• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

R9 290 and VRMs.

T

TehRoot

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 6, 2011
Messages
155
tl;dr - I need cooling solutions for VRMs on an XFX 290 that has an Arctic Accelero Extreme IV on it. Gelid addon kit for Icy or not?


Finally got around to replacing my 290s stock cooler with the Arctic Accelero Extreme IV.

I'm currently running a flashed XFX 290 to 290x, and I'm keen on reducing my VRM temps significantly. I can hit 105+ if I'm not careful so I've been avoiding anything seriously taxing until I can get an adequate cooling solution for my VRMs.

I've seen the gelid add-on set for the Icy cooler, but I'd like to know if anyone else with an accelero extreme has used the Gelid kit successfully with their cooler and whether it actually worked or not.

Arctic decided a backplate and no actual heatsinks on the VRMs or RAM was sufficient for some reason, but obviously it's not, or I did something wrong during installation which I'm pretty sure I didn't.
 
I remember the arctic cooling kit coming with vrm sinks, I just used different thermal tape and it worked pretty damn well.

I guess they changed the kit, I bought it within a month of the card coming out. I actually seem to remember it not "officially" supporting the 290 when I did it. Seems odd they would change the kit for compatibility and then have it work worse.
 
yeah I thought it was odd too. I can understand the memory maybe, but the VRMs especially at 260W tdp should have dedicated heatsinks...
 
I have the Gelid kit on mine (Gigabyte 290 reference), and my temps are not bad. It's definitely worth it. I never ran it without the Gelid kit so I don't know how much higher it might be without it. I have no ram heatsinks.

After 6 minutes of Furmark (default burn in) the GPU is at 72c, VRM 1 at 81c, VRM2 at 68c.

after adjusting my case fan profiles (making them spin faster at the given temps), and 15 minutes later of furmark (default burn in) the GPU is at 67c, VRM1 at 77c, VRM2 at 63c

Case is a Corsair 330R, with PWM Noctua case fans in front and back.


14958988475_c99d64c91c_b.jpg
 
Last edited:
Thanks for responding. I bought the gelid kit, so I got the VRM kit, plus I re-used the memory heatsinks from my old Accelero II that was on my 470.

My VRM temps vary, but they can hit 104 but I think I need higher CFM intake fans, and a PCI exhaust fan maybe. The air is really stagnating since there's no blower anymore.

On an unrelated note, that P229 work mat is kickass.


Also, did you use the backplate? I couldn't figure out a way for the Gelid heatsink to fit with the backplate.
 
Yes I used the backplate. It draws a lot of heat away from the card when installed properly. I can run the ram at 5500MHz without issue (without ram sinks). When I push it past 5600MHz I start to have issues, although I've never touched the voltage. I run the card now at 1102 Core, 5500 Ram

Turn the nut/bolts around backwards on the long Gelid VRM heatsink, so the nuts are on top of the card and not the back, and the backplate/sink will go on fine. It will look like the bolt is going to go through and not hold but the diameter is just big enough to keep it from doing that.

Here's how I placed the thermal pads for the rear heatsink:
14772260980_a7ea5309a6_c.jpg
 
Also, what are you using for the fan control settings? Make sure you are getting the fans spinning fast enough as the card heats up.
 
You could get some aluminium/copper heatsinks (those are in the size of vram) I got those stuff with my arctic accelero 3 , you have to get some epoxy and paste it over the vram's that's what I did for mine and it never went over 70's I had a hd 7970 .
 
I have a nzxt g10 on my 290s, as well as the gelid kit and copper sinks on my card, each with a nzxt x41. I replaced the stock g10 fan with a 90cfm delta. I have thermal pads under the vrm heatsink too. My idle vrm 1 is 28c, and vrm2 is 30c. Under load, both vrms are typically under 50c; usually in the 40s.


Here is a pic of my setup:
25fqceh.jpg




Temps on idle:
oarryr.jpg




Full load:
29fqmtx.jpg
 
Last edited:
bigbeard86 said:
I have a nzxt g10 on my 290s, as well as the gelid kit and copper sinks on my card, each with a nzxt x41. I replaced the stock g10 fan with a 90cfm delta. I have thermal pads under the vrm heatsink too. My idle vrm 1 is 28c, and vrm2 is 30c. Under load, both vrms are typically under 50c; usually in the 40s.


Here is a pic of my setup:




Temps on idle:




Full load:
Click to expand...


And noise levels??...
 
LOL Delta fan

yeah I would say noise levels are probably batshit crazy
 
Reality said:
LOL Delta fan

yeah I would say noise levels are probably batshit crazy
Click to expand...

On idle, my pc is silent, since I use a fan controller. Yes, if I blast everything to the max, it is loud, but, believe it or not, not as annoyingly loud as two reference 290 blowers at high speeds (here, we are talking about two 92mm deltas, 2 120mm Noctual Industrial 300rpm, 4 140mm Noctua industrial 3000rpm, and two 140mm NZXT Fans rate at 110cfm). The delta fans move so much air, then even if I kept all my fans at minimum, with the fan controller, vrm wont break 55c - they literally move more air at minimum than any other "normal" 92mm fan. Deltas are known for their loudness, but also for their very high air flow to decibel level ratio, meaning, they can be very quiet and still move a good amount of air. When I use the fans, I rarely use it at full blast. The only time I do is when I Oc my gpu very hard (with .2volts and near 1,280mhz) to keep them cool - which they do - vrms remain in mid 50's, along with the GPU (these gpus tear games apart at high clocks such as these).
 
Last edited:
Yeah I would have just left the reference cooler on if I enjoyed that kind of fan noise! :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top