Cooling the R9 290

[MalcolmWoodchop]

I was almost on the verge of buying the 290 and the only reason I haven't so far is because of the high temperatures. AMD claims 95 degrees Celsius is not effecting the longevity of the card. I am the type of person who upgrades every 5 years so I really need this to last. Are these high temperatures safe and will they degrade fps over time or cause me any problems? I want to oc my gpu and I feel like the AMD would require some sort of water cooling system to do so, is this correct? Should I just stick with the safer EVGA GTX 780 superclocked w/ acx cooling? I feel like the AMD card is high risk high reward and the GTX 780 is just more expensive for the same speed.

 

[TechyInAZ]

I recommend the r9 290 from gigabyte, it's massive WindForce cooler should keep the temps defiantly below 95C.

 

[MalcolmWoodchop]

still looking for an answer....the r9 series seems better but also scarier because of the temperature. It seems like its on the brink of overheating and overclocking just a little bit will completely destroy it. Probably going to stick with a gtx 780 if I do not get a good answer.

 

[Proclaim89]

I have recently purchased a Gigabyte Windforce r9 290 for my mate, and it hovers around ~70 degrees celsius in a case with no side fans and no front fans... You won't have a problem from AMD's r9 offerings as long as you get an aftermarket variant