** VTX3D R9 290 PRE-FLASHED TO R9 290X & VOLTAGE UNLOCKED!! **

[Gibbo]

Hi there


Once again Overclockers UK leads the market by offering its customers the first Pre-flashed R9 290 for your convenience to R9 290X with voltage control, give you extra performance out of the box and improved overclocking ability*

We have sourced a batch of VTX3D R9 290's which unlock, at Overclockers we pre-flash these cards with a voltage unlocked R9 290X BIOS giving you the additional stream processors (2560 upto 2816) and voltage control upto 1.412mv for improved overclocking*

This is all done for you and fully guaranteed with a full 2yr warranty.


Here is a Heaven 3.0 benchmark to prove the cores are indeed unlocking:-


R9 290 @ 1000MHz Core / 5000MHz Memory

R9 290 pre-flashed to R9 290X @ 1000MHz Core / 5000MHz Memory

As you can see a clear improvement, depending on what game or benchmark you are running, you will see a 3-6% gain giving you full blown R9 290X performance levels.




You can buy the card here pre-flashed by our technicians and ready to go:-




VTX3D Radeon R9 290 Pre-Flashed to 290X, X-Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card @ £359.99 inc VAT

Pre-flashed by Overclockers UK Technicians using an voltage unlocked R290X BIOS unlocking the additional stream processors, giving a total of 2816 stream processors. Also voltage unlocked as well and with a full guarantee and warranty.

AMD Radeon R9 290 is a new graphics card powered by the latest AMD Radeon™ R9 290 graphics-processing unit (GPU). 4GB of super-fast GDDR5 memory for the best gaming experience at the highest resolutions including 4k and incorporates AMD Eyefinity and TrueAudio technologies to enable expansive multi-display setups and more accurate environmental sounds. R9 290 also includes support for both DirectX® 11.2 and AMD's new Mantle application programming interface (API) for great handling of even the most-demanding PC games.


Specification:-
- Radeon R9 290 Pre-Flashed to R290X
- GPU: Hawaii Pro flashed to XT
- Stream Processors: 2816
- Core Speed: 1000MHz
- Memory Speed: 5000Mhz
- Memory interface: 512-Bit
- Memory capacity: 4096MB GDDR5
- Cooling: 2-Slot Blower Fan
- PCI-Express X16 lane required
- 750W or greater PSU required
- Power Connectors: 8-pin + 6-pin required
- Display Outputs: 2x Dual Link DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
- Warranty: 2yy


Features:-
- Flashed to R290X
- Unlocked Voltage
- DirectX 11.2 Support
- Open GL 4.2 Support
- Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio support
- Crossfire Support upto 4-way: Native software crossfire (No bridge required)
- Gaming @ 4k Resolutions (UltraHD)
- Synergy with next-gen game consoles (Mantle)
- Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture - optimized from previous generation products


Only £359.99 inc VAT.

ORDER NOW

 

[Gibbo]

Now you tell me where else you would get this kind of service? Bravo OCUK.

Nowhere is what.

Though someone will no doubt try to copy us now, they always do.

 

[Gibbo]

Would the warranty be covering the removal of the stock cooler as well?

Hi there

There is no issues with cooler removal as they have no warranty stickers over the screws, as always be careful, if you slip with the screwdriver causing physical damage, then of course there is no warranty.

 

[Gibbo]

So just to be clear, what does this mean exactly?
Does the switch now change between Uber and Silent profiles like on the 290X cards or is it still whatever it was on the 290?

Edit by Gibbo: Hinting at prices elsewhere will only get your suspended - THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!

First of all, stop breaking forum rules, hinting about prices elsewhere is against the rules here, any repeats of this and suspensions will be handed out.

In response to your question, default setting is R290X Unlocked voltage BIOS. Other setting is regular 290 Uber BIOS.

 

[Gibbo]

Impressive. Any idea if any other brands of cards are the same or is this likely a one off?

We feel its probably a one off, we snagged a batch from the original shipments and they all do it, we've not found any more yet. We won't do this with XFX or Powercolor due to RMA reasons, so we shall see if we can find more VTX3D ones.

 

[Gibbo]

I thought VTX and Powercolor were basically same/sister companies...or have I got that wrong?

Both part of the TUL group, but two separate operations, just like Gainward, Palit, Galaxy and KFA2 are all part of the Palit group but all separate operations.

Powercolor - Far East for their markets.
VTX3D - For UK/European market with better RMA support.

Just like:-
Galaxy - Far East for their markets.
KFA2 - For UK/European market with superb RMA support.


So though the parent company might be the same, they are run separately.

 

[Gibbo]

Is it OCUK or VTX3D who cover the warranty on these flashed ones?

OcUK.

