ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum - Watercooling EK FC-R9-290X Matrix vs. Aircooling
Category : Aircooling vs. Watercooling
The R9 290X GPU is know to become rather hot and cooling this chip with a reference and even a custom aircooler can be quite a challenge. In almost any case you will see thermal throttling. In this article we're going to compare the results of an ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum watercooled versus the same card with ASUS Matrix Platinum cooler. At this point a little teaser: the differences can be as high as 25 percent!
As we already mentioned, in this article we're going to have a closer look at
possible differences between a watercooled and an aircooled ASUS R9 290X
Matrix Platinum. For this purpose EK Water Blocks shipped us one of their brand new
EK-FC R9-290X Matrix fullcover waterblocks. First of all we're going to have a
closer look at both, the water as well as the aircooler and afterwards we will
run both cards through our set of recent games with stock clocks as well as
overclocked to the coolers specific maximum. Apparently we will also show you
some temperatures.
ASUS
R9 290X Matrix Platinum -
Watercooling EK-FC R9-290X Matrix
EK Water Blocks is the first company to come up with a custom,
full-cover waterblock for ASUS' R9 290X Matrix Platinum graphics card. The block
establishes direct contact to GPU, memory as well as VRM area. This way you can
be sure there is going to be best possible cooling whereever necessary. The
cooler EK Water Blocks provided us with has been made from nickel plated
electrolyte copper. Above the GPU there is a thin channel structure to provide
additional surface area, where it actually makes sense to have it. On top of the
cooper block there is a plexi cover and on the right hand side you can see a
brushed stainless steel plate. Looking for threads we find G1/4'' inch one's
where you can attach a vast majority of fittings. The threads have been cut into
black plexi cover. Although the material is rather solid it's enough to tighten fittings by hand to achieve sufficient
sealing and you don't have to use a gripper. In fact by using a gripper you can/will
break the plexi. Manufacturing quality is always excellent, when it comes to
products from EK Water Blocks. These blocks are just perfectly made and the looks are
breathtaking. In order to achieve best possible looks in combination with ASUS ROG graphics cards
we would recommend you go choose red colored coolant. This way it will perfectly
match the ROG color scheme.
ASUS
R9 290X Matrix Platinum -
Matrix Platinum Aircooler
This version of the Matrix Platinum cooler comes with no less than five
heatpipes, which feature a GSG shape. There is one heatpipe with a massive
diameter of ten millimeter and other than there are two more with eight
millimeter diameter and another two which measure six millimeters. The heatpipes have been nickel plated and are in direct contact with the GPU core. Soldered to the heatpipes you find the fin stack which is being provided with fresh air via two 95mm fans. The fan closer to the I/O shield is a hybrid axial/radial fan ASUS like to call "CoolTech". They claim that this fan is able to provide a higher airflow than standard axial or radial fans at the same noise level. In case of the second fan you find a standard axial fan. Both fans are being manufactured by Everflow and strangely share the same model name, T129215SU.
Overall the cooler is well made and the finish is on a very reasonable level too.
This cooler definitely plays in another league than the reference cooler from
AMD. But still, even this custom aircooler is just about able to not make the
290X throttle at stock clocks.
