water cool the reference r9 290 or wait for custom cards in Jan?

The second part of this is cooling the VRM/Memory area of the card, which is covered by the 92mm fan on the g10, but under max load seemed insufficient.

I have the rosewill thor V2 which on the side panel comes with a 240mm fan but has mounting holes for four 120Mm fans, so my question is, would I be better off switching to at least 2 higher rpm 120mm mans to blow directly on to that card?

In general, is the tradeoff for multiple smaller fans vs single larger ones increased airflow but more noise?

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Also, as compared to a full water block for the gpu, the G10 install would not void the cards warranty as it could be removed and replaced with the reference cooler if necessary.

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A full-cover water block wouldn't void the warranty either, unless the brand (ahem, Sapphire) states that the warranty will be voided if you remove the stock cooler. However, if you're the type who changes graphics cards frequently, a universal solution such as the one you linked is the most cost effective method for liquid cooling.

Should you do it? If money isn't a factor, definitely. Personally, I wish there were more universal closed loop solutions for GPUs out there. Because of the larger die size, GPUs benefit the most from liquid cooling vs. CPUs. Even the crappiest liquid cooling system/universal block will cut GPU temps in half, and 120mm radiator fans instead of tiny high-rpm blower fans will significantly reduce noise (even with aftermarket/non-reference air coolers, the GPU fans are often the loudest part of a gaming PC). Water cooling a CPU is more of an enthusiast/hobby/novelty thing. It will help reduce noise, but that doesn't mean much if you are still using the jet engine reference cooler. Liquid cooling will allow for better overclocks, but the gains you get from a CPU overclock on water vs. a $30-40 air solution are superfluous. If you're going strictly for gaming performance, GPU overclocking provides the most significant improvements.

You are correct that GPU temp is the primary metric that determines overclock potential (assuming you're willing to push voltage as well. Otherwise, it's still luck of the draw. As with any fabricated microprocessor, there's always a margin of error). But that's still not the whole story. One area of concern with these universal GPU block solutions vs. a full-cover block is that they only cool the GPU, or in this case, provide a pisspoor VRM cooling solution. Unless the stock cooler has a separately effective VRM cooling solution, the mosfets will be left bare, as will the RAM. This is fine for stock voltage, mild overclocks, and gaming. I'd highly recommend copper ram sinks, but even with those, RAM voltage will need to stay at stock. You can use tiny mosfet heatsinks or a pricier separate mosfet cooling solution, but your barrier to maximum overclocks will still be those VRM/mosfet temps. They are made to withstand high temperatures, and they will quickly reach those temps, especially when doing significant stress-testing and mining.

Without proper VRM cooling, a universal block won't give you the maximum overclock achievable by a good full-cover block with active VRM cooling. However, the universal blocks are more cost-effective, by a mile, because the full-cover blocks are PCB-specific and all the ones worth a damn are over $100. Any significant GPU upgrade will render that block obsolete to you, whereas you can take the universal one with you from upgrade to upgrade. You just have to be careful about the VRM temps.

And now that that's out of the way, I must ask if you actually did some research in the past week to see the current state of Tahiti and Hawaii availability/pricing. If you find a 290 for $400, you better get it. Even newegg is gouging because of the mining frenzy. Their cheapest 290 is $500 (still a better value vs. a GTX 780, but not by much and not a good purchase considering it's an inflated price).

OP, make sure you post in the Benchmarking Competition Thread when you get your card

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Eh, I would buy a 780 over a 290 if they were the same price. Quieter, runs cooler, and uses less power. Plus, from all the benches I've seen, the 780 bests the 290

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You're right. For some reason I had it in my head that the 780 was at the $550 price point. Ignoring noise/temps (since OP is about water cooling), the 780 seems to marginally beat the 290 at 1080p, so a slightly better value at $500 and definitely a better value if comparing stock cooling solutions. NVidia is going to get a lot of converts and newcomers who just want to play games and don't care about mining. AMD/retailers were able to keep up with demand for the previous mining bubbles, but it's getting too mainstream now, plus RAM shortage is probably a contributing factor. The retailers are the sole blame for the inflated pricing, though.

yep, and sapphire is one of those companies. I will never buy one of their cards again.

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Please link where you can get a 290 for $400 right now

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I said now but I really meant early jan

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Also, why wouldn't you be able to remove the full block and put the the original cooler back on?

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I was under the impression that applying a full water block involved custom heat sinks, thermal paste, etc that would be very hard to hide if returned and void most manufacturer warranties, whereas using the G10+AIO cooler most likely would not. Is that not correct?

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This isn't true. Very few companies void the warranty for full blocks.

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ETA thanks for the clarification. A full water block would be better for cooling the VRM, but requires a custom water cooling system, correct? Which would then make it less than cost effective for my rig?

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Eh, I would buy a 780 over a 290 if they were the same price. Quieter, runs cooler, and uses less power. Plus, from all the benches I've seen, the 780 bests the 290

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for 1080p gaming yes, but I plan to be gaming at 1440p, and at higher res the r9's really shine for their price.


And considering all these r9 benches are done with these astonishingly shitty reference coolers, ill take the 290 over the 780 for ~$80 less all day.

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ETA thanks for the clarification. A full water block would be better for cooling the VRM, but requires a custom water cooling system, correct? Which would then make it less than cost effective for my rig?

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Correct.

I say go for a custom loop. A lot of ppl here can help you out and I don't mind sending a few pieces of hardware for the loop to you.

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I believe it was you who recommended 1440p over all else monitor wise. Ended up getting a Qnix, thing is absolutely beautiful. I will never go back to 1080p for my main monitor

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They are awesome.

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ETA thanks for the clarification. A full water block would be better for cooling the VRM, but requires a custom water cooling system, correct? Which would then make it less than cost effective for my rig?

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Yes, custom loops with full-cover blocks are the least cost-effective cooling solution. I say that even though I have an expensive loop. They are nice, they look cool, they give you the best overclock and the lowest temps, etc., but the cost doesn't justify the performance gains at all. It's a luxury/hobbyist thing. You can do them on a budget at the expense of looks, though.

ETA: Leaks can be a problem if fittings, tubing, and clamps are not properly installed. AIO coolers take the user error out of the equation, but it's not like they never ever leak (although, I've heard of them leaking and Corsair actually paying for damages. Proving the leak wasn't your fault is probably tough, though.)

I have a ton of EK fittings, D5 pump and RES you might be interested in. This would leave you only purchasing a blocks and rads.