R9 290X Owners Thread

[Kaapstad]

The R9 290X Owners Thread.

​

Thread Navigation Links.

The 290X and 290P range available from OcUK.

The 290X Waterblock & Backplate range available from OcUK.

User Reviews.

Links to useful benches.

​

The Roll of Honour.

Make, Sapphire, Lord_ZED Link
Make, Asus, Kaapstad Link
Make, Asus, MjFrosty Link
Make, HIS, tribz Link
Make, MSI, Dom86 Link
Make, Sapphire, darket Link
Make, Sapphire, VincentHanna Link
Make, MSI, lukext Link
Make, Sapphire, Tidal Link
Make, MSI, adwol48 Link
Make, Sapphire, weldon855 Link
Make, Sapphire, X3T Link
Make, Asus, Frenzy Link
Make, HIS, 1stRaven Link
Make, Asus, uksoldierboy Link
Make, HIS, dfour Link
Make, MSI, Rasch Link
Make, Asus, Scramz Link
Make, Sapphire, mrozik Link
Make, VTX, pete910 Link
Make, Sapphire, jinxpad Link
Make, Sapphire, jkb Link
Make, MSI, Boomstick777 Link
Make, HIS, Norv952 Link
Make, Gigabyte, the1gooner Link
Make, Powercolor, hyperseven Link
Make, Powercolor, SS-89 Link
Make, Sapphire, WalderX Link
Make, HIS, Calneon Link
Make, MSI, Djxinator Link
Make, Gigabyte, Rezident Link
Make, Sapphire, KaRLiToS Link
Make, MSI, Hunt0r Link
Make, Sapphire, r7slayer Link
Make, Sapphire, MilanoChris Link
Make, MSI, Choimaloy75 Link
Make, MSI, nicnik Link
Make, MSI, djay Link
Make, MSI, Th0nt Link
Make, Sapphire, Mr. May Link
Make, Sapphire, BG1980 Link
Make, Sapphire, Rangerjr1 Link
Make, MSI Lightning, MjFrosty Link
Make, MSI Lightning, Rangerjr1 Link
Make, MSI Lightning, Jasseh Link
Make, Asus Matrix Platinum, Dicehunter Link
Make, Sapphire Tri-X, Boomstick777 Link
Make, Sapphire Tri-X, ~Mike~ Link
Make, MSI Gaming, Jimmy G Link
Make, Sapphire Tri-X, protoo Link
Make, Sapphire Vapor-X 8gb, MjFrosty Link
Make, Sapphire Vapor-X 8gb, rsturbomad Link
Make, Asus DirectCU II OC, tommybhoy Link
Make, Powercolor, tommybhoy Link
Make, Sapphire Tri-X, mrk Link
Make, Asus DirectCU II OC, juno12 Link
Make, XFX DD, AMDMatt Link
Make, Sapphire Tri-X, GoogalyMoogaly Link
Make, Powercolor, gareth170 Link
Make, Sapphire Tri-X, Papablu Link
Make, XFX Reference, AMDMatt Link
Make, MSI Lightning, AMDMatt Link
Make, Sapphire Reference, bloodkil Link
Make, Sapphire Vapor-X 8gb, FredFlint Link
Make, MSI Gaming, Boomstick777 Link
Make, Powercolor Reference, bloodkil Link
Make, Sapphire Vapor-X 8gb, CapitalOne Link
Make, MSI Lightning, thefogo Link
Make, MSI Lightning, Divine Pain Link
Make, MSI Gaming, LoadsaMoney Link
Make, MSI Lightning, savagesam117 Link
Make, MSI Lightning, Stuen4y Link
Make, MSI Gaming, dessimpson Link
Make, Gigabyte, Monkeh Link
Make, MSI Gaming, Gregster Link
Make, MSI Lightning, bloodkil Link
Make, Sapphire Vapor-X, Lustral Link
Make, Sapphire Vapor-X, Trunkey Link
Make, MSI Gaming, Cheezymon Link
​

290X Reviews.

AMD Reference

HardOCP
AnandTech
Guru3D
PCPer
Hexus
Tom's Hardware
Hardware Canucks
Bit Tech
Hardware Info
Tech Spot
Semi Accurate
Legit Reviews
Tweaktown
Tech Powerup
SweClockers
Xbit Labs
OC3D






ASUS Matrix Platinum

OC3D
Review Studio
Ocaholic
Guru3D
HardOCP


ASUS DirectCU II OC 4GB

Tweak.dk
Guru3D
Ocaholic
HardOCP
Tech Powerup
Tom's Hardware
Hexus
OC3D
SweClockers
HardOCP
Cowcotland


ASUS DirectCU II OC 4GB WC

Ocaholic






Club 3D Royal Ace

PC-MAX






Gigabyte WindForce 3X OC

Guru3D
Hexus
Techspot
Mad Shrimps
eTeknix
Tom's Hardware
Hardware Canucks
Cowcotland
Hardware Luxx
Funky Kit
SweClockers
Tweaktown






