The Arctic Accelero R9 290X-Xtreme III

[Z15CAM]

Sorry 3D I should have referenced that I was using Afterburner.


Below is a CMD Line Chart I came up with to Over Ride AB's optimum core +100mV Off-Set: (USE at Risk)

MSIAfterburner.exe /wi4,30,8d,20 .....+200mv offset This gets HOT

MSIAfterburner.exe /wi4,30,8d,19 ..... +156mv offset This seems to work BEST & probably the Max

MSIAfterburner.exe /wi4,30,8d,18..... +150mv offset
MSIAfterburner.exe /wi4,30,8d,17..... +144mv offset
MSIAfterburner.exe /wi4,30,8d,16..... +138mv offset
MSIAfterburner.exe /wi4,30,8d,14..... +125mv offset
MSIAfterburner.exe /wi4,30,8d,12..... +113mv offset
MSIAfterburner.exe /wi4,30,8d,10..... +100mv offset AB's Optimum Setting
MSIAfterburner.exe /wi4,30,8d,0....... Return to 0

ROUTE to my MSI Afterburner Directory:

CD C : \ Program Files (x86)\SYSTEM TOOLS\AMD Radeon R9 290X\MSI Afterburner

 

[Z15CAM]

Well I believe I solved this Air Cooling Crap with the R9-290X. I just ordered a XSPC Razor R9 290X / 290 Water Block, Koolance Reservoir and Pump RP-985 and Black Ice GTS Stealth 280MM Radiator plus all the necessary items to go Water Cooling from NCIX.CA.

It wasn't cheap. Now I got a $1000 Card but should be able to run +156vm Off-Set voltage all day long without worrying about the VRM Temps.

 

[Silverforce11]

It should be interesting, because I have a suspicion the reference board is a bit lacking on VRM oomph, so once voltages are cranked it doesn't get very good OC even on water.

Topping out at 1.25 or 1.3ghz is a bit weak for 28nm GPUs. It will be interesting with AIB boards such as Lightning or ASUS models.

 

[Z15CAM]

Looks like the MSI Lightning will be adding more Power Phases for VRM on their R9 PCB's.

 

[Smartazz]

You and I read it differently. They can't just offer blanket support for any and all aftermarket cooling solutions.

The section I quoted is in connection with (5) problems caused by using accessories, parts, or components not supplied by XFX. If they were to simply state that changing the cooler won't void your warranty, they'd open themselves up for supporting the performance of the cooler as well.

I saw a post by someone asking a Sapphire rep, who doesn't cover aftermarket cooling, if they'd warranty the card if the fan was disabled and clocks were reduced to try and run the card passively. LOL

You'd be surprised what people do with stuff and expect the retailer/manufacturer to cover. People using a standard waterproof watch for diving and expecting it to be covered because the watch is advertised as waterproof. That's why you see disclaimers now on such things. I saw a customer try and return a watch that quit working he wore for work. He operated a jack hammer. The watch was "shock proof" so he felt it should have been fine. The store simply gave him his money back and sent him down the road. They weren't about to replace the watch with another and would rather do that than argue with him.

You're right, thanks. I ordered it this morning. I've never owned a GPU over $400, I'm so excited.

 

[Bateluer]

Well I believe I solved this Air Cooling Crap with the R9-290X. I just ordered a XSPC Razor R9 290X / 290 Water Block, Koolance Reservoir and Pump RP-985 and Black Ice GTS Stealth 280MM Radiator plus all the necessary items to go Water Cooling from NCIX.CA.

It wasn't cheap. Now I got a $1000 Card but should be able to run +156vm Off-Set voltage all day long without worrying about the VRM Temps.

Nice. Every time I spec out a full water cooled setup, I get sticker shock.

 

[Dopekitten]

Curious if anybody has tested both the accelero arctic extreme and the gelid icy rev 2 cooler on this card and could comment on gpu and vrm temp differences.

 

[Terminal_Boy]

OP: I'm surprised by your VRM temps...

My HIS 290 ran as below at full load (thermal soak):

Stock cooler: GPU = 94ºC , VRM1 = 65ºC , VRM2 = 84ºC

Accelero Xtreme 3 (Arcitc heatsinks on VRMs) : GPU = 57ºC , VRM1 = 69ºC, VRM2 50ºC

Mild OC gave the following:

 

[Z15CAM]

Yes that looks about right for a 0vm Off Set-20%-1100-1250 with fan at 75% - You're barely moving the card.

Now try something like a +125vm Off Set-100% 1190-1500 with fan at 90 or 95% and check the Log to file on GPU-Z. That's what I call a mild OC for a Flagship card - Notice I didn't ask you to push it any higher because I don't want you to freak out when you read GPU-Z Log.

