It seems like review sites don't list the cases much

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Kermie

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 13, 2011
Messages
275
It's a shame because I bought an R9 290X from MSI based on the reviews and it turns out to be hotter inside my case than the reviews state. I find it odd that they don't state which case they use because that's what the thing is going into. Not a caseless case, a standard ATX with probably alot of fans or some fans.

How do they justify this? It's basically like tricking the customer. It's somewhat good if you have a case with lots of airflow but we don't know what we need in the system to get it to work. I've already tried lots of things with my card but still temps remain at 94 degrees, why; because the reviews did not tell me that I need a case with super high airflow.

We need reform, we need review sites to tell us which case they're using in their reviews; so we as the consumer can be properly informed as to what we're getting for the money and what we need to do to exploit it properly.

That's all.
 
Wait... review sites don't sell the parts, so they're not tricking the customer. Also, if they do the temp tests on the same system every time, who cares what case they're using? The numbers should be comparable to every other number generated by the same site. I'd actually prefer an open air test like that because then you know all the other factors are removed.

Sounds like you've got a case with crappy air flow and you're taking your bad choice out on someone else. And all this banter and you don't even list your case :rolleyes:

I really don't mean to pick on you, but I just don't see the argument here.
 
I think most use some type of open test platform and not even placed it a case.. same thing with review sites using $500 to 1000 cpu overclocked to 4.7Ghz to test a video card that cost $160 as it's not real world performance if the person buying the video card has a low budget system and would never see that type of performance.

Now there was never any hiding facts about how hot a ref Hawaii core got as 94 to 95c is normal as I had a 290 but there are things you can do to help like use your own fan profile as I think something like 52 to 55% was about idea for it.. change the TIM
 
jamsomito said:
Wait... review sites don't sell the parts, so they're not tricking the customer. Also, if they do the temp tests on the same system every time, who cares what case they're using? The numbers should be comparable to every other number generated by the same site. I'd actually prefer an open air test like that because then you know all the other factors are removed.

Sounds like you've got a case with crappy air flow and you're taking your bad choice out on someone else. And all this banter and you don't even list your case :rolleyes:

I really don't mean to pick on you, but I just don't see the argument here.
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To be fair, I have a Gateway Micro ATX case with a Gelid 80mm fan in the front for intake, Gelid 92mm in the side for intake. (both of them are TC), 2 Cooler Master 92mm fans for the CPU cooler (which is an Asetek) and a Xigmatek 170mm fan which I recently bought; I have put alot of work into making sure this gets alot of air.

The only other way I can get more air is if I upgrade to an ATX case but to do that I would have to buy an ATX motherboard, a new CPU cooler, stuff that'll cost alot of money. Hey, if I want to take benefit of the expanded size then I'll have to spend the money right?

I know I may be taking it out on the people but I have replaced the TIM and temperatures raise gradually instead of raising to 94 degrees all of a sudden, I have added a top fan, I even changed the side fan to an intake but nothing seems to work. I only have 1 card in there, one. I'm simply annoyed at being mistaken by results that state that the card does 23 degrees idle when it does about 10-20-30 degrees higher inside my case.
 
Micro atx boards fit in mid-tower and full size ATX cases, I don't know why you would need a new board and HSF.
 
HeavensCloud said:
Micro atx boards fit in mid-tower and full size ATX cases, I don't know why you would need a new board and HSF.
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I have an Asetek 92mm cooler; I don't know if Full ATX cases support 92mm but if they do then they'll make the transition much easier. If they don't, I'll have to buy a new cooler, simple as that.

And I know that they can be used for existing compatible motherboards but I'll have to upgrade regardless if I want to take advantage of Crossfire with cool temps and a new CPU. I'm one of those holdouts on LGA1156, something that still works well to this day.
 
jamsomito said:
Wait... review sites don't sell the parts, so they're not tricking the customer. Also, if they do the temp tests on the same system every time, who cares what case they're using? The numbers should be comparable to every other number generated by the same site. I'd actually prefer an open air test like that because then you know all the other factors are removed.

Sounds like you've got a case with crappy air flow and you're taking your bad choice out on someone else. And all this banter and you don't even list your case :rolleyes:

I really don't mean to pick on you, but I just don't see the argument here.
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He's using a reference blower. Such cards are (or should be if designed well) made to be used in a wide variety of cases specifically where airflow isn't as good, such as SFF cases. That's why the hot air is blown out of the back of the GPU. Your argument would have legs to stand on for custom cards, but really, blowers are meant to be used in these situations.