HIS IceQ X² Turbo

Hardware Luxx
Tweaktown
Mad Shrimps


HIS IceQ Hybrid iTurbo 4GB

Tweaktown
Guru3D
Legion Hardware
Tech Spot






MSI Gaming

Guru3D
Tech Powerup
Bjorn3d
Tweaktown
HardOCP
Hardware Luxx
hwbox
HT4U






MSI Lightning

OC3D
Guru3D
Vortez
Tweaktown
Toms Hardware
Tweak DK






PowerColor PCS+

Guru3D
Hexus
Tech Powerup
Hardware Luxx
Hardware Canucks
eTeknix
Overclockers Club
Legit Reviews
OC3D
Tom's Hardware
HardOCP


PowerColor LCS+ WC

Ocaholic
Tom's Hardware






Sapphire Tri-X

HT4U
Computer base
Tom's Hardware
Hardware Luxx
Bjorn3d
Tech Powerup
Tweaktown
Techware Labs
SweClockers
Hardware Mag
Vortez
Hardware Mag


Sapphire Tri-X 8gb

Kit Guru
eteknix
Tweaktown
Play3r
eteknix
Cow Cotland


Sapphire 4gb Vapor-X

Computer Base
HiTech Legion
Legit Reviews
Think Computers
PC-Max
Hexus
HardOCP
Tweaktown
Generation GPU
PC Experience.de
Hardware Info
Hardware Slave


Sapphire 8gb Vapor-X

eTecknix
Kit Guru
Tom's Hardware
Computer Base
Tweaktown
PC-MAX
Hardware Mag
Tweaktown
Tweaktown
Hardware Info
Tweaktown






X.F.X. DD

Fudzilla
Hardware Canucks
Hardocp
Overclockers Club
SweClockers
HardOCP
eTeknix
pcGameware
Tweak DK
HardOCP
HardOCP
​

The stars of the show.

ASUS Matrix Platinum.




ASUS DirectCU II OC 4GB.




Gigabyte WindForce 3X OC.




HIS IceQ X² Turbo.




MSI_Lightning.




MSI_Gaming.




PowerColor PCS+.




Sapphire_Tri-X.




Sapphire Vapor-X OC.




X.F.X. DD.


​

290X Launch slides.

​

 

[Kaapstad]

​

User Reviews.

Gregster reviews the 290X LE.

Spoiler

So, as many of you will be aware, I am somewhat of a staunch nVidia fanboy and I imagine a few were double taking when I said I was going for an AMD card

Anyways, I went for the MSI 290X LE, as I had previous 680 Lightnings and was very impressed with the build quality on those and the LE 290X isn't any different in the quality department. On
opening the box and taking the card out of the ant-static bag, you could see straight away that the build quality was top notch. Nothing feels like it is about to break and everything has a real
solid feel to it. Plenty of connections on it as well with DL-DVI, HDMI, DP all an option.



So after taking the 3 Titans out and popping in the LE, it was time to fire it up. After some initial black screens prior to putting the driver on, I ran into another issue.... I couldn't get the screen
to run at 120Hz (I knew prior that AMD can't do 144Hz at 1440P). It would strobe flicker for a couple of seconds before going to a black screen. I finally got round it by connecting another
monitor and setting 60Hz on the ROG Swift. It might go higher on the refresh but I was happy, so left it there. A bit of a small issue and not something that was going to deter me but I did
expect to be able to run 120Hz at 1440P. This has me also thinking that Freesync 144Hz monitor and 1440P might well have some teething issues on certain systems but time will tell on that.

Right then, screen is working and I am now ready to hit some games. The first game I fire up is Tomb Raider, as this is a problem free game for both AMD and nVidia users and kudos to
Square/Enix on this game. Still a wonderful looking game and one I am happy to put time into. The game flows along very nicely and with Ultra settings, I was getting around 50 fps at 1440P
and it felt nice and smooth. No stutter or judder and very free flowing. A very good start

Next up was one of my current favourites, which is Elite Dangerous. I have put a lot of time into this and it didn't disappoint on the 290X. Free flying saw me sitting at around 120 fps and in
and around stations, it was dropping to 50 ish, which is very acceptable. The commodities market/menu felt very sluggish but not anything to moan about and not as important as combat
(which I didn't get into).

Third game was BF4 and time to give Mantle a try And I can see why people like it. It ran very smooth, felt very responsive and on one of the big snow maps, I was sitting around 72-75 fps
constant at ultra and 1440P. No slow downs and a good feel to the game. Mantle gets a plus from me here.

And my last game of trying is Assassins Creed: Unity... So much has been made about this game and how it runs poorly for the 970/980/290/290X and I found it to be "ok".... That is a bit of a
lame response but that's all I can say. It ran ok, it felt ok and it played ok. I played this to death on my Titans and on those it ran ok. Neither the 290X or the Titans was as smooth as the
previous games and goes to show that UBI made a fantastic game with some poor optimisations. Nothing I could whinge at on either system and it has the same judder I got on the Titans.
Frames were quite low as well but I only played AC:U on a minimum of a pair of Titans, so that wouldn't be fair to compare.