[pagebreak]
Test Setup
Hardware
|
Mainboard |
- ASUS Maximus VII Ranger (BIOS 1707)
|
| CPUs |
- Intel Core i7-4770K @ 4.0 GHz (Turbo On / HT On)
|
|
Memory |
- G.Skill TridentX Dual Channel 2x8GB @ CL11-13-13-31-1T-Auto DDR3-2400 MHz
|
|
Graphic Cards (Driver) |
-
ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum - Aircooled
-
ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum - Watercooled - EK-FC R9-290X DCII
- Radiator: EK CoolStream RAD XTX 360 triple
|
| Drivers |
|
| Games and OS |
- Windows 7 x64 (Up to date
on the 25/07/2013
- All
games were up to date on the 25/07/2013
|
|
HDD |
- OCZ Technology Octane 512 GB SSD
|
PSU
|
- Seasonic Patinum SS-1000XP / 1000 Watts
|
[pagebreak]
3DMark - Fire Strike
3DMark - Fire Strike Extreme
| Stock Clocks |
Points |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
5'010 |
100.00 % |
| Watercooling ASUS R9 290X
Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
5'106 |
101.92 % |
| |
More is better |
| Overclocking |
Points |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1120 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
5'331 |
106.41 % |
|
Watercooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1170 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
5'437 |
108.52 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
Unigine Heaven 4.0 Extreme Preset
| Stock Clocks |
Points |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
1'920 |
100.00 % |
| Watercooling ASUS R9 290X
Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
1'935 |
100.78 % |
| |
More is better |
| Overclocking |
Points |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1120 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
1'968 |
104.17 % |
|
Watercooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1170 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
2'050 |
106.77 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
BattleField 4
| Stock Clocks |
fps |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
72.54 |
100.00 % |
| Watercooling ASUS R9 290X
Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
75.78 |
104.47 % |
| |
More is better |
| Overclocking |
fps |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1120 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
80.74 |
111.30 % |
|
Watercooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1170 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
90.22 |
124.37 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
Tomb Raider
| Stock Clocks |
fps |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
50.7 |
100.00 % |
| Watercooling ASUS R9 290X
Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
50.9 |
100.24 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
Thief
| Stock Clocks |
fps |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
74.10 |
100.00 % |
| Watercooling ASUS R9 290X
Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
74.20 |
100.13 % |
| |
More is better |
| Overclocking |
fps |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
78.10 |
105.40 % |
|
Watercooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1170 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
78.60 |
106.07 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
Crysis 3
| Stock Clocks |
fps |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
27.02 |
100.00 % |
| Watercooling ASUS R9 290X
Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
27.78 |
102.81 % |
| |
More is better |
| Overclocking |
fps |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1120 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
29.85 |
110.47% |
|
Watercooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1170 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
31.38 |
116.13 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
Watch Dogs
| Stock Clocks |
fps |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
35.47 |
100.00 % |
| Watercooling ASUS R9 290X
Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
35.76 |
100.81 % |
| |
More is better |
| Overclocking |
fps |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1120 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
37.82 |
106.62 % |
|
Watercooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1170 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
37.90 |
106.85 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
Sleeping Dogs
| Stock Clocks |
fps |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
72.4 |
100.00 % |
| Watercooling ASUS R9 290X
Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
73.1 |
100.97 % |
| |
More is better |
| Overclocking |
fps |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1120 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
75.7 |
104.56 % |
|
Watercooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1170 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
77.6 |
107.18 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
Grid Autosport
| Stock Clocks |
fps |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
82.95 |
100.00 % |
| Watercooling ASUS R9 290X
Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
84.47 |
101.83 % |
| |
More is better |
| Overclocking |
fps |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1120 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
85.45 |
103.01 % |
|
Watercooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1170 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
86.23 |
103.95 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
Metro: Last Light
| Stock Clocks |
fps |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
49.28 |
100.00 % |
| Watercooling ASUS R9 290X
Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
49.42 |
100.28 % |
| |
More is better |
| Overclocking |
fps |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1120 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
52.04 |
105.60 % |
|
Watercooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1170 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
52.31 |
106.15 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
Power
Consumption
| Stock Clocks - Idle |
Watt |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
67 |
100.00 % |
| Watercooling ASUS R9 290X
Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
67 |
100.00 % |
| |
More is better |
