XFX R9 390 Series Overheating While Gaming

nlee89 · Oct 29, 2016

Hello community,

I am experiencing overheating issues after upgrading my GPU to the XFX R9 390X-8DF6. The card runs around 35 °C idle, but will go up to around 73 °C when running graphic intensive games, ultimately shutting my PC off. Is this a common issue with these cards?

I have installed latest drivers and have cleaned the dust out of the case. Would additional cooling units be the solution to this problem? If so, which units are recommended?

Here are my specs:

OS: Windows 10 Home 64bit
PSU: CORSAIR Professional Series HX850 (CMPSU-850HX) 850W
CPU: AMD FX-8120 Zambezi
RAM: 16GB Dual-channel DDR3
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 (Socket M2)
GPU: AMD Radeon R9 390 Series XFX R9 390X-8DF6
Storage: Samsung SSD 850 EVO 1TB / Western Digital WDC WD1001FALS-00Y6A0
Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced RC-932-KKN5-GP

renz496 · Oct 29, 2016

73c is far from overheating when it comes to gpu. you can consider your gpu to be overheating when temp exceed 94c. double check your cpu temperature instead. also is this happen in any graphical intensive games only?

nlee89 · Oct 31, 2016

renz496 :

Hey renz496,

So I moved my GPU to a different pci slot and rearranged some wires to maximize airflow. I also downloaded MSI Afterburner and enabled the auto fan features. I guess the default AMD Radeon software did not monitor and adjust the fans as I thought.

It seems the game is able to run stable for now. The maximum temperatures I reached were 66 °C GPU, and 63 °C CPU.

Do you think I should still invest in a liquid cooling unit?

NerdIT · Oct 31, 2016

nlee89 :

I do not think water-cooling is necessary for general gaming. These cards come with a default fan curve that a lot of times lets the card get hot before the fans even start up. Make a custom fan profile using afterburner as you said and make it so the fan kicks in at a lower temp, and at 100% at around 85-90C.

NerdIT · Oct 31, 2016

Here's my fan curve for my GTX 980: I average about 55-60C under full load.

NerdIT · Oct 31, 2016

The temps you posted are well within the "safe" range

nlee89 · Oct 31, 2016

NerdIT :

nlee89 :

I do not think water-cooling is necessary for general gaming. These cards come with a default fan curve that a lot of times lets the card get hot before the fans even start up. Make a custom fan profile using afterburner as you said and make it so the fan kicks in at a lower temp, and at 100% at around 85-90C.

Thanks for your input NerdIT. I will try out that custom fan profile!

NerdIT · Oct 31, 2016

nlee89 :

NerdIT :

Thanks for your input NerdIT. I will try out that custom fan profile!

No problem! Glad to help.

renz496 · Oct 31, 2016

nlee89 :

don't really need to. your temps are fine. also by default board partner will prioritize noise over heat. hence we can always get better temperature even by using after burner default fan curve. just keep monitoring your system if there is any sudden shut down from now on. maybe you want to check some setting in your mother board bios. there is emergency setting you can set for the system to automatically shut down when cpu temp reaching certain temperature limit. check if the temperature limit was set to low.

nlee89 · Nov 3, 2016

renz496 :

A little update:

I thought my issue was resolved for a day or so after utilizing msi afterburner with the custom fan curve profile. I was able to play games without issues. Now suddenly today my display shuts off again. I am able to launch the game, but as soon as it loads the shutoff occurs. My temperatures look like they are well within the 'safe zone' you and NerdIT have mentioned. I have attempted to reinstall the game client and applications to no avail. My PC seems to work fine for all other general operations.

What could be causing this issue?

Edit:

I think interacting with my keyboard also seems to trigger it? It occurred again when alt-tabbing out of a benchmarking program.

renz496 · Nov 4, 2016

ok when that happen does your system entirely being forced to shut down or only your monitor? (system still running)

nlee89 · Nov 4, 2016

renz496 :

System is still running, but the the display shuts off and goes black.

