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Upgraded thermal pads on XSPC Razor Block
Alright so I have installed the Fujipoly Ultra Extreme 17.0 W/mk pads on both VRM1 and VRM2. This is a link for the 100x15mm pad, it is the smallest size available. It is enough for at least 2 applications to the VRMs.
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/17504/thr-185/Fujipoly_Ultra_Extreme_System_Builder_Thermal_Pad_-_Mosfet_Block_-_100_x_15_x_10_-_Thermal_Conductivity_170_WmK.html?tl=g8c487s1797
I have also installed the Fujipoly Extreme 11.0 W/mk on the RAM chips. This is a link for the 100x150mm pad which is probably enough to do the RAM and VRMs 3 times if you don't want to spend the money on the Ultra Extreme. Smaller sizes are available for less money. To cover one cards RAM chips, the cheapest option is (2) of the 60x50mm pads
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/16880/thr-165/Fujipoly_Extreme_System_Builder_Thermal_Pad_-_14_Sheet_-_150_x_100_x_10_-_Thermal_Conductivity_110_WmK.html?tl=g8c487s1730
***You may need thinner, 0.5mm or 0.7mm, pads for your specific waterblock! Please double check the table below before ordering or upgrading!***
I received information from Koolance regarding their unique 0.7mm pads and substituting a 0.5m or 1mm pad:
As any one manufacturers card could have slight differences from another, we often include more than one thickness so that the customer can achieve the best contact on their block. Ideally you use as thin as possible, but some cards have shorter chips and demand the thicker pads. -Dylan - Koolance Technical Support
See photo below for thermal pad sizes.
**All EK blocks use same size thermal pads. This includes reference, ASUS DC2 & Matrix as well as MSI Gaming & Lightning blocks**
Waterblock Installation Links:
XSPC - http://static.squarespace.com/static/51998404e4b0ef02d1bd9c2c/t/5292f421e4b006a2894e4d92/1385362465655/razor-r9-290x.pdf
EK - http://www.ekwb.com/shop/EK-IM/EK-IM-3831109868539.pdf
Koolance - https://koolance.com/files/products/manuals/manual_vid-ar290x_d100eng.pdf
HeatKiller - http://watercool.de/sites/default/files/downloads/MA_GPU-X3_R9_290Xm.pdf
AquaComputer -
KryographicsHawaiiInstallationInstructions.pdf 164k .pdf file
I did not use any TIM to assist in thermal conductivity on the pads. EK suggests using TIM in their instructions. I personally felt it would be a PITA to clean it all off when it came time to do that. Chiknnwatrmln also did not use any TIM with his EK block. With the Ultra Extreme he is seeing roughly 20C lower temps on VRM1 than I am with stock XSPC pads. So I am doing this write up to see what kind of a difference there is going from stock XSPC pads to FUE, and to see which block does a better job cooling VRM1.
Here's what it looked like with stock pads.
Fujipoly Extreme 150x100mm for the RAM chips. *I ordered too much*
The 150x100mm is enough to probably do 3 whole cards. If you wanted to get better than stock results and not spend $ for both types you could easily get away with one of these.
To save a couple dollars the cheapest route to cover the RAM chips would be (2) of the 60x50mm pads
Fujipoly Ultra Extreme 15x100mm for VRMs
The 15x100 FUE is more than enough to do the VRMs on these cards. If you cut them thin enough you might have enough to do 3 cards.
I examined the stock pad contact and found some spots that weren't being 100% covered.
I took the XSPC stock pads off and laid them on the Fujipoly to use them as a template and enlarged as needed.
My awesome Husky 'titanium' coated scissors worked marvelously to cut both versions of the pads.
Minimal trimming was needed to make all pieces fit on RAM really nice.
At this point I thought it would nice for everyone else to have a template of their own, so I put the pads on my scanner
![biggrin.gif]()
R9290XThermalPadTemplate.jpg 1077k .jpg file
R9290XThermalPadTemplate.pdf 1055k .pdf file
Either should print on a whole sheet of 8.5x11 paper so they are the correct size. I would imagine these would work on other blocks aside from XSPC, but that will be up to others to find out if they use the templates
Time to clean the VRMs and RAM chips
I chose to use Arcticlean TIM remover/purifier as I figured it could easily remove the residue from the other pads. Chiknnwatrmln suggested Isopropyl Alcohol or a Pencil Eraser.
Time to lay the pads onto the card.
One more cut was required when I got to this point. I did not want to pick up the Fujipoly Extreme after it was on the card as it felt somewhat fragile. I ended up taking a precision flat head screwdriver to cut the pad where I needed. It required very little force to cut through the pad.
Tada!
A few miscellaneous pointers before I end this rant...
Wash your hands before handling these. The less oil from your skin the better; you could even wear gloves I suppose.
The Fujipoly Ultra Extreme has thinner more pliable plastic on both sides, it is easy to remove from both sides.
