XFX R9 280x, Do VRM temps settle overtime?

J

jimplin

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Jul 22, 2010
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Hi all, So i bought an XFX r9 280x DD a month back; the VRM1 temp once reached 114C after half an hour of Dirt3 while the GPU would be at around 85C (The GPU frequency was not being throttled at any point during this time). I was somewhat alarmed but continued to test it instead of going for RMA.

I noticed that temperatures are steadily improving after many gaming sessions.

I have been running Heaven and Valley benchmarks simultaneously. Here are the results:

The VRM1 temperature in the first 45 mins was 105C at maximum, and after crossing 50mins it has been hovering around 97-98C and has not crossed 100C and GPU is at 85C (GPU usage has been the same at 97-99% throughout the test), I quit the benches after 1hr 45mins with the VRM1 at 92C with the ambient temp at 31C.

What gives? Have I been saved of the RMA hassle? :D
 
As I posted, I did not switch on air conditioning during the bench and ambient temp was 31C.
 
I had the same issue with my XFX DD 290 where my VRM1 would reach 110c until I did this mod:


http://gyazo.com/2d9ff34e1f379c93aaef6bf8a4d6693e

http://gyazo.com/11bf4aabf70be1d7f9d604dbd35ba9bf

http://gyazo.com/ae7a0786fc37d1b6a8883d235efd9192




And the results are after 2 hours of playing BF4: http://gyazo.com/b47cd682babc18e1f4eefa5bb98d9a98


a freaking 40c drop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


ohh and don't bother with RMA, according to XFX it is normal to run VRM1 that hot, they will send you the same thing back if you RMA it.
 
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TroyX that's phenomenal considering that you only added those heatsinks on the rear strip! Did you also do something for the VRM2? Since those are sitting at 55C..
I am also upgrading to a scout 2 cabinet (with 4 extra fans), because, I have to admit, I do have a very cramped case which may be adding to this situation.. will post back if that helps with these temps. If it still doesn't then I am going to try a mod. ;)
 
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jimplin said:
TroyX that's phenomenal considering that you only added those heatsinks on the rear strip! Did you also do something for the VRM2? Since those are sitting at 55C..
I am also upgrading to a scout 2 cabinet (with 4 extra fans), because, I have to admit, I do have a very cramped case which may be adding to this situation.. will post back if that helps with these temps. If it still doesn't then I am going to try a mod. ;)
Click to expand...

VRM 2 is fine if you have the XFX R290 DD.

I just finished an additional VRM1 mod on this card, I added three low profile copper heat sinks right on top of the VRM1 chips inside the video card.

example: http://gyazo.com/f28594f5fd2af6ad0cb4da407b3ef1aa
 
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I did something similar on my gigabyte windforce 3 r9 280x:

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NDgwWDY0MA==/z/l2YAAOxyLN9SlkrX/$_12.JPG?set_id=880000500F

Thats a stock image of the back, and on that silver strip over VRM's i put a set of 4 copper heatsinks. They get hot to the touch, and there is a fan at the front of my case, so i'm sure it helps some. Unfortunately, gigabyte went with a controller that doesn't support VRM temp monitoring, so I don't know exactly how much of a difference it made.
 
TroyX said:
VRM 2 is fine if you have the XFX R290 DD.

I just finished an additional VRM1 mod on this card, I added three low profile copper heat sinks right on top of the VRM1 chips inside the video card.

example: http://gyazo.com/f28594f5fd2af6ad0cb4da407b3ef1aa
Click to expand...

TroyX said:
yes, of course.

there are the ones I used for inside the card: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00637X42A/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Click to expand...

I was thinking of doing something like this to my 290 DD. The sinks you linked are .25 inch high and you're not having any issues with them hitting the DD heat sink? Here are the ones I'm looking at trying and they are 6mm. Can you confirm no clearance issues with 290DD at around .25inch/6mm?
 
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Goomz said:
I was thinking of doing something like this to my 290 DD. The sinks you linked are .25 inch high and you're not having any issues with them hitting the DD heat sink? Here are the ones I'm looking at trying and they are 6mm. Can you confirm no clearance issues with 290DD at around .25inch/6mm?
Click to expand...

i don't think those would clear the heatsink, just use the ones I posted, they are pure copper.
 
I did the same thing tweaktown did: Put a high CFM fan above the back of the card blowing directly onto the PCI-E power inputs and ostensibly the VRM chips underneath. Took my VRM1 from over 120C running Valley loops to 95-97C max. I can deal with that, as it no longer starts to throttle.

I am getting little dips from 1125 to 1100 from time to time, and I can only assume it is VDDC droop. That is for another thread...
 
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TroyX said:
I had the same issue with my XFX DD 290 where my VRM1 would reach 110c until I did this mod:


http://gyazo.com/2d9ff34e1f379c93aaef6bf8a4d6693e

http://gyazo.com/11bf4aabf70be1d7f9d604dbd35ba9bf

http://gyazo.com/ae7a0786fc37d1b6a8883d235efd9192




And the results are after 2 hours of playing BF4: http://gyazo.com/b47cd682babc18e1f4eefa5bb98d9a98


a freaking 40c drop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


ohh and don't bother with RMA, according to XFX it is normal to run VRM1 that hot, they will send you the same thing back if you RMA it.
Click to expand...

Wow, you need to post these screen shots in the Ghetto Case Mod (it's a pretty much any ghetto mod thread after living for so many years)..I'm fairly certain you would get at least 3, maybe 3.5 FoodStamps for that lovely sandwich action!:p
 
Changed my case to a CM Scout2 with 2 extra side fans and two exhausts on top.. all Bitfenix Spectres.. and the results are below!! This is after running heaven and valley simultaneously. The temps just capped out at these values after 10 minutes.

aftercasechange_zpsb23cdcf1.png


And after playing crysis 3 for 30 mins:

30minscrysisnoac_zps666d9016.png
 
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Speaking of VRM cooling, I've got a XFX R9 290 Double Dissipation as a gift. Does anyone know if there are any backplates that can be added that will work with the Double Dissipation heatsink?
 
TroyX said:
I had the same issue with my XFX DD 290 where my VRM1 would reach 110c until I did this mod:


http://gyazo.com/2d9ff34e1f379c93aaef6bf8a4d6693e

http://gyazo.com/11bf4aabf70be1d7f9d604dbd35ba9bf

http://gyazo.com/ae7a0786fc37d1b6a8883d235efd9192




And the results are after 2 hours of playing BF4: http://gyazo.com/b47cd682babc18e1f4eefa5bb98d9a98


a freaking 40c drop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


ohh and don't bother with RMA, according to XFX it is normal to run VRM1 that hot, they will send you the same thing back if you RMA it.
Click to expand...

Could you please do a step by step guide for dummies? :)

Did you use gelid kit and heat sinks only? Did you buy thermal pads, put the sink on top of it? Used thermal glue to put copper sinks on top of gelid sink? I don't know much about this but would like to try this mod.

Thanks in advance!
 
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