R9 290 Temperature spikes

[prolific71]

I have a XFX Radeon R9 290 (December 2013). Whenever I'm playing a video in MPC-HC the temperature spikes to 85-90C. The spikes are especially noticeable when clicking on random parts of the video timeline rather than playing something constantly.

It looks like the GPU will shutdown Windows when the temp gets around 95C to save itself. To avoid this, I have to set a custom temp profile and set the target temp to 90 and this results in the fan spinning upto 50+ percent fairly often and the noise is annoying when just doing non intensive stuff like watching videos in MPC-HC or youtube.

Is this a known issue with the earlier models of the R9 290 or does everyone have this issue?

 

[Irvine]

I had owned an R9 290 by Sapphire for three weeks before I decided enough was enough with the heat. I bought a OCOOL liquid cooling block and added it to my loop. Idle temps went down to ~35C. Peak never above 48C.

Before the block I frequently had temps above 85C. I feel that is dangerously high for any electronic, and further feel that the reference cooler on the 290 is absolute shite.

That being said, the R9 290 IMO is the best value in higher end graphics cards out now. I upgraded from 2x Nvidia 285GTX in SLI. The 290 finally enabled me to play Rome II stable.

Bottom line get a waterblock for that damn card. So much heat!

 

[Starrbuck]

I had owned an R9 290 by Sapphire for three weeks before I decided enough was enough with the heat. I bought a OCOOL liquid cooling block and added it to my loop. Idle temps went down to ~35C. Peak never above 48C.

Before the block I frequently had temps above 85C. I feel that is dangerously high for any electronic, and further feel that the reference cooler on the 290 is absolute shite.

That being said, the R9 290 IMO is the best value in higher end graphics cards out now.

I'll argue it's not such a great value if you are forced to buy the card, a liquid cooling block, *and* setup a loop.

 

[convexion]

I'll argue it's not such a great value if you are forced to buy the card, a liquid cooling block, *and* setup a loop.

Okay, but at least most parts in the loop will last you longer than any GPU or CPU you might have at the time of building it. I've been using the same rads, pump and res for years without issue. Think of it as an investment for both current and future overclocking potential.

 

[Starrbuck]

Okay, but at least most parts in the loop will last you longer than any GPU or CPU you might have at the time of building it. I've been using the same rads, pump and res for years without issue. Think of it as an investment for both current and future overclocking potential.

True indeed!

To be honest, I'm just jealous. I haven't done a custom loop yet, but I'd love to learn someday.