MSI R9 290 temps ?

[hccompany]

Hi
I have recently bought the MSI R9 290 Gaming edition, and while I'm quite happy with the performance, it's showing some very high temps. I know the R9 290 is a very hot gpu, but I thought with the custom cooler it shouldn't get any hotter than 85°. Mine hits 94° pretty easily when playing watch dogs maxed out.
1) Should I be worried in the first place ? I know these are not normal temps fo the msi card, but if the gpu is "designed" to take them and I'm fine with them there shouldn't be a problem (I really don't care about high temps or noise) right ?
2) Is there a way to get the temps down other than downclocking etc.. ? I do have a custom fan setup in afterburner but is there another way ? Are the fans set up properly ? Should the PSU be on its other side ? (Photos :

)
As you can see I have a rear fan that gets air out, and I have the CM K350 case so a front fan getting air in. No top, bottom or side fans.
I don't live in the US or Europe so sending the card to MSI is not an option. Nor is applying thermal paste...
3) Would it help to switch that bios switch on the card ? Currently it's in the position further away from the display ports...
Thank you.

 

[newconroer]

I'll check back later on you, but the most effective and simplest way to lower temperature on these cards is under-volting. Use MSI afterburner and unlock voltage control from the settings menu. Then back at the main screen, adjust the Core Voltage down to around -50. It may jump around to -52 or -49, whatever is closest will work, and then click Apply.

Now go test and see if it helped.

 

[Ferrum Master]

My suggestion is to redmod it...

 

[Sasqui]

My suggestion is to redmod it...

Yea, I'd expect that from an OEM cooler, but not with that MSI aftermarket one. Maybe a shitty factory thermal paste job.

 

[jjnissanpatfan]

1. I would be concerned about the temps..... i think re-apply the thermal paste would be best.

2. Is your computer sitting on a desk? If on the floor or desk i would have it raised off the ground or desk somehow. Like 4 blocks on all four bottom corners.
Maybe try without the side on, or try turning around the psu see if it helps with temps? My temps never go over 67c with custom profile never going over 70% fan speed.

3. I would try switching the bios first......i can not see a difference in temps either way...... .

 

[hccompany]

1. I would be concerned about the temps..... i think re-apply the thermal paste would be best.

2. Is your computer sitting on a desk? If on the floor or desk i would have it raised off the ground or desk somehow. Like 4 blocks on all four bottom corners.
Maybe try without the side on, or try turning around the psu see if it helps with temps? My temps never go over 67c with custom profile never going over 70% fan speed.

3. I would try switching the bios first......i can not see a difference in temps either way...... .

Thank you all for the answers
Okay I'm gonna try with the other bios and post the results.
The computer is on a desk, and it has 4 blocks raising it off the surface of the desk.
I think the problem is with the case airflow. The front intake fan doesn't seem like it's pushing that much air in. It's kinda blocked by two hard drives and the PSU cables too.
Which direction is normally the optimal one for the PSU ? Should its fan be towards the gpu or towards the bottom of the case ?
Do you think a fan on the bottom next to the PSU might help ? Should I switch the rear fan there (I don't think the CPU is overheating... it's an i5-4690 non-k) until I get another fan ?
Thanks

 

[ksallah]

First tell me what are your Cpu and Ram !!!!!

 

[hccompany]

CPU : i5-4690
RAM : Corsair Vengeance 8gb
I have tried with the other bios mod. It gets to 94° not as fast as the other one but it does. This is ith auto fan settings not the custom ones. I'm trying with the custom ones now.

Update: Nope, still the same even with custom fan settings. 94° is where it always stays.

I'll check back later on you, but the most effective and simplest way to lower temperature on these cards is under-volting quickly. Use MSI afterburner and unlock voltage control from the settings menu.

Then back at the main screen, adjust the Core Voltage down to around -50. It may jump around to -52 or -49, whatever is closest will work, and then click Apply.
Now go test and see if it helped.

Stops at 89 with custom fan settings, 90 without...

 

[ksallah]

You should buy core i7 Cpu to fix your problem , because your Gpu is too heavy for cor i5 , so the Gpu was tiring because it was waiting too much while the information arrived from Cpu ( weak ) to Gpu ( strong )

 

[64K]

You should buy core i7 Cpu to fix your problem , because your Gpu is too heavy for cor i5 , so the Gpu was tiring because it was waiting too much while the information arrived from Cpu ( weak ) to Gpu ( strong )

WTF? i5 4690 is plenty. OP doesn't need an i7.
I think you need to reapply thermal paste as suggested. Make sure you clean the GPU thoroughly before applying new paste.

 

[Naito]

I'd suggest an attempt at reapplying thermal paste and remounting the cooler. I had a GTX 470 (the dreaded Fermi) that on some occasions hit 105C! But with an aftermarket cooler rarely peaked over 70. Probably the max it ever got was 85C.

EDIT: Sorry, didn't realise is was a first-party non-reference cooler.

 

[awesomesauce]

dont change cpu..
do ur computer shutdown after long period of gaming?
if not then u should not worry..

u can try furmark
stresstest the card on maximum and wait 15-30min..
if it's not shutdown/bug then the card is build that wait..
i know amd card are hot.

u can change case / add fan for help the card.

