With the release of the AMD R9 Hawaii series GPU came top notch single GPU gaming performance. The R9-290x quickly took the #1 spot in most reviews. However there was a universal gripe when it came to heat. The 290x packed 2816 stream processing units(cores) on a 438 mm²die, running at 1Ghz. This combination apparently was a recipe to reach epic load temperatures. While some of us were waiting for AMD partners to come up with after-market cooling solutions to correct this reported problem, XSPC went to work on an enthusiast class answer to the heat. The XSPC Razor 290/290x full cover water block was designed to provide the best cooling solution without having a large heatsink and the noise of air cooling. XSPC is known for providing great cost effective water cooling components for water cooling enthusiasts. We expect the Razor 290/290x to continue that trend. Let’s read on to find out if it does.