Fixing The Radeon R9 290 With Arctic's Accelero Xtreme III

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One of the best things we did for our Radeon R9 290 review was pop off AMD's reference cooler and attach Arctic's Accelero Xtreme III. Today, we show you how we did this, we dive deeper into the results, and ultimately recommend the aftermarket heat sink.

Radeon R9 290: Aftermarket Cooling To The Rescue

Well, we're still waiting for partner cards to show up with third-party thermal solutions. So we thought we'd put together a more comprehensive walk-through of getting the Accelero Xtreme III working and measuring what it can do.

Obviously, if you spend $400 on a new Radeon R9 290 and immediately take it apart, your warranty is void. Also, remember that applying heat sinks using thermal adhesive creates a fairly permanent bond. There is no changing your mind once you go down this path. Then again, who wants to live with the reference cooler anyway? Just don't be that guy who rips a memory package off his PCB after gluing a heat sink to it.

Igor Wallossek
Igor Wallossek
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Igor Wallossek wrote a wide variety of hardware articles for Tom's Hardware, with a strong focus on technical analysis and in-depth reviews. His contributions have spanned a broad spectrum of PC components, including GPUs, CPUs, workstations, and PC builds. His insightful articles provide readers with detailed knowledge to make informed decisions in the ever-evolving tech landscape