PowerColor's Liquid Cooled R9 290X LCS Spotted

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PowerColor has decided not to slap a big air cooler onto its R9 290X, but rather a shiny water block.

PowerColor has revealed a new graphics card: its Radeon R9 290X LCS. This graphics card features non-reference cooling, and unlike a big air cooler, which many manufacturers are applying, it features a preinstalled water block.

The water block on the graphics card is one that is built by EKWB. It is the EK-FC R9 290X, which has as options a nickel plated base and an acetal cover. This block retails for $144.31. The PCB used is a reference model.

PowerColor has clocked the card at 1060 MHz, which is a 60 MHz boost over reference speeds. The memory runs at an effective speed of 5.4 GHz, which is 400 MHz above the reference specification.

So far there is no indication as to when the card will be available or what it would cost, but you can count on a notable premium over reference models.

Niels Broekhuijsen
Niels Broekhuijsen

Niels Broekhuijsen is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He reviews cases, water cooling and pc builds.

16 Comments Comment from the forums
  • AMD Radeon
    i wish AMD made this waterblock as a reference cooler
    Reply
  • Zac Lloyd-Jones
    60MHz boost. Nice. *sigh*
    Reply
  • onedos
    I'm new to the the build your own pc world. I don't usually hear about powercolor products how do they conpare to msi, Asus and gigabyte
    Reply
  • 3ogdy
    onedos, they're not bad at all BUT I'd always go with ASUS, Sapphire, Gigabyte....in that specific order...I've heard of reliability issues with some MSI products, but generally speaking they should be fine -again, as long as there are alternatives from any of the other three companies I've mentioned, go with something from them.
    Reply
  • KiranKara78
    @onedos

    regarding gpu manufacturers, id say depends partly where you live. See this table

    http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18231329

    Asus cooling on a 290x might be advisable or gigabytes windforce gets exceptional reviews, evga are magnificent, and so are gigabyte in my experience. Any of big boys should be fine, just read individual card reviews, and if ok, id base decision on customer service, and rta time in your country
    Reply
  • vaughn2k
    Could be, but I still have a Radeon 9800XT from Powercolor... and its still running in excellent condition ;)
    Reply
  • cyan1d3
    GIven this is a reference model card, it should be the same as any other Gigabyte, Asus, MSI, Powercolor, etc. EKWB only has blocks for reference layouts.
    Reply
  • Tanquen
    "nickel plated" = Pass.
    Reply
  • sha7bot
    @ Tanquen: Nickel Plated is optional, which is important for all of the variations on liquid cooling systems.

    My entire system is nickel plated because, at the time, copper radiators were nearly twice the cost. It means no corrosion or electrolysis in my lines because I'm not mixing metals.

    "'nickel plated' = Pass. I have copper blocks and radiators" - Fixed.
    Reply
  • Stevemeister
    @ Taquen - the EK blocks are nickel plated over solid copper and the nickel coating is so thin that is will not inhibit the thermal conductivity - it keeps the blocks looking better longer - copper oxidizes over time (and copper oxide has poor thermal conductivity), nickel doesn't oxidize. I've run both nickel plated blocks and pure copper blocks and there is no thermal difference
    Reply