R9 290X TRIX (NOT VAPOR X) 8GB overheating in CF

I have a H440 with all the side panels off as well as 70CFM Cougar vortex fans which provide DIRECT airflow on the GPUs, and the top GPU STILL hits 83C.

My temps are as follows
Both cards @ 100% utililzation Crossfire ENABLED:
Top=83C
Bottom= 68C
Both Cards in the System CF DISABLED, First GPU at 100% utililzation, Second GPU at 0% utililzation:
Top= 68C-71C
Bottom= 38C

 

83C is not overheating though.

The top card will naturally be hotter, regardless. Have you tried a custom fan profile to help reduce temps?
A repaste could also contribute to lower temperatures.

 

The max temp of the 290x is 94 degrees so you're actually still in the safe range.

 

That is where reference cards usually help, because the blow the hot air out of the back, and help keep the top card within the norm. But who are we kidding here, reference r9 290/x were hot on single solution, let alone xfire setups. In your case 83 is good. I myself have set a quiet fanprofile on my single r9 290, and it goes as far as 87 at times. Witcher 3 stresses the card beyond any other games, due to tessellation. So 83 for top card on multigpu is the norm, and even better than the norm for the hawaii gpus.

 

This is was on a cold Ohio day, I'm worried about the summer

 

Its winter Right now, what happens during the summer?

 

They get even hotter Point a fan at it (increase air flow)....turn the card fans speed up is all you can really do. You can experiment with lower gpu voltages but that could cause instability. The 290x is the hottest/ power hog single gpu card amd ever created....But the coolers on those particular cards are some of the best as well.

 

Are there any better cases for Crossfire?

 

I would take Nzxt phantom 820 or Corsair Obisidan 900D case for maximum cooling

 

What are the temps of a single card running?

 

What are you using to control the fans? Without MSI afterburner my card can hit around 75 but with Afterburner it hits about 60.

 

With one card only in the system it won't pass 64C

 

I use afterburner as well

 

Your temps do not sound bad considering what some people report. I think your looking at water cooling if you really need lower temps. It probably wouldnt hurt to re-do the thermal paste and or pads...as those coolers for your cards are pretty top notch. So thats what i would do next is check on that

 

you're in safe range, but the question is, is the fan running on 100% or not.
try setting it 100% manually before starting a game and see if temps are lower on full load then.

 

i face the same problem but my temperatures are even more aggressive.. some time it goes to 95 if im running the games on eyefinity..

 

I'll probably just save for blocks then... Considering taking the cooler off is going to void the warranty, I might as well just go all in....

 

Dang. I just use a 1080p 144Hz monitor

 

I would get a Raven RV03. Vertical alignment and two 180mm fans blowing air up, directly to the GPUs. The only "problem" it has is that it doesn't support 240mm radiators officially, you have to do tricks in the front of the case for them to work, like I did. But for GPU cooling there is nothing coming close.
The system below is not mine. I have a Corsair H105 "modded" on the "front" of mine, and it works perfectly.

Spoiler

 

I'm a bit late to this thread, but I also have 290X CF with heat issues on the top card in a NZXT Switch 810. Haven't found much that could help.

About the RV-03, I had these cards in one of those. The vertical alignment does not help, the "top" (rightmost in that case) card still gets very got. The Switch 810 is actually slightly better, but I still keep the side panel off. In the RV-03 I even tried a 3000RPM 140mm fan either pulling air out or pushing in and the difference was minute with the thing at full blast, a few degrees at best for an incredible amount of noise.

The main problem I believe is getting cool air to the "top" card, because no matter the alignment, it's going to be pulling air from the direction of the "bottom" card and that air is going to be hot. That diagram isn't how it works with Tri-X cards since they don't pull air in from the back, they pull air from below the card. Also, the fins on the heatsink are arranged across the width of the card, not the length, so you can't even push air through it from the back at all.

I'm kind of stumped as to keeping the top card cool. I guess the answer would be to have more room between cards, like a good 3-4 slots worth of space, but that isn't possible on my motherboard (or on most mobos I guess).