I'll just say that I agree test bench is bullshit. A lot of review websites use this and it does not remotely resemble the real world. especially for mGPU situations.
 
OP, what are your GPU temps with the case side panel removed?
What is the ambient temps where the PC is located?
Is the 94C temp idle or under load?
When do you get that 94C, is it when running Furmark or a game?
 
xoleras said:
He's using a reference blower. Such cards are (or should be if designed well) made to be used in a wide variety of cases specifically where airflow isn't as good, such as SFF cases. That's why the hot air is blown out of the back of the GPU. Your argument would have legs to stand on for custom cards, but really, blowers are meant to be used in these situations.

I'll just say that I agree test bench is bullshit. A lot of review websites use this and it does not remotely resemble the real world. especially for mGPU situations.
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How do you know he's using a blower model? And if it's starved for air or gets hot air from the surroundings, it'll get worse temps regardless of cooler type. You can't argue against that.

To bring this back to the OP's point, I do think a review site's prerogative is to document everything about their tests. It would be good to know the whole story to help readers come to their own conclusions.
 
Kermie said:
It's a shame because I bought an R9 290X from MSI based on the reviews and it turns out to be hotter inside my case than the reviews state. I find it odd that they don't state which case they use because that's what the thing is going into. Not a caseless case, a standard ATX with probably alot of fans or some fans.

How do they justify this? It's basically like tricking the customer. It's somewhat good if you have a case with lots of airflow but we don't know what we need in the system to get it to work. I've already tried lots of things with my card but still temps remain at 94 degrees, why; because the reviews did not tell me that I need a case with super high airflow.

We need reform, we need review sites to tell us which case they're using in their reviews; so we as the consumer can be properly informed as to what we're getting for the money and what we need to do to exploit it properly.

That's all.
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So you never noticed in all the 290x reviews you read, how f'ing hot this card or the 290 can get? And then on top of that you shoved it in a micro ATX case??!

Most reviewers don't use a case, and they CERTAINLY aren't reviewing 290x's in micro ATX cases. I don't know how bad your case cooling is or how poorly it's setup - but come on dude - you can't blame this situation you find yourself in on the video card reviewers.
 
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jamsomito said:
How do you know he's using a blower model? And if it's starved for air or gets hot air from the surroundings, it'll get worse temps regardless of cooler type. You can't argue against that..
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Yes, in fact I can argue against that. The R9 290 cards will only go to 94 degrees, they will never go beyond that temperature. If the reach that temp the fans will ramp up until it goes below that temp again, if the fans can't cool it down enough, the card will throttle back.
 
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Kermie said:
It's a shame because I bought an R9 290X from MSI based on the reviews and it turns out to be hotter inside my case than the reviews state. I find it odd that they don't state which case they use because that's what the thing is going into. Not a caseless case, a standard ATX with probably alot of fans or some fans.

How do they justify this? It's basically like tricking the customer. It's somewhat good if you have a case with lots of airflow but we don't know what we need in the system to get it to work. I've already tried lots of things with my card but still temps remain at 94 degrees, why; because the reviews did not tell me that I need a case with super high airflow.

We need reform, we need review sites to tell us which case they're using in their reviews; so we as the consumer can be properly informed as to what we're getting for the money and what we need to do to exploit it properly.

That's all.
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LOL no we don't. It's been known for years that if you are using high end components you need a case with proper airflow. It's been discussed and mentioned so many times, how could you not know?

You never said what card you have? Not that it matters, it sounds like you have a case with zero airflow.
 
There are so many different types of cases with various fan configurations that you would probably never be able to find a configuration that would suit the majority of the people. So in that sense I understand the open test bench methods most sites use.
I understand how it could be beneficial information, but it would probably take a lot of extra time and effort to test GPU thermal performance in a range of different case form factors. Time and effort that some review sites may not have. It always seems like a race to get reviews up for new products asap.

I guess it really comes down to doing research before you make a purchase. Sometimes you take a chance because there isn't enough info out there yet. It's a crapshoot then. If your card/case is too hot for your liking, you can always sale/return your current GPU and try a different one. Live and learn my friend.
 
DraginDime said:
There are so many different types of cases with various fan configurations that you would probably never be able to find a configuration that would suit the majority of the people. So in that sense I understand the open test bench methods most sites use.
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There's a standard.
Fractal R4 with stock two 140mm in-takes and a single 140mm rear exhaust would do fine. Considering 99.9% of the PC gamer market owns an R4 with that setup or equally capable setup, it would be perfect.

I always assume they use open benches because it's easier.
 
