random. any help/advise is welcome.
 
Tactical_Strike said:
I just ordered an XFX R9 290 (Unlockable), (Elpida), P/N: R9-290A-ENFC from a fellow [H]ard|Forum member. As far as I am concerned "Unlockable" means "YOU MUST WATER COOL THIS CARD" I have begun research into waterblocks.

To start things off, my cooling setup is in Mountain Mods CYO U2-UFO Case, Two PA120.3, Two MCP655 pumps, mounted to Two XSPC reserviors, and Twelve Scythe GT 120.

My base hardware is a Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD5H, Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 CMZ16GX3M2A1866C10, Intel 4770K, Corsair AX1200, and of course, the soon to be in my possession XFX R9 290.

I like the look of the XSPC blocks, both cpu and gpu, but there is no confirmation on the site for the ENFC versions of 290, however there is one for the 290X. kinda funny. I just dont want to keep buying and returning over and over until I find the one that is supposed to work.

Another question, With reference PCB, any way to tell by research, or is it a crap shoot weather or not the PCB says AMD?

Other than that, I guess I gotta choose one of the 5 "Cooling Solutions" "Visually Confirmed" waterblocks at random. any help/advise is welcome.
Click to expand...

With any reference board, (they will say AMD on the bottom) you can use any 290X block on the 290s..If you aren't adverse to EK, I have a brand new full copper block that was about to be listed in a FS/FT thread here. If you are interested let me know.
 
It should fit but I'm not certain. Is this a reference card?

It should fit all reference layout 290's and 290x's. Careful of the crossthreading with the 290 XSPC block. XSPC did a poor job of tapping the ports. I messed one up but luckily, I was doing tri-fire so that block was thrown in the middle.
 
Tactical_Strike said:
I just ordered an XFX R9 290 (Unlockable), (Elpida), P/N: R9-290A-ENFC

I like the look of the XSPC blocks, both cpu and gpu, but there is no confirmation on the site for the ENFC versions of 290, however there is one for the 290X. kinda funny. I just dont want to keep buying and returning over and over until I find the one that is supposed to work.

Another question, With reference PCB, any way to tell by research, or is it a crap shoot weather or not the PCB says AMD?
Click to expand...

XFX Product Page shows this is a reference card. A 290X block will work. I have a Heatkiller 290X block on my Tri-X 290 (also reference PCB).
 
Nice catch on the isometric view, all I have been finding was the front view and you cant see anything on the pcb. Thanks again, gotta make up my mind.
 
Been busy with everything, sold my 770, with the money I ordered the XSPC blocks(CPU&GPU), backplate, 13' of white XSPC tubing, Replacement O-Rings for my compression fittings and pumps. I researched a little more ordered some "Fujipoly" pads after reading some promising results.

My 290 arrived unlocked on Thursday with "AMD" on the PCB. Benched it with Furmark and it looks like the V-Ram temp is a bottleneck to be concerned with.

Funny enough, the pads arrived just now before all the other water cooling components.

I mined all last night with the fans going 50% speed, and the noise alone is justification enough for watercooling.

I'll throw up pics and quantities later, for now it's gaming and tweaking numbers for mining.
 
Hd7970 block by XSPC was not good design last time I had one. It was the Razer version. Very poor vrm cooling design and card did not fit well. I made a detailed thread about it. The customer support from XSPC was terrible.
 
Finally got all of my watercooling in today, and here's the candy minus a one of the Reservoirs, pumps, and 2 fittings which are already in the case.
dGsRP4al.jpg

hWOH58El.jpg
 
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Get a Kryographics block and the Aquacomputer Active Backplate. You
will rule that card then.
 
Looks like you are right:
Link
Never seen anything on AquaComputer before, then again I am a novice. It looks like the backplate would be difficult to find in the US.
Another Just "Too Late" moments. I do like the Active Backplate, but I have to hope my investment into the Fujipoly pads will give me a significant reduction in temps across the board.
 
The XSPC block for 290 series is much better design than the hd7900 series. True active liquid vrm cooling. Thinner the better on the vrm/memory thermal pad, just make sure clearance and contact is right. My HD7970 block was all out of whack and when i requested help from XSPC they never accepted any fault on my block. Basicly they treated me like a liar and didn't help me.
 
damn, I have never heard about XSPC and their lack of customer service, but I guess it's all about liability. Kinda sux, but I trust the hardware the put out.
 
Took everything apart, cleaned everything with a gallon of vinegar. Took apart the waterblocks, cleaned the contact surfaces with a toothbrush, ketchup, and Isopropyl Alcohol. Cleaned the GPU and CPU in the same way, applied the Arctic Silver 5 and Fujipoly. Cleaned the Pumps with Isopropyl Alcohol. Installed the radiators first, then the assembled CPU and GPU with hoses and Fittings already attached with approximate length hoses. Cut everything to length and filled her up. Not a single leak, and scared the shit out of me every time I heard an air pocket move thinking it was a leak.

I found a couple of things I needed during the build. A filler bottle (Fueling Bottle from Hobby Store), a Pro/Pex cutter (Home Depot) makes a great cut if you do it fast enough. If you cant loosen a fitting, WD-40 and Soap/Water after, no need for any other tools other than a rag for grip and protection.
fMBskful.jpg

S8F6vRel.jpg

l5cFFXsl.jpg

6n9pK0il.jpg

Cx6Odsol.jpg

wSKv8bnl.jpg

Furmark before and after:
MrVROcL.jpg

cYk005B.jpg

I have my fans on a setting where they are almost silent and the pumps are set to 3
The VRM hit 80C+ before, now it doesn't exceed 50C
 
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I should mention that I found that the XSPC were not as everyone sees "easily cross threaded" I just rotated counterclockwise until you feel it drop into the correct beginning of the tapped part, and found it perfect. Upon removing and inspecting, I did find parts of the thread that had that had been stripped but still hanging and pulled them out with pliers. These locations were all in the concave portion of the thread, and not part of the convex portion that normally gets cross threaded. The tap just didn't cut deep enough for my compression fittings in some spots is the only reason I can come up with. In any case, everything worked out very well.
 
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