 

[Terminal_Boy]

I used the direct "12V" fan to Molex adaptor, so the fans are are at a constant sped and not controlled by CCC or AF.

This was following the Tom's Hardware review where the PWM output from the 290 wasn't enough to drive the Xtreme's fans and resulted in rapid overheating.

 

[Z15CAM]

Yes that's standard procedure for the Accelero but one thing Tom's review leaves out - Although mentioning the VRM Temp was approx 2C higher then the Reference Cooler at the clocking he posted, he fails to elaborate that running the card faster, which anybody buying this card should expect, VRM temps sky rocket.

 

[3DVagabond]

I used the direct "12V" fan to Molex adaptor, so the fans are are at a constant sped and not controlled by CCC or AF.

This was following the Tom's Hardware review where the PWM output from the 290 wasn't enough to drive the Xtreme's fans and resulted in rapid overheating.

It's my understanding as well that the fans need to be @ 100% (just put 12v into them and forget pwm etc...). They are apparently very low speed and just don't move enough air to cool the PCB if they are turned down.

Z15CAM is adding voltage, which seems to overwhelm the Arctic solution. This might be why OCUK used the Prolimatech MK26 cooler. You supply your own fans with that and it can take a pair of any 140mm case fans attached to it. That would allow for a lot better airflow. It's huge though.

Also curious if there's a difference in case airflow between you and Z15CAM?

 

[Z15CAM]

I got 5 140mm Case fans in a Fractal Design ARC Midi 2 - 3 blowing in at 12v and 2 blowing out through the CPU Rad - Didn't make any difference with case open or closed.

Terminal's clock is very minimal with a 0vm voltage off-set - there's can be no comparison to where I'm headed. Suggest he crank up After burner to +100mv-100% Power (However 13% should do) -1170-1500 and read the GPU-Z log file after a Bench run.

Afterburner is programmed not to exceed AMD's or say MSi's Voltage limit of +100vm thereby limiting the number of RMA's - Unless you rish it upon yourself to tweak the Off-Set through CMD for greater then +100mv.

I've teased the nVidia Boy's with 2976 Scores in Valley with the Reference Cooler and i7 2700K idling at 1600Mhz's - I'm looking forward to posting a Valley Bench at say +156mv-1350-1600 with the 2700K pinned at 5Ghz's.

The R9 is not Voltage Locked so running a mere +.056mv over AMD's recommended limit is not that big a risk if you have sufficient cooling.

 

[3DVagabond]

I got 5 140mm Case fans in a Fractal Design ARC Midi 2 - 3 blowing in at 12v and 2 blowing out through the CPU Rad - Didn't make any difference with case open or closed.

Terminal's clock is very minimal with a 0vm voltage off-set - there's can be no comparison to where I'm headed. Suggest he crank up After burner to +100mv-100% Power (However 13% should do) -1170-1500 and read the GPU-Z log file after a Bench run.

Afterburner is programmed not to exceed AMD's or say MSi's Voltage limit of +100vm thereby limiting the number of RMA's - Unless you rish it upon yourself to tweak the Off-Set through CMD for greater then +100mv.

The R9 is not Voltage Locked ;o)

Cheers. Hate to ask so many questions, but there are a lot of possible variables that could effect things.

 

[Z15CAM]

No problem - I'm no Lord of the OC'g but I do have years of experience dating back to Socket A/Radeon HD 3870 AGP days. I still have an ASUS P3V4X with vidded Taulatin 1.3 on a Slot 1/Socket converter running a 140Mhz clock and 1800Mhz with a Radeon 9800XT all on Air. I've gotta say this Variable off-Set voltage Vs Temp Throttling thing is something else when it comes to OC's to days chips.

The way I see it; The Accelero does a great job cooling the GPU but fails miserably to cool the VRM's and there ain't no way around it unless you mount a ridiculously Hi-Screaming Fan on the tail end to cool them - Then you have pretty well defeated the purpose of the cooler and don't forget the 2 VRM's on the front of the PCB.

 

[3DVagabond]

No problem - I'm no Lord of the OC'g but I do have years of experience dating back to Socket A/Radeon HD 3870 AGP days (How about Slot 1 and the Radeon 9800XT). I've gotta say this Variable off-Set voltage Vs Temp thing is something else when it comes to OC's to days chips.

The way I see it; The Accelero does a great job cooling the GPU but fails miserably to cool the VRM's and there ain't no way around it unless you mount a ridiculously Hi-Screaming Fan on the tail end to cool them - Then you have pretty well defeated the purpose of the cooler and don't forget the 2 VRM's on the front of the PCB.

