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Questions about air-cooling for an ASUS R9 290x

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  • Asus
  • GPUs
  • Cooling
  • Games
  • Components
Last response: in Components
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July 31, 2014 10:56:43 AM

Hello everyone,

Got the aforementioned GPU for more than a couple months. The card's dead silent and games run smoothly at 1080p, with a 120/144Hz refresh rate where possible.
The only setback is the awful VRM1 cooling on automatic fan speed, where GPU-Z would report between 80 °C and 105 °C from game to game, and on older games too with V-Sync disabled.
From what I've read/heard/asked here before, the VRMs on it are rated up to 100~105 °C, but the temp still feels too high for me, and I'd rather keep the card for as long as I can.

System specs, just in case:
Intel i5-4670 CPU (stock clocks, air-cooled by Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO)
ASUS R9 290x DirectCu II OC GPU (stock clocks, air-cooled by stock cooler)
MSI Z87-G43 GAMING MoBo
8GB (2x4GB @1600Mhz CL9) Corsair Vengeance LP RAM
Antec HCG-750M (750W Modular) PSU
Corsair Carbide 300R Case

The rest shouldn't be important for this matter, but if you need them, ask and I shall provide information.

Currently, I'm managing to keep it under acceptable values in every game I tried up until now, but only by manually setting the fans to values around 50~60% via AMD Overdrive. Eventually, some doubts and questions on the matter popped up in my mind (probably it's just me being paranoid, I'm sorry for that...).

Mainly, it's down to these 2:
1) Since the fan speed seems to cap at 45%, is it silly to assume that running at 60% (or anything higher) would risk breaking them off?
2) The case is currently running with only the stock fans (a front 140mm intake fan and a back 120mm exhaust fan, I believe). Would adding 2 side panel intake fans improve the situation? I got 2 free slots for 120/140mm fans there.

I plan on looking for them at a local shop, as I've seen some Cooler Master, Noctua and ThermalTake pieces. Water-cooling is NOT an option.

Thanks in advance to anyone willing to answer me, and sorry for the little wall of text. I like to be the most accurate I can :p 

More about : questions air cooling asus 290x

July 31, 2014 11:23:40 AM

I highly recommend putting more fans in your case, that should help out considerably. Looks like you can put another intake fan in the front, two exhaust fans on the top and one or two intake fans on the side.

You fan speed being capped at 45% is a bit strange, it should keep going as the temperature goes up. I think you need to let the fans go above 65% as well, it might get loud but at least you won't over heat. You will not damage the fans, if they were not supposed to go to 100% then they would have been made with a lower threshold.
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a c 111 Ĉ ASUS
July 31, 2014 11:25:27 AM

I have that card. My monitor is only 1920x1080 @ 60HZ, but I've not had any heat issues like that. The only time the temps were high was an occasional peak to 90C+ running the Furmark Burn-In. Your case should have good airflow. How's the cable management? Any air restriction there?
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a b Ĉ ASUS
July 31, 2014 11:30:57 AM

Try using MSI Afterburner to create a more aggressive, manual fan curve. This will help keep it much cooler. The Asus 290/X is known to get very hot, especially the VRMs.

Good luck! Please try my suggestion and report back with your new temps! :) 
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a c 111 Ĉ ASUS
July 31, 2014 11:57:54 AM

@OP
I just ran the MetroLL Benchmark at High settings w/Asus GPU Tweak monitoring my temps. The GPU maxed out at 100% usage but my fan never went above 45%. (I'll have to look into that and possibly adjust the fan curve) But even with that, the GPU temp very gradually ramped up to a peak of 81C by the time the benchmark had finished. My case only has the stock fans that came with the case too. And I left the fan controller on low.
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July 31, 2014 12:21:09 PM

burdenbound said:
I highly recommend putting more fans in your case, that should help out considerably. Looks like you can put another intake fan in the front, two exhaust fans on the top and one or two intake fans on the side.

You fan speed being capped at 45% is a bit strange[...].

Yeah, I know I can put fans on those places, but I'd like not to make it become a helicopter :D  I'll consider buying a couple more. The extra front fan, however, would be partly blocked by the hard drive cage, so I'm not sure if it would bring enough air.
About the GPU's fan speed, I've been monitoring Gpu-Z thoroughly and analyzing its logs. If I'm leaving the card on automatic fan speed, it rarely reports values above 45%, and while the GPU temp itself is "in the norm" for gaming loads, VRMs usually aren't. Anyways, it's good to know my worries about setting its speed were just about me being paranoid.
In any case, noise is honestly not a problem. Most of the times I'm gaming with a CM Storm Sirus headset on, so I hardly hear the fans at all.

clutchc said:
I have that card. My monitor is only 1920x1080 @ 60HZ, but I've not had any heat issues like that. [...] Your case should have good airflow. How's the cable management? Any air restriction there?

Cable management is OK. I know how to build a PC, but I'm not so good at cable management, so I've got help from someone with more experience than me for that. Each and every cable passes behind the case's backpanel for the motherboard, and the GPU cables aren't in front of the fans. Anything in the middle is empty space.

Alex Kelly said:
Try using MSI Afterburner to create a more aggressive, manual fan curve. This will help keep it much cooler. The Asus 290/X is known to get very hot, especially the VRMs.

Good luck! Please try my suggestion and report back with your new temps! :) 

I tried using Afterburner before, but for some reason it didn't detect my card, so I just uninstalled it and started using AMD Overdrive from the CCC. I guess I'll give it another spin, but AFAIK it only cares about GPU temp, not VRMs, so I'll need to tune that correctly :p 
Still, it's better than having to change the value every cursed reboot... I'll report back results
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July 31, 2014 12:38:24 PM

I don't think adding those fans to your case will cause it to become a helicopter, most case fans run at around 900 rpm and barely make any sound. I have mine loaded and it's practically silent, the loudest part of your system is going to be CPU/GPU fans and if you think it's silent now I don't think the extra case fans will change the noise level.
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August 1, 2014 11:43:57 AM

Well, MSI Afterburner worked now. Wonder why it didn't detect my card before...
Set what I feel is a kind of aggressive curve starting at 30% and capping at 80% between 35°C and 90 °C; GPU-Z Max temps are around 70 °C for all three, GPU, VRM1 and VRM2 temps (tried CoD Ghosts maxed out except physx, 1080p @144Hz, although the game hard-caps at 90 fps...)
Similar or cooler results were obtained with other games, Ghosts is by now the one that ran the hottest amongst the ones I own.
It does get kinda noisy, but it's not a problem.

I suppose getting a couple more fans won't hurt anyway, except for having to clean it more often. There're no dust filters except than the ones on the front and on the PSU, and unless I order them online I doubt any local shop would have them. Hmmm....How would some fine-weave stockings fare as a DIY filter? :D 
Thank you everyone!
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August 1, 2014 11:53:55 AM

You can use used drier sheets to make fan filters.
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a c 111 Ĉ ASUS
August 1, 2014 11:57:09 AM

burdenbound said:
You can use used drier sheets to make fan filters.


What happens to all that softener residue the sheets are coated with? Maybe soak them first and let them dry?
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