The Fujipoly Extreme is like all other thermal pads I have used in the past. One side is thin, pliable, has a checkered pattern, and is easy to remove. The other side has a thicker, harder, clear plastic and is more difficult to remove. Take the hard plastic off first so you don't struggle removing it and touch the pads more than necessary.
Temperature Results from Fujipoly Ultra Extreme on VRMs
Screenshot of VRM temps with FUE for 3DMark11 Performance Presets 1295/1700 +200mV
All observed temperatures before and after using same settings before and after thermal pad switch
On average for 3DMark11 Performance/Xtreme Presets, Unigine Heaven/Valley Extreme Presets, and FFXIV Benchmark Maximum Settings, temperatures decreased:
VRM1 23.25% VRM2 12.15%
Another user inquired about performance improvements over time. I don't know if thermal pads can cure and work better over time, but we are going to find out.
These are preliminary temperature results. Next information coming will be to see if I have uncovered any additional overclocking room.
Check out this link here to see Kizwan's graphs showing temp drops with EK block when upgrading to Fujipoly Ultra Extreme
http://www.overclock.net/t/1436497/official-amd-r9-290x-290-owners-club/20020#post_22044493
After 8 days of use with the Fujipoly Pads
Since my temperatures were already fair, I was not able to overclock the GPU core any further. Does this mean the upgrade isn't worth the money and effort? Absolutely not with a 20% drop in temperature. The cooler the card and all its components can run, the longer it will last especially if you plan on running a heavy overclock all the time; I'm talking to you Crypto Miners! The pads could definitely help others squeeze some more performance or stability out of their card. I still highly recommend the upgrade to anyone with a full cover block.
The Extreme pads for the RAM did not assist in any additional overclocking of the RAM. It would be my suggestion to save yourself the money and use the factory pads that come with your block for the RAM. The RAM doesn't get anywhere near the temperatures the VRMs do. If there was a thermal sensor for the RAM I would have data and possibly a different conclusion.
Almost 2 months laer
VRM temps are still excellent, there does not appear to be any degradation so far.
If anything the performance has increased. When I first installed these it brought the VRM1 within 1-2C of the core temp. Presently VRM temps at idle are 6C under core and now while gaming they are always under the core by 4-6C.
My card gets a healthy workout pretty frequently since I'm running 5760*1080 on the one 290. FFXIV literally loads my card between 95%-100% the entire time I am playing, which is typically several hours at a time. If you mine cryptocurrency this is an invaluable upgrade for the longevity/stability of your miners!
Don't think about it, just DO IT!
They are worth the $$
Alright so I have installed the Fujipoly Ultra Extreme 17.0 W/mk pads on both VRM1 and VRM2. This is a link for the 100x15mm pad, it is the smallest size available. It is enough for at least 2 applications to the VRMs.
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/17504/thr-185/Fujipoly_Ultra_Extreme_System_Builder_Thermal_Pad_-_Mosfet_Block_-_100_x_15_x_10_-_Thermal_Conductivity_170_WmK.html?tl=g8c487s1797
I have also installed the Fujipoly Extreme 11.0 W/mk on the RAM chips. This is a link for the 100x150mm pad which is probably enough to do the RAM and VRMs 3 times if you don't want to spend the money on the Ultra Extreme. Smaller sizes are available for less money. To cover one cards RAM chips, the cheapest option is (2) of the 60x50mm pads
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/16880/thr-165/Fujipoly_Extreme_System_Builder_Thermal_Pad_-_14_Sheet_-_150_x_100_x_10_-_Thermal_Conductivity_110_WmK.html?tl=g8c487s1730
***You may need thinner, 0.5mm or 0.7mm, pads for your specific waterblock! Please double check the table below before ordering or upgrading!***
I received information from Koolance regarding their unique 0.7mm pads and substituting a 0.5m or 1mm pad:
As any one manufacturers card could have slight differences from another, we often include more than one thickness so that the customer can achieve the best contact on their block. Ideally you use as thin as possible, but some cards have shorter chips and demand the thicker pads. -Dylan - Koolance Technical Support
See photo below for thermal pad sizes.
**All EK blocks use same size thermal pads. This includes reference, ASUS DC2 & Matrix as well as MSI Gaming & Lightning blocks**
Waterblock Installation Links:
XSPC - http://static.squarespace.com/static/51998404e4b0ef02d1bd9c2c/t/5292f421e4b006a2894e4d92/1385362465655/razor-r9-290x.pdf
EK - http://www.ekwb.com/shop/EK-IM/EK-IM-3831109868539.pdf
Koolance - https://koolance.com/files/products/manuals/manual_vid-ar290x_d100eng.pdf
HeatKiller - http://watercool.de/sites/default/files/downloads/MA_GPU-X3_R9_290Xm.pdf
AquaComputer -
KryographicsHawaiiInstallationInstructions.pdf 164k .pdf file
I did not use any TIM to assist in thermal conductivity on the pads. EK suggests using TIM in their instructions. I personally felt it would be a PITA to clean it all off when it came time to do that. Chiknnwatrmln also did not use any TIM with his EK block. With the Ultra Extreme he is seeing roughly 20C lower temps on VRM1 than I am with stock XSPC pads. So I am doing this write up to see what kind of a difference there is going from stock XSPC pads to FUE, and to see which block does a better job cooling VRM1.