I don't mean to sound like I'm questioning your ability/experience. That front VRM is the hot spot on the card with the reference cooler.

 

[Z15CAM]

I believe we all know whats happening here but I'm not going to post a Bench with a 5Ghz cpu until I get the Temps of this R9 under control by testing it with the CPU at 1600Mhz thereby placing the stress solely on the GPU to observe it.

Siish! the R9 is Beast and I'm sure 1350+/1600 Mhz frequencies are there with respectable Temps but unless AIB Partners come up with a positive VRM contact design for their Air Coolers it's not going to happen. They essentially have to make a Base plate similar in design as the XSPC Razor Water Block and place Radiator Fins on it for Fan cooling and that could be as expensive as a water block.

 

[Smartazz]

I believe we all know whats happening here but I'm not going to post a Bench with a 5Ghz cpu until I get the Temps of this R9 under control by testing it with the CPU at 1600Mhz thereby placing the stress solely on the GPU to observe it.

Siish! the R9 is Beast and I'm sure 1350+/1600 Mhz frequencies are there with respectable Temps but unless AIB Partners come up with a positive VRM contact design for their Air Coolers it's not going to happen. They essentially have to make a Base plate similar in design as the XSPC Razor Water Block and place Radiator Fins on it for Fan cooling and that will be as expensive as a water Block.

Are you that optimistic that reference boards can hit 1300MHz? I really wanna put a block on mine but I'm worried it won't do much good.

 

[Z15CAM]

I've already had it at +156mv-1300/1600 for a short period with the reference cooler screaming at 95% with GPU temp approx 94C and VRMs at 80C but Benching was not improved because of throttling.

The Accelero would Black Screen well below that clocking as the VRM Temp skyrocketed.

 

[blackened23]

I've already had it at +156mv-1300/1600 for a short period with the reference cooler screaming at 95% with GPU temp approx 94C and VRMs at 80C but Benching was not improved because of throttling.

The Accelero would Black Screen well below that clocking as the VRM Temp skyrocketed.

Do the accelero's still come with miniscule sinks that you can glue to the VRM? I do think reference cools the VRM better (it definitely does in fact) but maybe a few more sinks with anti static tape would help in the VRM area..

 

[Z15CAM]

Do the accelero's still come with miniscule sinks that you can glue to the VRM? I do think reference cools the VRM better (it definitely does in fact) but maybe a few more sinks with anti static tape would help in the VRM area..

Been there and it's like whipping a Dead Horse.

 

[Fastx]

@Z15cam
This has been a very interesting/good thread to follow and looking forward to see how your WB works with the VRM's.


@Face2Face
A quick ot question for F2F hope you guys don't mind. F2F since this is OT if not good to answer here just PM me. F2F I was reading your thread and looking at your photo's at the OCN link Z15Cam posted back a page (nice work!/thread!) on your TF3 and was wondering if your memory chip right below the GPU had any cooling (plate or HS) or was it bare with the stock cooler that came on it?

The reason I am curious to know as you can see below is pic's of a Sapphire 3L (<is what I have) the memory chip right below the GPU has no memory HS/plate cooling it from Sapphire stock. It has the heat pipes right above it and looks like air flow should be hitting it which I assume is the way its getting some cooling from the fans per Sapphire design? This has always been in the back of my mind after seeing these 3L pic's below months ago not a major concern but do have some. So what is your opinion on this and do you think I should take mine apart, put on some thermal tape and a small heat sink on this bare chip and while I'm at it also thermal tape on all other mem chips, or should the bare chip not be a concern and do you think its ok the way it is in your opinion?

TIA

3L

3L

Your TF3 pic I was looking at from the link posted.

 

[Face2Face]

Snip

The memory chip below the GPU was not covered by the plate or heatsink on my TF3. Unless you plan on raising your memory voltage past 1.6v and gaming for a long period of time, I would't worry too much about it. The AIB's clearly didn't

 

[Fastx]

The memory chip below the GPU was not covered by the plate or heatsink on my TF3. Unless you plan on raising your memory voltage past 1.6v and gaming for a long period of time, I would't worry too much about it. The AIB's clearly didn't

Ok good to know and thanks, now I could let this exit the back of my mind as it would crop up every now and then.

 

[Godslike]

Hello guys,

First of all, sorry for my bad english.

I bought a R9 290 and also bought a Arctic Accelero Xtreme III kit in order to not worry about the temperature and reduce the noise.
Is that what I'm reading, the VRM heatsink is not keeping up the board.
I wonder if he will give problem to use this video card, considering that I will not overclock it.

If I have to buy separate VRM, what you guys recommend?

thank you