Kermie said:
I have an Asetek 92mm cooler; I don't know if Full ATX cases support 92mm but if they do then they'll make the transition much easier. If they don't, I'll have to buy a new cooler, simple as that.

And I know that they can be used for existing compatible motherboards but I'll have to upgrade regardless if I want to take advantage of Crossfire with cool temps and a new CPU. I'm one of those holdouts on LGA1156, something that still works well to this day.
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Mid or tower case will swallow that cooler easily.
I have two of the very same GPUs you have. Reference models.
They were hot,hot,hot and chainsaw noisy.
No case or combination of case fans is going to fix that......especially if you overclock the GPU.

The only way out of the R9 290X is an AIB partner super-deluxe revised model or watercooling. The end.
 
reaper12 said:
Yes, in fact I can argue against that. The R9 290 cards will only go to 94 degrees, they will never go beyond that temperature. If the reach that temp the fans will ramp up until it goes below that temp again, if the fans can't cool it down enough, the card will throttle back.
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You're missing the point of my comment. Higher temps, throttling, whatever, it's still being affected by the lack of proper airflow in the case.
 
Reviews should be about the cards maximum tappable potential. Stuffing them into poorly ventilated cases or running them in high ambient temp conditions would result in distorted results.

But I agree it's important that sites indicate what setup they're using so you could read the results in their context.
 
holy shit dude i told you you were going to run into issues shoving that card into an oem m-atx case even if you did manage to knock a couple of fan holes into it. did you even take my advice about using high quality fans and having more negative pressure than positive? the reviews may not have said anything about the test environment but practically everyone who responded in your last thread told you not to do it. why do people even ask for advice in this forum if they're not going to take the advice.
 
rennyf77 said:
holy shit dude i told you you were going to run into issues shoving that card into an oem m-atx case even if you did manage to knock a couple of fan holes into it. did you even take my advice about using high quality fans and having more negative pressure than positive? the reviews may not have said anything about the test environment but practically everyone who responded in your last thread told you not to do it. why do people even ask for advice in this forum if they're not going to take the advice.
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+1 didn't know there was another thread until it was posted. Read the other thread and everything the OP is experience was for-warned
 
What gets me about this thread......

You bought a 600 dollar GPU.
You have a good MB and CPU.

You bought a bunch of new fans for your piece of shit OEM case, when you could have spent as little as 85 bucks for a new case with better air flow and fans that were included in the case........

it doesn't matter how you slice it the 290X is hot.
 
jamsomito said:
Oh, this thread lol

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1827184&highlight=

Looks like it's not a blower cooler after all :rolleyes:
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Hmm. Well. I won't insult the OP but, a custom cooler really is not a good fit for cases that are smaller form factor. I had assumed he was using the ref, I guess not. Problems can happen in a small case with a custom aftermarket design unless it is a very low TDP card - if you shove a custom open air card such as a 290X or 780ti in a small case, problems with temps are probably going to happen. But you can get away with something cheesy such as a 270X or GTX 750. (aftermarket)

This is why reference blowers exist. You can throw such cards into smaller form factors and generally not worry an awful lot about 250W TDP of hot air being added to the case. I don't care what anyone says - a custom card with a 250W TDP in a mATX case? Unless you have the best of the best case possible (EVGA has a good mATX case) just don't do it. Get reference for small form factor or SLI/CF for the least possible headaches. The reference 290X blower isn't all that great, but i'd imagine it would at least dissipate the majority of the heat outside of the case. Should work, but will be noisy because the fans will ramp up since it can't breathe as much in a smaller case. I do hope AMD has a better ref blower design next gen, because some people absolutely cannot use aftermarket cards in some setups.
 
Kermie said:
It's a shame because I bought an R9 290X from MSI based on the reviews and it turns out to be hotter inside my case than the reviews state. I find it odd that they don't state which case they use because that's what the thing is going into. Not a caseless case, a standard ATX with probably alot of fans or some fans.

How do they justify this? It's basically like tricking the customer. It's somewhat good if you have a case with lots of airflow but we don't know what we need in the system to get it to work. I've already tried lots of things with my card but still temps remain at 94 degrees, why; because the reviews did not tell me that I need a case with super high airflow.

We need reform, we need review sites to tell us which case they're using in their reviews; so we as the consumer can be properly informed as to what we're getting for the money and what we need to do to exploit it properly.

That's all.
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I like what you're saying. Take for granted my system in a Silverstone Raven RV03 which flips the motherboard and video card. The way that the guys in the AMD subforum suggested that I install my system, the reference R9 290 is ice cold in the case as is the AMD FX-9370. But in another case it would be completely different!

