290X with Swiftech MCW80 and Aluminum Heat sinks

SonDa5

SonDa5

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Aug 20, 2008
Messages
7,437
I got lucky and acquired a 290x and will be getting an EK acrylic and copper block for it ASAP but in the mean time I am going to water cool the GPU and slap some aluminum heat sinks on the PCB hot spots.

Here is the card and parts that I will be working with.

290xcoolingtweaks.jpeg



I really DON'T like the stock cooler but I love the 290x! :D
 
Last edited:
Hardly any clearance. A shim might be best for clearance.


IMGP3866.JPG



I was going to use Coolaboratory Liquid Ultra but I am going to use some ShinEtsu TIM I have laying around instead that is alot thicker. Want to make sure the block has full contact against the GPU.
 
In this photo the MCW80 block is making good contact with the 290X gpu and there is clearance from anything that the block should not be making contact with. Looking good so far. No shim needed. The mount holes on the MCW80 lined up almost perfectly.

IMGP3871.JPG
 
I am excited to see your results. I did the same thing with a swiftech block like that to a 7800 GTX that sounded like a floppy drive trying to go to warp speed.
 
I assume the core isn't so large that the surface of the block can't cover it all?
 
Curiosity question, does that card have any bits on the back that need sinks on them?
 
Last edited:
Pretty sweet. Be sure to let us know how much that drops your load temps. I'm sure it will be a significant decrease as GPUs love the watercooling. Hopefully you can get an even better drop when you get your EK block.

Oh and did the stock cooler make contact with the VRAM or VRMs?
 
Last edited:
Stock heat sink is unisink and makes contact with VRMs, memory, and GPU.... It's a heat sponge.

My EK block arrived today and I have a back plate and Fujipoly thermal pad on the way. I still want to see how well my swiftech with heat sinks works out.
 
BababooeyHTJ said:
What size fugipoly pads did you pick up?
Click to expand...

.5mm. I order the xtreme 1/4 sheet and double up as needed.


I have bad news about the swiftech block. I couldn't get the 290x to boot and I have been busy all week with work and family so I have been doing this stuff after hours.

Any how I figured out the problem was my crappy heat sinks that I cut myself were not allowing the card to sit completely into the PCI-E slot. :eek: Big error on my part and now I have the stock heat sink back on and now my new Asus Maximus VI Impact mini ITX mother board is giving me an error 00. :mad: so again I am foiled for the time being trying to play with new 290x. I have had it for over a week now.


Also I now have the EK water block in my possesion.

First things first I have to figure out how to fix the 00 error on the mother board.

I am going to scrap the Swiftech testing for the time being because I want to get the EK block on next and I don't do this for a living.

Sorry guys. I think the Swiftech block would work fine but you have to have proper size heat sink.s to accompany it

Off to fix my computer stuff to play UT3.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top