ATB

 

[Naito]

An i5-4690 is no slouch... don't see how it could be the problem. No need to go calling people names if their opinions differ from yours.

 

[m0nt3]

If the GPU is not getting fed enough by the CPU, then the R9's will down clock themselves. Maybe you should look into how powertune works before stating a slow CPU will case your GPU to run hotter. Owning a R9 290, when my GPU isn't at 100% load the clock speed drops ad temps and fan speed with it.

 

[ksallah]

An i5-4690 is no slouch... don't see how it could be the problem. No need to go calling people names if their opinions differ from yours.[/

If the GPU is not getting fed enough by the CPU, then the R9's will down clock themselves. Maybe you should look into how powertune works before stating a slow CPU will case your GPU to run hotter. Owning a R9 290, when my GPU isn't at 100% load the clock speed drops ad temps and fan speed with it.

Ok , l will agree with you just a moment ..... I have the Card that you can see in my profile picture ( gtx 760 2gb ) with i5 3470 and 8 gb of Ram , now tell me what is the range of agreement between my pieces , then i will talk again with you

 

[newconroer]

All the usual methods people have mentioned, can still help to some degree(no pun):

• Apply new thermal paste
• Ensure you have decent airflow in your case (more importantly that you're exhausting hot air)
• Move the card down a PCI-E slot away from other components
• Use a custom fan profile

I know others support undervolting on these like I have mentioned, but I REALLY shout about it - it's a huge help. Additionally, a single card should be auto adjusting it's core/memory speeds based on demand, which also keeps the temperatures down a bit. So if it's not, then your Powerplay isn't working correctly.

 

[AsRock]

Besides what every one has else has said WD is one games that will push a system at a higher wattage than most. As i find vsync don't work well in that game having it off ram my i7 setup up to 400w were as most games will hit around 330w or less and much less if vsync is off.

So as some have said the gpu cooler might have bad contact with the gpu so re-applying the paste might help your issue but this game does push the gpu pretty hard.

 

[Naito]

Ok , l will agree with you just a moment ..... I have the Card that you can see in my profile picture ( gtx 760 2gb ) with i5 3470 and 8 gb of Ram , now tell me what is the range of agreement between my pieces , then i will talk again with you

I'd say mid-range, but unsure as to what this has to do with the topic at hand.

 

[newconroer]

Besides what every one has else has said WD is one games that will push a system at a higher wattage than most. As i find vsync don't work well in that game having it off ram my i7 setup up to 400w were as most games will hit around 330w or less and much less if vsync is off.

So as some have said the gpu cooler might have bad contact with the gpu so re-applying the paste might help your issue but this game does push the gpu pretty hard.

Agreed, some programs are naturally going to increase GPU% and thus raise frequencies and temperature. Vsycn or refresh locking is another helpful option, to keep unnecessary frames down and subsequently temperatures as well.

 

[hccompany]

Thanks for your answers, everybody.
I'm not gonna answer the stuff about the cpu, but thanks anyway.
I'm gonna limit my fps to 60 so it doesn't have to do extra work that won't even show up on my display... And I'll undervolt it a bit more (it's the only thing having any sort of effect atm) and if it still bothers me too much I'll try a bottom fan. I'm already thinking of getting another card next year so it's not that bad...
Applying thermal paste seems like the best solution but trust me in my country I won't find one of decent quality...
Thank you all, you've really been a huge help ! (89 is much better than 94 imo)

 

[SQr]

I have the 290x Gaming OC card that I got recently with the same temp issues. As the others have suggested; reapplying the thermal paste and undervolting helps, but not by much...

Next, I will try cleaning it with some Arcticlean and applying some new MX-4, hopefully that will help a bit more...Haven't tried anything with the bios, though. Could a newer bios help?

 

[m0nt3]

Try running something like MSI after burner and watch your GPU Clock speed in reference to your temp. For instance, if your showing 100% GPU load, 94C and say 850MHz, that means your throttling also note the fan speed as well.

 

[hccompany]

I have the 290x Gaming OC card that I got recently with the same temp issues. As the others have suggested; reapplying the thermal paste and undervolting helps, but not by much...

Next, I will try cleaning it with some Arcticlean and applying some new MX-4, hopefully that will help a bit more...Haven't tried anything with the bios, though. Could a newer bios help?

I don't think there is a newer bios... I'm talking about a little switch between a "silent" mode and an "uber" mode. Changing this didn't help at all. Undervolting is the most efficient software method I found

 

[Countryside]

Like the previous posters said and i agree, dried thermal paste might be the problem also good airflow is important and if the temp stays at 83-85 its fine these gpus produce a lot of heat. For the paste i recommend Arctic MX-4
don't even worry about your cpu

 

[SQr]

I don't think there is a newer bios... I'm talking about a little switch between a "silent" mode and an "uber" mode. Changing this didn't help at all. Undervolting is the most efficient software method I found

For 290x: http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/152762/msi-r9290x-4096-131223.html
For 290: http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/...MSI&model=R9+290&interface=&memType=&memSize=

There is no silent/uber switch on the msi gaming cards...the switch is for legacy/hybrid bios.