[darkpower45]

Hello Everyone,
I got a difficult problem to deal with. I am trying to crossfire a R9 290 with an R9 390, but I have a Micro-ATX computer. The gap between the two cards does not allow them to fit, so I was wondering if anyone knows of a method to cool these cards? I was thinking the only way to get them to fit would be to go water cooling.
Cards I got are Sapphire R9 290 Tri-x and an MSI R9 390 Gaming 8G. The back plate of the MSI card does not allow it to fit with the other card.

Thanks Guys!

 

[ninjacore]

Tri-X doesn't have a backplate. What if you swapped them? They're going to run very hot in CF, regardless of the case or motherboard config.

Watercooling would definitely fix both of your problems, but I don't know if it would be worth sinking another couple hundred dollars into a custom loop just to cool these cards. Have you ever had a multi-GPU build? There are a lot of issues which come with it (heat dissipation, PSU requirements, setup, driver issues, scaling issues). What resolution are you at? 4K is honestly the only res at which I would consider using more than one GPU. All others can be handled by a single card and you eliminate all of the baggage.

 

[darkpower45]

I have previously crossfired 6950s and before that i used 4870x3. I am aware of heat issues after those cards, but with these new cards it seems all the special coolers need three slots. The MSI card is too thick and fills 2.5 slots. I tried using a PCIe x16 riser cable but it was causing the cards to desynconize and crash. I have been trying to make this setup work because I got a sweet 4k tv to play on now. But currently, I am limited to my nearly 2k monitor. I also have experience with watercooling, and I am aware of how much of a pain it is to setup and clean... I was hoping for one of those prefab waterkits if anyone knows if they are any good?

 

[ninjacore]

I used a G10 and H90 on a 290X for a short time. It was basically the same as a good aftermarket cooler. I'm not sure it would be any thinner than a 2.5 slot HSF, however.