Edit:

Launched @BIOS to update to most recent version (non-beta)

Tried the stress test again just now. Shut off did not occur.
Max CPU temp: 56 °C
Max GPU temp: 59 °C
Max Fan speed: 82%

Games like The Witcher 3 seem to be running okay as of now. Max temps at low 60 °C

renz496 · Nov 5, 2016

probably you were having the black screen issues that happen with some GCN based card. have you tried using different drivers? what is your current drivers?

nlee89 · Nov 5, 2016

renz496 :

As of now I am using the Crimson 16.6 driver. Is there another driver out there that will fix this issue?

renz496 · Nov 6, 2016

this issues seems random to me. AFAIK AMD should fix this issue long ago. but from time to time i see this people reporting this problem even using the latest driver available at the time. try using the latest driver available for your card (i think it was 16.11.x branch right now). for some people the problem only fixable using BIOS mod. but using BIOS mod often lead to warranty being voided. though i think you can ask XFX directly if they ever provide specific BIOS for those that having this problem.

nlee89 · Nov 9, 2016

renz496 :

Hey renz496,

So I've tried updating Crimson to 16.11.2 but the problem still persists. I will see if I can get any help from XFX. Thanks for your help.

Jay Santos · Nov 9, 2016

Dying power supply is my guess.

AMD cpu + 390 = power hog.

390 manufacturers recommend a PSU of at least 700 watts. I know some can get away with it but just about every 390 problems that I'm aware of are due to insufficient power supplies.

nlee89 · Nov 9, 2016

Jay Santos :

Hey Jay,

My current PSU is a CORSAIR Professional Series HX850 (CMPSU-850HX) 850W. Is this PSU not proficient for my setup?

Jay Santos · Nov 9, 2016

nlee89 :

That appears to be a very good PSU with high ratings. However even the best of things can sometimes fail.

If you want to test it, buy a new PSU from a store and try it out. If there's no problem then there you go. However if you still experience problems then it might be your gpu. Then return the psu and get a refund

Look at your gpu closely specially the capacitors. If you see any blown capacitors then that's likely the culprit.

Instead of games, try running Heaven Unigen. It's a gpu benchmarking tool. If your PC doesn't take a dump while being stress tested, then the problem is not hardware related. I'd say driver then.

nlee89 · Nov 9, 2016

Jay Santos :

Thanks for your input Jay!

I'll get back to you when I get a chance to test things out.

Edit:

So I downloaded Heaven Unigen as you suggested and loaded it for default extreme settings. As soon as I selected benchmark it went black screen again. I attempted a second time choosing Open GL under API. The benchmark ran several scenes before blacking out again. I took a look at those capacitors; none of them seem blown out.

I just tested my old card, XFX Radeon HD 7770, and it was able to complete the benchmark test without crashing.

renz496 · Nov 10, 2016

can you try your 390 on other PC? if similar problem happen it might be your gpu.

Jay Santos · Nov 10, 2016

My gut feeling is your power supply.
The 7770 is a 100 watt gpu.
The R9 390 is around 250-ish.

swamoe · Nov 22, 2016

nlee89 :

I wouldn't worry about it. Liquid cooling would look pretty epic but 66°C is pretty nice tbh.
My MSI R9 390 used to hit 80-90°C during gaming sessions (Fallout 4 with some graphics mods) but replacing the thermal paste (CM IC Essential E1) cooled it down to 65°C max (!!!)

Honestly, with your temps, liquid cooling would be overkill. Unless you start getting crazy with OC'ing, don't bother with it.

sla70r · Nov 22, 2016

To be quite honest, I would STRONGLY suggest avoiding watercooling your card. If you think 73 degrees is overheating, I don't think you are ready to start stripping gfx cards, voiding warranties, and installing a water cooling unit...I don't say this to be mean....just honest.

renz496 · Nov 24, 2016

swamoe :

nlee89 :

I wouldn't worry about it. Liquid cooling would look pretty epic but 66°C is pretty nice tbh.
My MSI R9 390 used to hit 80-90°C during gaming sessions (Fallout 4 with some graphics mods) but replacing the thermal paste (CM IC Essential E1) cooled it down to 65°C max (!!!)

Honestly, with your temps, liquid cooling would be overkill. Unless you start getting crazy with OC'ing, don't bother with it.

that sounds like too much thermal paste being applied to your card during factory assembly.

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