Water Cooling R9 290 Crossfire

[Tam3n]

Hello!

 

I originally posted about my plans here: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/160272-first-time-custom-loop-cooling-r9-290-crossfire/

 

I have pretty much already installed my water cooling, but I decided to post this here anyway, if someone is interested.

 

 

So, the reasons I decided to dive into water:

 

- R9 290 crossfire

- ...

 

Do I need to say more

 

Eventhough I have aftermarket Gigabyte WindForce cards, these Hawaii cards just run damn hot and are still loud. Also, even with all case & CPU fans running at full speed they cooked my R3 case and mobo (and CPU) a bit too much for my liking - and all the while the top card was still usually hitting 95C and thus throttling, even after some under voltting and dropping clocks to 1000/1180. I did this water cooling mainly for quitter gaming, a bit better GPU performance and out of my pure interest - not because of looks.

 

 

Before going water, I tried a side fan mod. The fan was pretty much kissing the GPU's and blowing fresh air right at them. It actually somewhat dropped my temps, but I couldn't stand the noise it was making longer than 10 minutes.

 

 

 

Right from the start I knew there would be no way to mount big enough radiator(s) to cool the two R9 290s inside my case.

 

 

So, I decided to leave my H100 where it was and externally (ghetto) mount the radiator at the right side of the case. Pump I would cram into top half of the hard drive cages.

 

 

 

I researched water cooling for a few days and then ordered my parts from http://www.aquatuning.fi/ (parts ship from Germany) and http://www.ekwb.com/shop/ (Parts ship from Slovenia). It took about a week for the parts to arrive.

 

 

Single 60 Thick 480

 

Low FPI

 

 

Full Copper

 

NB eLoop 1200 rpm quality rad fans

 

 

More stuff has arrived

 

EK full cover Nickel + Acetal R9 290 block (compatible with the Windforce cards)

 

5D Vario pre assembled combo pump

 

Got the WindForce cooler off

 

Under the hood

 

 

Yuk! Couldn't get all of the paste off the tiny components...

 

Shiny block before installation

 

Time to use some of that 100 ethanol

 

Got the first block installed! (Mobo box is still a good working platform ) I used Gelid extreme for thermal paste

 

 

Cards installed in case before tubing

 

Filling setup

 

 

Rad is fast and easy to bleed when you can shake and rotate it around

 

 

Without side panel

 

Pump is easy to move out of the case for maintenance

 

Yeaah!

 

 

First time testing temps after installation (Valley)

 

AX860i power usage comparison before and after water cooling running Valley @ Factory 1040/1250

 

 

I'm pretty satisfied with my new setup so far. I can clock my cards as far as they go without really rising the temps... And the rad fans at 1200 rpm remain quitter than what my case fans alone used to be. I just have them hooked via cheap manual fan controller, usually I just turn them full on when I start gaming and to min at idle.

 

I'd say pretty good job cooling two 300W cards with a single rad. Though the temps slowly rise up to 50C when playing games like Crysis 3 which will stress both cards 100% for long periods of time. I'm kind of playing with the idea of adding a second rad, but then again that would be a complete over kill... But I might need that for hot summer days (though there really isn't that many a year) and I could run the fans at even slower speed

[Sauron]

Nice build log very informative for anyone looking to watercool their sli/crossfire setup!

[Epitome]

@Tam3n What temps were you getting when you just had one R9 290 windforce card. I'm only asking as i'm interested in getting the card

[SkilledRebuilds]

@Tam3n What temps were you getting when you just had one R9 290 windforce card. I'm only asking as i'm interested in getting the card

My Gigabyte WF3 290-OC (1040mhz Fac-OC) in my room stays within the 70's, 72*c-80*c (winter>summer temps)

^@load

38-49*c idle (winter>summer temps)

My case is the CM N600, not as big as some ATX cases....

 

*OP - Love that look on a desk.

[ltguy]

Awesome build.! I would rag you about needed to buy a new case but a 480 rad??? i dont even know what case you could fit that in.

[Tam3n]

@Tam3n What temps were you getting when you just had one R9 290 windforce card. I'm only asking as i'm interested in getting the card

 

I'll say something like 85c fans @ 60%, and I don't promise too good temps

 

But yeah you shouldn't have any problems with one card.

[Tam3n]

So far I've been running good without any issues.

 

Since I now got the cooling, I've also been testing the max OCs of these cards (just some benchmark runs). I've got both cards running 1230/1650 in crossfire Valley loops and single card 1250/1700 I had no idea my cards can oc so far...

 

I'm still toying with the idea of adding a second radiator, and maybe a water temp sensor and a better fan controller. I'll also probably add some fan grills on the front fans.

[austin541]

that is awesome

(400th post woot)

[SkilledRebuilds]

So far I've been running good without any issues.

What are both cards VRM1 and VRM2 temps under load?

I have a really hot Windforce card (1040/1250 @ load = 88*c @ 80-85% fanspeed)

Need to bring it down, thinking,... full cover waterblock, but thats new territory for me..