Im fine, im getting the nzxt g10 to watercool my 290 than overclock it.
Looking forward to see how well they get cooled.
"GIGABYTE Radeon R9 290X WindForce 3X OC with 450W Cooler Spotted" on VideoCardz.com
http://videocardz.com/48345/gigabyte-radeon-r9-290x-oc-windforce-3x-450w-cooler-spotted
http://videocardz.com/images/2013/12/Gigabyte-Radeon-R9-290X-WindForce-3X-829x620.jpg
Factory Overclocked to 1,040Mhz and 15.9 db quieter than the reference space shuttle rocket boosters that come with the R9 290X by default.
http://videocardz.com/48339/msi-shows-translucent-prototype-twinfrozr-cooler
http://videocardz.com/48270/msi-radeon-r9-290x-lightning-pcb-pictured
And there we have MSI's possible coolers. A new translucent TwinFrozr that might appear in future designs (GTX 780 Ti, R9 290 Non-X, R9 290X), and we also now have MSI's Lightning PCB there for the viewing enjoyment. With adequate cooling and much lower noise, I wonder what the gaming performance numbers will be like. It might actually give the R9 290X enough boost to compete with such cards as the GTX 780 Ghz (Non-Ti) from GIGABYTE for the same amount of money. And with better, quieter cooling the R9 290 Non-X could be a much better deal than the GTX 770.
We'll have to wait for the numbers, and for Mantle. We'll see.
Also, in other news, the Tahiti XTL (successor for the Tahiti XT, the GPU that was featured in the HD 7970 Ghz, now made to run cooler, faster and with lower energy consumption) was silently rolled out to manufacturers. Some of them announced the new GPU in their product description (like the GIGABYTE WindForce 3X Rev2, available on NewEgg, with their new 450W GPU cooler).
This just means we could see AMD get a tad more competitive. However a bigger question might be what the performance of 20nm GPUs might be.
I wonder what a dual r9 290x will be like !!!!! :D
780 ti too! : http://www.maximumpc.com/asus_allows_color_customization_geforce_gtx_780_ti_directcu_ii_cards_using_bundled_stickers
wow, stickers.
The codename for the GPU architecture was called "Volcanic Islands". If the reference cooler could barely handle it, putting two of these on a single PCB would make the new dual-GPU R9 290X worthy of the "Krakatoa" codename. =P
Let's be honest, now that NZXT has brought out a reference card bracket kit that works with Asetek water cooling kits, why bother with non-reference air coolers?
Actually, that's a surprisingly good point. Why use two 100mm fans or 3x 92mm fans when you can use a watercooling solution with a single Noctua 140mm fan that'll be quieter and cooler than any air cooler on the market, it'll be less vulnerable if you transport the case, and it'll also be very flashy. This also allows you to use the 120mm or 140mm Rear exhaust fan as a means of both cooling down your GPU and removing hot air from your case, albeit using two 120mm or two 140mm radiators on top to draw air inwards through dust filters might help with positive airflow, while the CPU radiator could exhaust air out the back since overclocking the CPU helps less for gaming and other performance than overclocking one's GPU.
You know, we currently see several waterblock GPUs, from the like of EVGA and we see custom waterblocks from other watercooling companies. Remember how All-In-One CPU watercooling units brought liquid cooling to the mainsteam? Why can't ASUS, MSI, EVGA, GALAXY and GIGABYTE do the same thing once more? Hire companies like NZXT, CoolerMaster, Swiftech, Corsair and others to help develop a GPU liquid cooling unit that's silent and performs well.
I could definitely see top-tier premium companies like EVGA teaming with CoolerMaster or Swiftech, while I definitely see ASUS and MSI possibly teaming up with Corsair to design their solutions.
If All-In-One closed-loop liquid cooler and video card combo units (boy that's a mouthful!) enter mass market, it might really help bring the enthusiast feel to mainstream.
We already see expensive custom-built air cooling solutions implemented on top-tier GPUs, like MSI's Lightning series, NVidia's GTX 770, 780, 780 Ti and TITAN graphics cards, and others. So switching to liquid cooling for the more expensive cards might be a quick and easy way to reduce the cost of an expensive-to-make air cooler. It means less fans, possibly just one or two (since a 240mm cooler might not give any worthwhile performance increases for the size and/or price).
This might be something we might see for graphics cards in the 300$+ range, where adding an extra 40$~80$ (USD) might be acceptable for a high-end gaming graphics card with a special cooler. If this happens, I expect people might run into difficulties due to the power connectors not being able to deliver enough power to heat up the GPU before the liquid cooler might not be able to keep up anymore. 6-pin + 8-pin PCI-E power connectors won't be able to deliver enough power to a ferocious overclock that can't even overwhelm the liquid cooler yet. (Although at that point the chip is probably at serious risk of spontaneous combustion, asplosions and opening a gateway to Oblivion... but who cares, coz gaming.)