 

[Gibbo]

C'mon Gibbo, throw me a bone. Any plans at all for OCUK to put coolers on the 290's themselves? It seems obvious it would make good money, so I suspect there are other reasons why you guys have not yet gone for it?

We shall look into it more, the problem at the moment is it is very time consuming and our builds area is operating at 150% capacity with it being peak season due to system and laptop sales absolutely exploding.

Plus we have to charge huge premiums for pre-fitting MK26 or a waterblock.

We shall look into it, but really no promises I am afraid.

 

[Gibbo]

I know, I know. Couldn't resist

When it was proven not to be a rumour we investigated further.

Unfortunately Powercolor / XFX versions we won't do.

 

[Gibbo]

Brilliant service, the best single card price/performance by a mile.

Shame it's VTX though, heard many a bad thing about them.

Well, what do you have to worry about?

Because were pre-flashing them, essentially pre-tested, so your guaranteed to get a working card.

OcUK looks after you for the 2yr warranty period and they are reference design, so all is good.

 

[Gibbo]

Fair enough, sorry about that.

I recall you saying that a lot of 7990s suffered from coil whine (or something like that). What's the situation with R9 290s and coil whine (if you can hear it over the cooler)? As I'd eventually be looking to watercool and it'd be annoying to get rid of the fan noise but still have coil whine.

So far I am yet to hear one with coil whine.

However I have heard that some do it very faintly, but are rare, of course this is the current reference designs, which seem to be excellent for not having it.

Once custom cards come, that could change, but right now you'd be hugely unlucky to get one with coil whine and as always 24-48hrs running can cure some coil whine.

Most HD 7990's have it yes!

 

[Gibbo]

Gibbo, you are on fire tonight. First the 4820K offer, now this!!!!!

And after ordering a 780 and having clear conciousness

So at the same money, a 780OC or a 290pro->290X + custom cooler. hmmmmm

Thanks.
Remember last night we launched several AMD R9 270, 280 and 290's which include BF4 too and some silver award as well, things our competitors don't do.

 

[Gibbo]

Gibbo,

Sorry, another question (I'm only asking because I'm tempted, not trying to catch you out).
I know this BIOS isn't quite the same as overclocking the card, but the GPU and RAM speeds are faster than the card's default right?
So is there any sign of the problem mentioned in this thread with the cards once flashed?

Not seen any such issues.
Black screen can be caused by:-
Memory OC to high, typically when above 5600MHz, some can happily sit at 6600MHz others can't do 5600MHz.
Poor quality PSU.
Set power to +50 to try prevent it
Drivers & compatibility issues

In our test the only time we get black screen is with too high a ram clock, as our PSU and OS / drivers are ok and we set +50 power.

Some games it can happen stock speeds this is down typically too system compatibilty and drivers, hence why for some drivers fix it, the cure is reduce ram overclock or wait for new driver.

On PSU run the card of two separate rails, to give it more constant / steady juice.

 

[Gibbo]

I'm slightly confused, does this mean the shaders will unlock if I flash my card with a 290x bios?

Try it.

It seems some cards have 290X cores put on them, so flashing them works and unlocks the extra processors. If it does not work you still get the speed bump to 1000MHz and voltage control if you use the Asus BIOS so well worth doing.

 

[Gibbo]

Gibbo

Have cancelled order with competitor due to waiting to long.
Need card for delivery tomorrow so before I order are these cards compatable with 290X water blocks?

Hi there

Yes they are.

Order today, even if it shows out of stock, I am making some more now, so no issues with shipping out today.

 

[Gibbo]

Hi there

Just doing some more now.

Seems they do not all unlock, so we shall be creating a new product, which will just feature voltage unlock.

Also the price on this might have to go up today, so if your thinking about one buy now, before I re-vise the price upwards as were finding quite a few which refuse to unlock the additional shaders.

 

[Gibbo]

Can we still order it with it out of stock? And for now if we order we'd still get the unlocked to 290x plus voltage unlocked for £360 right?

YES!

I just found 5 more which unlock, shall book them onto the stock after lunch, so please do re-order as I shall definitely be increasing the price as its not as straight cut as they all unlock, only some do.....

 

[Gibbo]

Glad I got my 2 ordered last night


My wallet disagrees however


By the way, any chance of getting them over to tech labs also to add some waterblocks before shipping?

Nope sorry. Something you shall have to fit yourself, due to time constraints here.

 

[Gibbo]

Knowing my luck all mine will be laser cut GPU's, I'll find out later today when I get back and attempt to unlock them.

All of mine had sequential serial numbers (i.e. same exact serial numbers except ending 48,49 and 50)

They they will either all be locked, or will all unlock.

This is what I am finding, if one in a box of 5 unlocks, they all do.
If one in a box of 5 fails, they all do.

 

[Gibbo]

Guys

Prices goes up at 13:00, you have 40 minutes!