R9 290 compatible with Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme III,Includes overclocking results

[mvitkun]

TomsHardware.com posted a guide/review of using the Accelero Xtreme III with the R9 290,though they  vaguely mention they had to modify it in some minor way to make it fit.

They had some really interesting results as they were able to achieve 13% higher performance in Metro Last Light (i.e 5fps) presumably at 1440P based on the fps,though not blatantly stated in the review/guide.

This also solves the issue of noise and heat,and gives those people at a lower budget an option on the AMD side without having to compromise their systems noise output.

 

I would also assume that since the Accelero Twin turbo keeps my GTX 480 at sub 72C temps no matter the load, that the Xtreme III heatsink would have no issues cooling the R9 290(X),leaving the card as the only limiter for how far it overclocks rather than heat and your tolerance to noise.

 

I would also presume that since the PCBs for the R9 290 and R9 290X are rather similar that you should have no  more issues mounting the Xtreme III heatsink on the R9 290X  than the R9 290,which might concern people like @Vitalius who bought the R9 290X already and might want to squeeze out that extra performance while saving their eardrums,or those of others if you wear headphones,while it's loaded.

 

The Xtreme III heatsink can be had on newegg for $74.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186068

 

And here's the source for the Toms article

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-290-review-benchmark,3659-19.html

 

Though since it adds an extra $100 essentially to the price wouldn't you be better off with a GTX 780 or waiting for the non reference cards?

 

Which would you rather have an R9 290(X) with the Xtreme III or a GTX 780,or maybe you'd prefer the R9 290(X) with the stock heatsink?

[lhikari]

gtx 780 heatsink
no offence but inmho amd's is sort of a water boiler

[Wint3rSh0ck]

I'd wait for non reference That Arctic heatsink is an ugly looking thing

[D3MON]

£400 r9-290 with £50 waterblock lapping up games with a quiet and cool card, thank you very much.

[LAwLz]

75 dollars to fix the heat and noise issue? Just get a 780 or wait for non-reference cards instead. AMD did a terrible job with the stock cooler.

[gastew15]

I have a stupid Artic aftermarket heatsink on mine, and it looks like balls, and If I get a new card I want it to look like a sexy model, not like a homeless dude. I really hope these non-reference coolers end up good, since otherwise in my opinion it makes it a crappy card.

[WereCat]

If I can get r9 290 reference+water cooler for the same price as r9 290x then I cant see reason to get r9 290x. I would probably get a little bit more performance from water cooled 290x but I doubt it would be more than 10%. Not worth the aditional price though.

[kuddlesworth9419]

If you need to water cool a GPU to get it to perform better than the competing part I think there is something wrong. In the end you will be spending way more money on an r290X to get better performance than a 780. Just grab an MSI 780 and overclock it as far as it will go. Otherwise to overclock the 290x to get better performance than the 780 you will need to water cool it. It's probably because I live in England where the electricity is really expensive compared to America but I look for something that won't break the bank with power requirements, is quite, runs cool and has good performance. Plus it needs to look nice. The 780, 770, Titan and the 780 Ti Black Edition all look, run well, are cool, quite and have good performance. They might cost more but they run cheaper in the long run and you get really good support and extra features like Shadowplay and PhysX which I really like.

[KieranThePCGuy]

I went for the 780, this is because its quieter than the stock 290X. Though I'm waiting for non-reference 290X's.

[Lukiose]

75 dollars to fix the heat and noise issue? Just get a 780 or wait for non-reference cards instead. AMD did a terrible job with the stock cooler.

That makes no sense at all, because a 290 WITH the massive aftermarket cooler can overclock to 780oc levels, whilst easily staying at $475 comparative to an aftermarket 780 @ ~$530.

[Exotath]

Guys...wait for the gigabyte windforce edition of the 290 and get the card for ~$439.....win.

[mvitkun]

I'd wait for non reference That Arctic heatsink is an ugly looking thing

 

 

I have a stupid Artic aftermarket heatsink on mine, and it looks like balls, and If I get a new card I want it to look like a sexy model, not like a homeless dude. I really hope these non-reference coolers end up good, since otherwise in my opinion it makes it a crappy card.

 

I would argue that done right it can look great,here's a good example from anandtech user Face2Face

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2326084

[Wint3rSh0ck]

I would argue that done right it can look great,here's a good example from anandtech user Face2Face

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2326084

I respect that but it's still not swaying me. I think it's the fan grills I have the biggest problem with

[LAwLz]

That makes no sense at all, because a 290 WITH the massive aftermarket cooler can overclock to 780oc levels, whilst easily staying at $475 comparative to an aftermarket 780 @ ~$530.

Oops sorry, thought they were talking about the 290X, not the 290.

[onionring]

Artic cooling accelero extreme can be had for 30$ if look around a bit,

I got 2 on my 6950s and helps immensely with temps and noise and it s really easy to install.

I didn t even install the ram coolers because they re not needed rly needed.

Now 430$ for a 290 + cooler and that perf , seams like a no brainer.

now i d like to see a tripple slot cooler made for these cards so at least you d retain the warrenty...

[mvitkun]

Artic cooling accelero extreme can be had for 30$ if look around a bit,

I got 2 on my 6950s and helps immensely with temps and noise and it s really easy to install.

I didn t even install the ram coolers because they re not needed rly needed.

Now 430$ for a 290 + cooler and that perf , seams like a no brainer.

now i d like to see a tripple slot cooler made for these cards so at least you d retain the warrenty...

maybe the Xtreme can be had for $30,but there's no $30 Xtreme III to the best of my knowledge for under $70

[Alex(PlayMedium)]

This just gives us the oportunity to see how it performs without the restricting cooler holding its performance back, and i must say I am pleasently suprised, I will very likely grab one once it is availible with a decent cooler and at ~300€

[Lukiose]

Oops sorry, thought they were talking about the 290X, not the 290.

Ohhh, yeah, at the moment the 780 is definitely better than a reference 290x across the board.

Where are the damn aftermarket coolers!

[mgsstar]

$75 is pretty expensive imo. Would rather buy an aftermarket cooler card instead of DIY to avoid the trouble and they look better imo.

[ForsakenLive]

Would pick non-reference R9 290, something like a DCII, Lightning, Windforce, VaporX, etc.