| Overclocking - Idle |
Watt |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1120 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
77 |
114.93 % |
|
Watercooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1170 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
78 |
116.42 % |
| |
More is better |
| Stock Clocks - Load |
Watt |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
400 |
100.00 % |
| Watercooling ASUS R9 290X
Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
406 |
101.50% |
| |
More is better |
| Overclocking - Load |
Watt |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1120 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
465 |
116.25 % |
|
Watercooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1170 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
485 |
121.25 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
Temperatures
Idle
| Stock Clocks |
Idle |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
37 °C |
| Watercooling ASUS R9 290X
Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
28 °C |
| |
| Overclocking |
Idle |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1120 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
40 °C |
|
Watercooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1170 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
32 °C |
| |
More is better |
Load
| Stock Clocks |
Load |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
87 °C |
| Watercooling ASUS R9 290X
Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
44 °C |
| |
| Overclocking |
Load |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1120 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
94 °C |
|
Watercooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1170 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
53 °C |
| |
More is better |
Battlefield 3
| Stock Clocks |
Load |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
72 °C |
|
Watercooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1170 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
40 °C |
| |
| Overclocking |
Load |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1120 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
78 °C |
|
Watercooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1170 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
40 °C |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
Index
| Stock Clocks |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
100.00 % |
| Watercooling ASUS R9 290X
Matrix Platinum (GPU 1050 / Mem 1350MHz) |
101.44 % |
| |
| Overclocking |
Index |
|
Aircooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1120 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
106.49 % |
|
Watercooling ASUS R9 290X Matrix Platinum (GPU 1170 / Mem 1500 MHz) |
110.07 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
Conclusion
Running the card at stock clocks shows, that when we equipped it with the
EK-FC R9-290X Matrix watercooler scores were on average 1.4 percent higher than with the
aircooler. This is actually already a solid hint, that the card started to
throttle with the powerful Matrix Platinum aircooler, even at stock clocks. The
game with the lowest performance benefit is in our case Thief, where we see a
difference in frame rates of 0.13 percent. On the other
hand there is Crysis 3 where we see that the watercooled card is 2.8 percent quicker. When it comes to stock clocks we also had a look
at two theoretical benchmarks, which are 3DMark and Unigine Heaven 4.0. In
3DMark the differences between watercooled and aircooled are tiny, but still
measurable with 1.9 percent performance plus for 3DMark FireStrike Extreme and
0.8 percent plus in Unigine Heaven..
Once we started overclocking the cards, we noticed that 1120 MHz on the GPU and
1500 MHz on the memory were maximum stable clocks to run the card aircooled with
the Matrix Platinum aircooler. In order to show there is still potential
slumbering in the R9 290X, when appropriately cooled, we overclocked the
card a little bit higher. In this case we ran it at 1'170 MHz GPU clocks and
1500 MHz memory clocks.
Let's discuss the results now. In 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme we see the scores
increase by 6.4 percent in case of aircooling OC and 8.5 percent when it comes
to watercooling OC. In other words this means, with the waterblock you're able
to squeeze an additional 2.1 percent out of the card. There was one particular
game that's especially interesting, which is Battlefield
4. In this game the watercooled and overclocked card gains no less than 24.4
percent, whereas the aircooled and overclocked card "only" gains 11.3 percent.
On another note we had a closer look at temperatures. There is actually nothing
much to say then the obvious. Even under full load and overclocked the
watercooled card didn't get hotter than 53°C, whereas the aircooled version ran
at 94°C.
Last but not least we want to add a few thoughts. Putting the results into
persepective shows, that the R9 290X with an aircooler is running really hot.
It's basically hitting the temperature limit as soon as there is heavy load and
even the powerful Matrix Platinum cooler from ASUS is not powerful enough to
eliminate throttling completely. On the other hand, if you put a watercooler on
top of this card, then you can basically unleash the full potential of it. This becomes especially clear as soon as you start overclocking the card.
Overall we can say if
you go get yourself a high-end R9 290X and you want to get the maximum out of
this card, then we'd recommend you to buy a custom watercooling loop and and in
combination with the EK-FC R9-290X Matrix you'll get quite a punchy duo. Obviously if you do not own
any watercooling gear at all, this is going to cost you something, since you'd have to buy a new radiator and pump
at least, as well as some tubing and fittings. The EK-FC R9-290X Matrix we've used for testing in this article is going to set you back
114.95 Euro (price 08.08.2014). As we already pointed out, the hardware is not
cheap, but then on the other hand no enthusiast grade hardware is cheap. Should
you be one of the guys looking to squeeze the maximum out of your hardware then
watercooling your 290X with a full-cover block will put a smile on your face.
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