Here's what it looked like with stock pads.
Fujipoly Extreme 150x100mm for the RAM chips. *I ordered too much*
The 150x100mm is enough to probably do 3 whole cards. If you wanted to get better than stock results and not spend $ for both types you could easily get away with one of these.
To save a couple dollars the cheapest route to cover the RAM chips would be (2) of the 60x50mm pads
Fujipoly Ultra Extreme 15x100mm for VRMs
The 15x100 FUE is more than enough to do the VRMs on these cards. If you cut them thin enough you might have enough to do 3 cards.
I examined the stock pad contact and found some spots that weren't being 100% covered.
I took the XSPC stock pads off and laid them on the Fujipoly to use them as a template and enlarged as needed.
My awesome Husky 'titanium' coated scissors worked marvelously to cut both versions of the pads.
Minimal trimming was needed to make all pieces fit on RAM really nice.
At this point I thought it would nice for everyone else to have a template of their own, so I put the pads on my scanner
R9290XThermalPadTemplate.jpg 1077k .jpg file
R9290XThermalPadTemplate.pdf 1055k .pdf file
Either should print on a whole sheet of 8.5x11 paper so they are the correct size. I would imagine these would work on other blocks aside from XSPC, but that will be up to others to find out if they use the templates
Time to clean the VRMs and RAM chips
I chose to use Arcticlean TIM remover/purifier as I figured it could easily remove the residue from the other pads. Chiknnwatrmln suggested Isopropyl Alcohol or a Pencil Eraser.
Time to lay the pads onto the card.
One more cut was required when I got to this point. I did not want to pick up the Fujipoly Extreme after it was on the card as it felt somewhat fragile. I ended up taking a precision flat head screwdriver to cut the pad where I needed. It required very little force to cut through the pad.
Tada!
A few miscellaneous pointers before I end this rant...
Wash your hands before handling these. The less oil from your skin the better; you could even wear gloves I suppose.
The Fujipoly Ultra Extreme has thinner more pliable plastic on both sides, it is easy to remove from both sides.
The Fujipoly Extreme is like all other thermal pads I have used in the past. One side is thin, pliable, has a checkered pattern, and is easy to remove. The other side has a thicker, harder, clear plastic and is more difficult to remove. Take the hard plastic off first so you don't struggle removing it and touch the pads more than necessary.
Temperature Results from Fujipoly Ultra Extreme on VRMs
Screenshot of VRM temps with FUE for 3DMark11 Performance Presets 1295/1700 +200mV
All observed temperatures before and after using same settings before and after thermal pad switch
On average for 3DMark11 Performance/Xtreme Presets, Unigine Heaven/Valley Extreme Presets, and FFXIV Benchmark Maximum Settings, temperatures decreased:
VRM1 23.25% VRM2 12.15%
Another user inquired about performance improvements over time. I don't know if thermal pads can cure and work better over time, but we are going to find out.
These are preliminary temperature results. Next information coming will be to see if I have uncovered any additional overclocking room.
Check out this link here to see Kizwan's graphs showing temp drops with EK block when upgrading to Fujipoly Ultra Extreme
http://www.overclock.net/t/1436497/official-amd-r9-290x-290-owners-club/20020#post_22044493
After 8 days of use with the Fujipoly Pads
Since my temperatures were already fair, I was not able to overclock the GPU core any further. Does this mean the upgrade isn't worth the money and effort? Absolutely not with a 20% drop in temperature. The cooler the card and all its components can run, the longer it will last especially if you plan on running a heavy overclock all the time; I'm talking to you Crypto Miners! The pads could definitely help others squeeze some more performance or stability out of their card. I still highly recommend the upgrade to anyone with a full cover block.
The Extreme pads for the RAM did not assist in any additional overclocking of the RAM. It would be my suggestion to save yourself the money and use the factory pads that come with your block for the RAM. The RAM doesn't get anywhere near the temperatures the VRMs do. If there was a thermal sensor for the RAM I would have data and possibly a different conclusion.
Almost 2 months laer
VRM temps are still excellent, there does not appear to be any degradation so far.
If anything the performance has increased. When I first installed these it brought the VRM1 within 1-2C of the core temp. Presently VRM temps at idle are 6C under core and now while gaming they are always under the core by 4-6C.
My card gets a healthy workout pretty frequently since I'm running 5760*1080 on the one 290. FFXIV literally loads my card between 95%-100% the entire time I am playing, which is typically several hours at a time. If you mine cryptocurrency this is an invaluable upgrade for the longevity/stability of your miners!
Don't think about it, just DO IT!
They are worth the $$
