290X Lightning Advice for a newby

[Peddeh]

Hello,

unfortunately, my 290X Lightning has had one of its fans (the yellow middle one) start to produce an annoying clicking/grinding noise. Rather than RMA it, because I know how long MSI's turnaround time can be, it was suggested to me that I consider custom watercooling it. Problem is, I don't know the first thing about custom watercooling so I've no idea where to start, what gear I need and so on.

What I'm looking for is a kind of a newby guide. I don't even know if it's possible to do it on this card.

Can anyone get me started on the gear I will need?

Much appreciated!

 

[SieB]

If it is just your GPU you will need

GPU water block

http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop...over-Waterblock--Nickel-Acetal-pid-25724.html

Radiator (at least a 360mm, 60mm thick)

http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop...l-Copper-360mm-Triple-Radiator-pid-14819.html

Pump and Res

http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop...ervoir-and-Pump-Combination-V2-pid-15990.html

Tubing

http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop...-13-19mm-Tubing--Crystal-Clear-pid-17677.html

And fittings - you will need two for x2 for your res, x2 for your rad

http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop...OD-13-19mm-Compression-Fittings-cid-1812.html

Fittings for waterblock - x2 90* fittings

http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop...m-90-Angle-Compression-Fittings-cid-1813.html

And coolant of choice

http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/Fluids--Dyes-cid-1182.html

If you want to do CPU as well i'd grab an extra 240mm, 60mm thick radiator. You will also need a CPU waterblock and x2 more fittings.

 

[Peddeh]

Thanks SieB. I'm going to look at purchasing those items this week.

 

[SieB]

Thanks SieB. I'm going to look at purchasing those items this week.

No probs

 

[tinytomlogan]

The fan is catching on the shroud - find out where it is and sort it. Youve probably bent it or its twisted a bit fella.

 

[Peddeh]

The fan is catching on the shroud - find out where it is and sort it. Youve probably bent it or its twisted a bit fella.

This is the first thing I looked for but I couldn't see any evidence of anything obstructing it. I should note that I had 2 Gaming edition cards before this that all eventually suffered the same fate, all RMA'd and replaced (by the retailer after they tested them). The replacements eventually met that fate until I gave up and got this, only to be met with the same issue . It's past the 28 day bracket, so the retailer won't replace it from stock, it will need to go MSI and I can't be doing with the downtime. Before all this, I had the 7970 from Club3D running pretty much 24/7 (I rarely turn my system off), without any issues at all (it's now sat in my secondary machine and still going). But that's 3 cards now ALL from MSI all suffering fan clicking/grinding issues, is that a coincidence?

It's safe to say I won't be buying any MSI branded video cards in the future.

 

[Dicehunter]

This is the first thing I looked for but I couldn't see any evidence of anything obstructing it. I should note that I had 2 Gaming edition cards before this that all eventually suffered the same fate, all RMA'd and replaced (by the retailer). The replacements eventually met that fate until I gave up and got this, only to be met with the same issue . It's past the 28 day bracket, so the retailer won't replace it from stock, it will need to go MSI and I can't be doing with the downtime.

What are you doing with all your cards to cause this ?

Nothing against you here but it sounds like user error as in your handling them a little too rough maybe when installing them and bending something in the process.

OR maybe you've just gotten a bad batch of cards, Can happen but 3 in a row is seriously bad luck.

 

[ObscureParadox]

I believe there was an issue with the grease used in the bearings which was drying out with the heat produced by the card.

This is probably the sound he's hearing as it's rubbing against the solid grease

 

[Peddeh]

What are you doing with all your cards to cause this ?

Nothing against you here but it sounds like user error as in your handling them a little too rough maybe when installing them and bending something in the process.

OR maybe you've just gotten a bad batch of cards, Can happen but 3 in a row is seriously bad luck.

Nothing out of the ordinary. I know how to install a video card . I've only been gaming with them, fans have always been left on auto (before it's suggested I'm mining and running fans at 100%, like it has been in other forums). I've had multiple video cards from different vendors and never had to RMA one in my life until I got my first MSI card

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I believe there was an issue with the grease used in the bearings which was drying out with the heat produced by the card.

This is probably the sound he's hearing as it's rubbing against the solid grease

It's not the first time I've heard about this. Apparently it's a big issue on the gaming cards, but never heard anyone having this issue with the Lightning cards :/