Overall, I am very pleased with the 290X and I was very impressed with how well Mantle felt in BF4 (Kudos AMD/Dice). The only downside I can see at present is the refresh rate. Because of
how low the refresh rate is, this in turn brings masses of tearing to games. I purposefully turned off G-Sync when I knew I was getting rid of the Titans but I left the refresh rate at 144Hz, as I
expected there to be little difference between 120hz and 144Hz but as I can't run 120Hz @ 1440P either, I was a little disappointed. Not one of the games tested ran without tearing and this is
a little bit of a thumbs down moment. If AMD can get the 144Hz working (or even 120Hz), that would be me pretty much set and free gaming without a care in the world.

Temps were very good and surprised me a bit. I have the fan curve set at AB's recommnded setting and whilst I could hear the fan, it wasn't loud and temps didn't go over 75c that I observed.

So, to wrap up my very quick review, a very good card indeed. Solid with a decent build quality. Mantle is very good and runs very nice. If they could get 144Hz and 1440P working, that would
seriously help with the tearing and they could even have converted me to being a fan of AMD. A small moan but overall an enjoyable couple of hours gaming

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18659544

 

[Kaapstad]

Looking forward to seeing your results Kaap. I know you won't disappoint me.

There will be a little wait until I have the cards watercooled, putting 4 in a case and running on air could result in thermo nuclear meltdown.

Unless 8 Pack can send me some LN2.

 

[Kaapstad]

If anyone is interested

If you post a pic of your new R9 290X with your name in front I can put you on a Roll of Honour in the OP.

 

[Kaapstad]

Kaapstad why dont you start with a pic of you holding your shiney new toys?

When my new toys get here I will post a pic.

 

[Kaapstad]

Lets see who will be the first to get an entry on the Heaven 4 bench (it won't be me, I still have to build a PC to use mine).

At the moment the top 50 in Heaven 4 is all green, it could do with some red in there.

 

[Kaapstad]

Well just got mine. Working at Post office does help

Congrats.

 

[Kaapstad]

My build log

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18566653

 

[Kaapstad]

Nice one Kaap. I don't think i could wait that long without at least trying one out.

I will be trying them one at a time to sort out the running order for when the waterblocks go on.

 

[Kaapstad]

Still on a truck with "phil" for another 4 hours...

24 Oct 2013 parcel - dpd next day Your OVERCLOCKERS order will be delivered today by Phil, your DPD driver, between 13:09 and 14:09

I only live a few minutes away from them, sometimes I am the first stop and unfortunately other times that means I can be the last stop.

 

[Kaapstad]

Very nice purchase! However, why did you buy multiple of the BF4 edition. Are you just going to sell the keys?

I did not give it a lot of thought, but I did not have any trouble getting rid of the keys.

 

[Kaapstad]

Can't believe you bought 4 right off the bat. I hate you.

Really wish I'd of at least got two to play with If I order another before 5PM it's your fault.

They do look nice in real life and two together even better.

 

[Kaapstad]

Sold the codes already Kaap? I might've bought one.

All gone, I was not short of offers to take them off my hands.

 

[Kaapstad]

Impressive stuff Kapsted.. Looking forward to seeing them installed and running.

What games and resolutions will you be testing at?

All the usual benches, 3dmark11, firestrike, Heaven 4, Valley, Tomb Raider, Sleeping Dogs, Bioshock infinity and anything else I can find.

 

[Kaapstad]

I asked for the ASUS in the end. I'm not happy with the way all this has gone down though.

Fair enough the first 150 customers get priority choice. But I was quite annoyed the memory on the other cards were checked but weren't on the MSI as I requested. I was also annoyed how staff told me that MSI were in stock when Gibbo was telling me they hadn't arrived.
I requested MSI or ASUS in the end. This morning I'm told all cards are sold out despite having pre ordered. I'm then told that more ASUS should arrive today. So I have reluctantly gone for that despite the premium.
Hopefully I'll at least get the card tomorrow.

Overall I haven't been happy with the whole process and it has put me off from pre ordering in the future.

It is not all bad news, GPU Tweak I think allows overvolting out of the box so Asus cards will have a temporary advantage until the other overclocking software catches up.

 

[Kaapstad]

Dewivewy

Nice.

 

[Kaapstad]

anyone else having trouble getting the bf4 code to work????

Yes me

I have put it down to the game not being available until 29 Oct.

Can anyone shed anymore light on this ?

 

[Kaapstad]

Yes, using the forum settings. I'm not in danger of setting any records.

Gut feeling is good but I'm yet to play any games.

Have a go on 3dmark11 and firestrike, these should run a lot better.

 

[Kaapstad]

Kaap are you not going to bother at all on the ref cooler then?

I will be giving them a run one or two at a time with the ref coolers so I can work out what order to put them in when I fit waterblocks.

 

[Kaapstad]

based on ?

temps (maybe just non-optimal contact) or "asic quality", runes/voodoo ?

I will try them on 3dmark11 and Heaven 4 to see which overclocks the best.

Based on what I get

Slot 1 will get the fastest card
Slot 3 the second fastest
Slot 2 the third fastest
Slot 4 the slowest