So listing the case that the system is installed in is a must. :)
 
I see people are finally catching on to my situation. I've explained that if I'm going to get a new case then I'll have to see whether or not I can do it without upgrading my CPU cooler to a 120mm Asetek cooler; reason why I haven't bought another MicroATX case is because I don't want to be stuck to the same format; if I want superior airflow ATX is the way to go because of the bigger space.

I bought that card with the assumption that the fans I installed would provide ample airflow; I was somewhat wrong because the Gelid fans I bought way in 2010-2011 aren't pushing enough air and I had the side fan as an exhaust fan which was ironically starving the card for air. I changed it back to an intake and I don't know if it made a difference.

I only spent $9 on one top fan to exhaust the heat from the top, that's the only fan I bought and it still didn't work. I know I got an OEM case but I managed to live with it for a couple of years now and this case does have some benefits, it is wide enough to fit an Accelero Xtreme mounted card in there plus it did have fan holes in the front saving me the trouble of making those wholes in the first place.

Tom's Hardware gains my respect for testing in a closed air case; I'm not asking for much, I'm asking for real world performance. I know that I should have a ton of airflow in order to make a card work but I didn't know it would be this bad. The only choice I have is to wait for my modular power supply to come and hope that the lack of cluttered cables will increase airflow.

From what I'm reading a blower type card would be better than the card I have now even though it would lead to increased temps.
 
Worse comes to worst you could zip tie your cooler to the fan port you know? A lot of cases also have a couple different mounting point for fitting different size fans. Just get a case, put everything in as best as possible, upgrade later as time/money allows.
 
OP, it sounds like your best bet is to get a case with better airflow. If you have to find a full ATX case, all your current equipment will fit (you don't need a new motherboatd or CPU cooler). I'd be surprised if any blower style card will get better temps than the one you have now, though I admit without empirical data it is possible (but again, I would be surprised ). If you can't afford the case, which I doubt because you can spend enough for a 290X, then instead of trading your card for a stock blower cooler model, return it or sell it, get a vanilla 290, and spend the extra you get left over on a nice case.

Can I ask what you need the power of a 290X for anyway? Not judging, were all enthusiasts here, but practically speaking, it's way overkill for most of us.
 
Kermie said:
From what I'm reading a blower type card would be better than the card I have now even though it would lead to increased temps.
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Better design for getting heat out of the case, but soooo loud. Ohhh so loud. That's the one drawback.
 
Kermie said:
The only choice I have is to wait for my modular power supply to come and hope that the lack of cluttered cables will increase airflow.
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It will not help with your temps.
So which ATX case you getting?
 
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Saying that your cooler size limits your case options is completely untrue. Did you not know that things like this existed?
 
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Kermie said:
I see people are finally catching on to my situation. I've explained that if I'm going to get a new case then I'll have to see whether or not I can do it without upgrading my CPU cooler to a 120mm Asetek cooler; reason why I haven't bought another MicroATX case is because I don't want to be stuck to the same format; if I want superior airflow ATX is the way to go because of the bigger space.

I bought that card with the assumption that the fans I installed would provide ample airflow; I was somewhat wrong because the Gelid fans I bought way in 2010-2011 aren't pushing enough air and I had the side fan as an exhaust fan which was ironically starving the card for air. I changed it back to an intake and I don't know if it made a difference.

I only spent $9 on one top fan to exhaust the heat from the top, that's the only fan I bought and it still didn't work. I know I got an OEM case but I managed to live with it for a couple of years now and this case does have some benefits, it is wide enough to fit an Accelero Xtreme mounted card in there plus it did have fan holes in the front saving me the trouble of making those wholes in the first place.

Tom's Hardware gains my respect for testing in a closed air case; I'm not asking for much, I'm asking for real world performance. I know that I should have a ton of airflow in order to make a card work but I didn't know it would be this bad. The only choice I have is to wait for my modular power supply to come and hope that the lack of cluttered cables will increase airflow.

From what I'm reading a blower type card would be better than the card I have now even though it would lead to increased temps.
Click to expand...

The case reviews here at H are just what you need.
First, Steve does a really nice job detailing the case size and what is included.
Secondly, he goes over all the cooling combinations you could think of.
He always fits CPU coolers in the cases to see if they can handle the biggest one available.
Lastly, he measures temperatures inside the case.

He's reviewed a shit load of cases in all price ranges, sizes and form factors.

He doesn't use a 290X to measure GPU temps, but you can get an idea what's what from his reviews.
 
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