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**WARNING: DO NOT BUY POWERCOLOR 290 PCS+ CARDS FOR MINING (NOW RESOLVED THESE CARDS ARE FINE)!!**

Gibbo

Gibbo

Gibbo

OcUK Staff
Joined
17 Oct 2002
Posts
38,501
Location
OcUK HQ
Hi there

It is with great shame I have to post this. :(

Today I was testing the Powercolor 290 PCS+ card, the card has the absolute best cooling solution I've seen so far and in Heaven it was hitting 1220-1240MHz core and 6600-6800MHz memory, so not a bad result at all. :)

Then I thought, OK lets do a little bit of mining on this card to see what hash rates it was capable of as they are outfitted with Hynix memory.

In short within seconds of starting mining the PC shuts off with the graphics reporting OCP protection, requiring a hard reset. :(

I have tried everything, all kinds of voltages, all variations of clock speeds etc. etc. The only way I can get this card to mine is by having the core clocked 750MHz or less, which gives a less than 700 hash rate. :(

I can max voltages, I can even set the RAM to 1500MHz and she will mine.

The moment I move that core beyond 800MHz irrelevant of voltage I either get driver not responding or OCP protection.

This is clearly the cards BIOS kicking in OCP way too early or Powercolor's VRM's are the fault.

But right now **DO NOT** buy Powercolor 290/290X PCS+ if you intend on mining. If you are gaming, they are one of the very best cards currently available.

I shall feedback in this thread with info from Powercolor as I get it, fingers crossed a BIOS will resolve this as otherwise its a great card.

Powercolor 270 and 280 series are fine and make very good miners I am glad to report. :)
 
I also tried abit with this one guys mining and benching to try and fix reported problems. But I could not get it to mine for more than a few seconds at stock speeds. Definately OCP/OVP as on restart card not detected without full power down and GPU volts at zero.

Real shame this as the card was great for both noise and over clocking in gaming and benching applications. I am hopeful Powercolor can fix this with bios revision.
 
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Ace Modder said:
Just checked the website, good to see you put the warning on the website for none forum customers.

And thats why OCUK are great!
Click to expand...

Yep, we are enthusiast so I love testing and playing with the hardware and if I find an issue which I can't fix there and then, I will report it to you guys.

Hopefully they will fix it because, wow what a cooler!!!
 
Thx 4 the warning from Germany, i have started a thread @ pcgh, so everybody should know...
 
Last edited:
HankScorpio said:
Does this include folding?
Click to expand...

Only tested mining us GUIminer and tried several settings. Best hash could get upto was 700 hash by fiddling with card and mining settings.

Basically anything really over 800MHz on the core and she just shuts down with OCP protection.

Yet I can run Heaven without issue at 1240MHz core........
 
If I've understood correctly, this sounds like the card is trying to draw more current than the motherboard is capable of providing, and so it is shutting down the board. If that's the case, then that's a motherboard related issue surely?

Please help an old fool understand this...
 
Gibbo said:
Only tested mining us GUIminer and tried several settings. Best hash could get upto was 700 hash by fiddling with card and mining settings.

Basically anything really over 800MHz on the core and she just shuts down with OCP protection.

Yet I can run Heaven without issue at 1240MHz core........
Click to expand...

So mining is a lot more stressful for a video card then heaven?
 
chief barker said:
I think it's nice of you to warn potential buyers of that card, nice one.
Click to expand...

Ace Modder said:
Just checked the website, good to see you put the warning on the website for none forum customers.

And thats why OCUK are great!
Click to expand...


I'm sure OCUK are happy to sell you some other 290 that works better!

Shame, as the PCS+ cooler looks really heavy duty, just right for mining.
 
Not being a party pooper, but PowerColour isn't known as a top brand so it doesn't surprise me that they'd use pony VRMS!

Just the thought of putting a PowerColour card through the prolonged loads that mining does makes me wince a bit :D
 
MjFrosty said:
Not being a party pooper, but PowerColour isn't known as a top brand so it doesn't surprise me that they'd use pony VRMS!

Just the thought of putting a PowerColour card through the prolonged loads that mining does makes me wince a bit :D
Click to expand...

You have to admit though how many companies would do what they have done and warned you about it though m8 :) Great Job Gibbo and ocuk for the warning.
 
MjFrosty said:
Not being a party pooper, but PowerColour isn't known as a top brand so it doesn't surprise me that they'd use pony VRMS!

Just the thought of putting a PowerColour card through the prolonged loads that mining does makes me wince a bit :D
Click to expand...

They are actually TUL's performance brand and have a lot of upgraded components on them, included full card waterblocks if you want that. OCUK have a special deal with them, and if this is just a BIOS issue that can be sorted with an update, their PCS+ is potentially the highest performing and best cooled R9-290/290X, with one of the best UK RMA turnarounds if you have any issues.
 
Gregster said:
What is the difference between mining and say Heaven? I would have thought they are both GPU intensive the same?

Good for you to let customers know.
Click to expand...

Mining seems way more intensive on a cards VRM's and current draw, compared to benchmarks and gaming.

We want these cards to sell, I did buy a few of them and are the only uk etailor with stock, but this is a major issue, so had to warn potential buyers.

I shall test more next week and hope for a resolution from Powercolor.
 
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