R9 290 with the Gelid Icy Rev. 2

[Dopekitten]

So apparently the gelid icy rev.2 cooler is compatible with the r9 290, at least according to their site.

http://www.gelidsolutions.com/products/index.php?lid=1&cid=17&id=52

So I bought one and put it on my R9 290. Pretty neat stuff. I was dumb and forgot to take a picture of GPUz with the before temp, but it was 95 C on the gpu (I would regularly get throttling so that's why I looked for other coolers). Anyway, here are after temps while running Furmark. It's also worth noting that these are the temperatures with my mATX case closed, it's quite small, I'm quite pleased.

http://gpuz.techpowerup.com/13/12/06/5z4.png

I have some pictures as well. The cooler really isn't fully compatible with the r9 290. One ram chip is too close to the GPU and you can't put a heatsink (even the half-size ones that come in the kit) on it without it hitting the mounting bracket. You have to either move it backwards to get it to fit, or shave half of it down. I'm a college student and I don't have a dremel or sandpaper so I just used scissors.

http://puu.sh/5EDF5.jpg
http://puu.sh/5ECWN.jpg
(Turns out plastic is weaker than aluminum )

In addition, there is a full VRM heatsink that comes with the kit, but it's too big to be mounted with thermal tape, and from what I can tell is designed to be used with the included thermal pad. Unfortunately, this pad isn't sticky and the VRM heatsink relies on the use of screws to stay attached. The holes don't line up exactly for the r9 290 with this heatsink, so you can't use the screws. You can simply use a bunch of the smaller VRM heatsinks with the thermal tape if you want, but I didn't like how skimpy they were, so I managed to get the large VRM heatsink attached through the use of zip ties:

http://puu.sh/5EDHt.jpg
http://puu.sh/5EDdp.jpg

Rest is pretty straightforward, here are a couple more images from different views:

http://puu.sh/5EDKC.jpg
http://puu.sh/5EDgv.jpg
http://puu.sh/5EDiz.jpg
http://puu.sh/5EDk7.jpg
http://puu.sh/5EDkt.jpg

Fan isn't very loud at all, but for me personally it's too loud to let my computer run overnight, so I will probably buy a fan controller. (I'd compare the sound to the r9 290 stock cooler at maybe 35% speed?) Not sure really because the sounds are different.

Quite pleased overall with it, and it's fairly cheap, I got it for 50 USD from newegg.

 

[nurturedhate]

Maybe its just me but I do not see temps for the gpu, just the vrms.

 

[Deaks2]

How secure are the heatsinks on VRM1? Just using tape?

 

[Dopekitten]

Maybe its just me but I do not see temps for the gpu, just the vrms.

Err, sorry, the GPU is at 60 C.

Also with regard to VRM 1, VRM 1 is the long line of VRM's, where i used zip ties. I just used the thermal tape for VRM 2 (the group of 3).

 

[Elfear]

Thanks for the mini-review OP. Have you had a chance to overclock it yet?

 

[Dopekitten]

Yep, I am running it on +20% Power and clock, at about 1150mhz on the core. My memory is really awful though, I can't even touch it without crashes.

 

[Silverforce11]

Wow those are some of the best VRM temps I've seen for air cooled R290s (with an OC too!), zip ties to put some pressure on heatsinks = win.

 

[IEC]

Zip tying the long VRM sink is a great idea - I'll have to try that out. I'm out of Fujipoly thermal pads so I've got some crappy ones on at the moment, despite that VRM1 temps under scrypt mining are hovering around 90C, but I've got VRM2 temps of 60C. Core around 75C with scrypt. Worth noting I've got a 7950 Boost running full tilt in a lower slot as well, which increases all the temps.

Too bad it's 3 slot which limits my later crossfire options. I'll likely go custom loop if I end up getting another 290.