WaterCooling a Sapphire R9 390 NITRO Card

[cgtechuk]

Hi all, I have a pair of these in Crossfire and looking to Watercool them but I am struggling to find anywhere that does waterblocks for these, I have found one from Alphacool but wondering if anyone had any success with other vendors?

 

Thanks

 

 

[suchamoneypit]

EK makes blocks for them and are generally the most recommended. I dont think being NITRO cards would affect a waterblock. I never thought they were a custom PCB.

[itsmyjobtoknow]

Just now, suchamoneypit said:

EK makes blocks for them and are generally the most recommended.

 

Wrong, EK didn't make a waterblock for the 390 Nitro Edition.

 

The only waterblock EK offers the 390/X series are for reference design PCB, the MSI TwinFrozr 5, and PCB design that are identical to manufacturer's 290/X PCB design. 

[VincentiusIV]

1 minute ago, itsmyjobtoknow said:

 

Wrong, EK didn't make a waterblock for the 390 Nitro Edition.

 

The only waterblock EK offers the 390/X series are for reference design PCB, the MSI TwinFrozr 5, and PCB design that are identical to manufacturer's 290/X PCB design. 

What he means is, is that the SAPPHIRE nitro edition does not have a custom PCB. Meaning you can just use the reference version of the waterblock on this card.

[cgtechuk]

Just now, VincentiusIV said:

What he means is, is that the SAPPHIRE nitro edition does not have a custom PCB. Meaning you can just use the reference version of the waterblock on this card.

How sure are you of this, Alphacool are using a specific part for theres and not using the reference one, That would tell me it is not reference

[suchamoneypit]

3 minutes ago, itsmyjobtoknow said:

 

Wrong, EK didn't make a waterblock for the 390 Nitro Edition.

 

The only waterblock EK offers the 390/X series are for reference design PCB, the MSI TwinFrozr 5, and PCB design that are identical to manufacturer's 290/X PCB design. 

but you didnt bring up the PCB. It doesnt matter what version it is. The only thing that would prevent a regular 390 block from working would be if it had a custom PCB, which is not common and I would be very surprised if the NITRO cards were.

1 minute ago, VincentiusIV said:

What he means is, is that the SAPPHIRE nitro edition does not have a custom PCB. Meaning you can just use the reference version of the waterblock on this card.

yup

[cgtechuk]

Having looked at pictures of the PCB Online it certainly looks a lot different from other R9 390 cards, My question is if it was the same PCB then surely Alphacool wouldnt have needed to make a custom Waterblock for it at all and they would have just used the reference one?

[itsmyjobtoknow]

23 minutes ago, suchamoneypit said:

but you didnt bring up the PCB. It doesnt matter what version it is. The only thing that would prevent a regular 390 block from working would be if it had a custom PCB, which is not common and I would be very surprised if the NITRO cards were.

yup

 

26 minutes ago, VincentiusIV said:

What he means is, is that the SAPPHIRE nitro edition does not have a custom PCB. Meaning you can just use the reference version of the waterblock on this card.

 

Sapphire Nitro Series are always custom PCB. You can even look it up on EK's configurator 

 

Edit:

Just to make your life easier.... @VincentiusIV  @suchamoneypit

[VincentiusIV]

12 minutes ago, cgtechuk said:

Having looked at pictures of the PCB Online it certainly looks a lot different from other R9 390 cards, My question is if it was the same PCB then surely Alphacool wouldnt have needed to make a custom Waterblock for it at all and they would have just used the reference one?

So, I quickly scouted all r9 390 nitro reviews about a custom pcb... None of the articles mention it, while a custom pcb is most of the time a major selling point. 

 

However, judging from alphacools compatibility page with gpu waterblocks, I wouldn't take the risk of buying the reference design. 

EKWB had announced in public that they wouldn't make a waterblock for the nitro card, which suggests that it's different from the reference design.

 

TL:DR

Alphacool's waterblock is the only option.

[Velik Nedelchev]

Hello all,

 

From AlphaCool I found this block:
https://www.alphacool.com/shop/gpu-cooler/ati-fullsize/19917/alphacool-nexxxos-gpx-ati-r9-390-m01-mit-backplate-schwarz

 

But could you guys suggest what pump with reservoir and what radiator to buy ?

I want to cool only the R9 390.... I have an AIO on the CPU. My case is NZXT H440..

 

Thank you in advance.