So I'm looking into building my first desktop for gaming and thus far http://pcpartpicker.com/p/x9Z6CJ is what I've come up with. My question is: Is GPU cooling necessary? How do you know when it is?
I understand MOST games are GPU intensive, but is cooling it something that is necessary or are the stock coolers along with some case fans going to be enough? should I look into getting a custom GPU cooler?
The card you chose already has a custom cooler. If you plan on OCing then a custom cooler is a must along with case fans.
The coolers that the manufacturers install are custom and are purpose built to provide excellent cooling for the GPU. No extra expense necessary by the end user (you).
If you really want to go hardcore overclocking you could go with something like Arctics solutions but I can´t really see the benefits of something like that. Sapphire knows what they are doing when it comes to AMD GPUs.
So the "Accelero Xtreme IV 280(X)" should work for the Sappire R9 390 (do NOT quote me on that.
Nice looking system but ditch the BX200 from Crucial. The price might be tempting but it's a trap..
It's Micron's/Crucial's first foray into TLC NAND drives and it's horrendous.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/9756/the-crucial-bx200-480gb-960gb-ssd-review-crucials-first-tlc-nand-ssd
Just look at Anandtech's real world storage benchmarks. The 960GB BX200 can't even keep up with the 120GB BX100 in the Light version of their benchmark....
Rather buy a BX100 if you can still get them (rapid EOL) or an 850 EVO.
They're priced rather similarly.
If you want slightly better energy efficiency and performance, pick BX100
If you want encryption* and 5yr warranty (vs 3yr), pick 850 EVO
*AES-256, TCG-Opal 2.0, IEEE-1667 (eDrive)
Whether or not additional cooling is neccesary when overclocking is sort of on a per card basis in my experience. It has alot to do with the extent that your oc'ing and the ambient temps of the room your in and the case when your using your computer when your not gaming or gaming without oc'ing.
Generally a card with an aftermarket cooler will be enough to handle minor oc's.
But if your finding that it isnt than you can consider aftermarket thermal paste which can help lower temps by a few degrees.
Or if your feeling DIY you can zip tie a $80-120 cpu water cooler to your gpu. Youll get some great temps on the gpu core but you have to be carefull with ocing and cooling the gpu memory and other components as they are no longer actively cooled.
Best thing to do is start out stock and dial in an oc your comfortable with... There are lots of great recources on how to oc and even lists that are compiled by many forums on stable oc's and temps that members have achieved with individual cards. Im sure Tek Syndicate has a similar list somewhere. Good luck!
I was just coming back to this post to ask about this. Is the thermal paste used by most of these well renown companies of good quality or should I just see how it performs and decide from there rather than just replacing it right away?
Good quality is up for debate in my book as all my gpus have had obvious thermal pads which is these perfectly square thermal paste layer that is applied by a machine... And while it works fine out of the box, overtime i noticed a rise in temps with ocing.
I prefer to just do it myself with some IC Diamond and a thermal paste removal kit.
Ya I've heard of IC Diamond on a youtube channel called "NCIX tech tips" he also has like 2 other channels that I know of.
Lmao am I detecting a less than subtle jab at my credibility?
oh no no I didn't mean it that way at all. I just meant literally what I said. That I had heard the name mentioned before so it is at least known if not reputable as well.
There are some other adapters for attaching AIO CPU coolers to graphics cards from NZXT and Corsair. They are only compatible with certain cards--the 390 isn't listed but as long as the specific manufacturer hasn't changed the PCB it should have the same layout as the 290 so they should work. This way no zip ties are needed and you can still cool the VRM and other components as they have fans or that as well.
That being said, taking apart your graphics card on your first computer build is probably not the best idea. I think you'll be fine with the cooler on your card @aaronauron. If you find that your card isn't getting cooled enough with the overclock you set then you can always consider another cooling solution then.
Ahh the reason I said anything is that I think ypur refering to LinusTechTips channel. Which many members on the forum are not fans of. Lol I didnt mean anything by it either and even if that was what you were gping for I would have legitametly found it to be quiet funny ! :)
The custom coolers that OEMs put on GPUS are pretty good now, and can usually handle a good overclock.
Before you overclock run some stress tests at stock to see how much thermal room you have.
I think most people go from stock coolers straight to a custom loop if they need extra gpu cooling.