Is custom air cooling enough for the R9 290X?

[Rangerjr1]

I don't even see the point of comparing overclocking between brands. Surely if a card can't overclock much even if it's staying within it's thermal limits, then you're getting nearly the max possible out of the card, which is good, right? Who wants to buy a card that leaves tons of performance on the table for which you have to mess with voltages and careful tuning?

Comparing overclocking ability is even worse than comparing clockspeeds between brands. It doesn't tell you how much work each card is doing per clock, so a slower clocked card could have higher performance.

How is any of this even useful unless your only aim is to see how far above stock speeds you can get the card, ignoring if one is already most of the way there already?

I do, because i know how to bring out that performance. And i can do it for much cheaper than just getting a 780ti. Beating most 780tis in the process.

 

[ubersonic]

Maybe the reviewers were not using the tools properly or they did just have rubbish clockers, as looking about, many users are hitting 1200Mhz in bench tests.

Before I say this I do think the review is wrong, but they did say they were hitting limits while running sustained high performance, they did manage to get higher clocks in bench tests but obviously most people don't buy the cards for bench testing. It would worry me as a customer and I would reconsider buying a DCII 290 due to this (would still grab a 290X over a 780Ti).

I don't even see the point of comparing overclocking between brands.

I think their point was that the is only a $20 difference between the cards and due to the overclocking issues of the R290X DCii the GTX780 flat out embarrassed it (their word) in performance when overclocking was added to the mix.

 

[Steampunk]

I do, because i know how to bring out that performance. And i can do it for much cheaper than just getting a 780ti. Beating most 780tis in the process.

But if the max performance is already there ready for you out of the box, isn't that better?

 

[Rangerjr1]

But if the max performance is already there ready for you out of the box, isn't that better?

That is never the case unless they do some ridiculous binning process, and this means very few cards will perform the same due to the difference in clocking ability. And no it wouldnt be better because i would have to pay a lot more.

 

[Steampunk]

I think their point was that the is only a $20 difference between the cards and due to the overclocking issues of the R290X DCii the GTX780 flat out embarrassed it (their word) in performance when overclocking was added to the mix.

Oh I see what you mean there. Surely that would be different if they weren't using the most expensive 290X custom cooler (and seemingly not a hugely effective one)?

 

[Rangerjr1]

Oh I see what you mean there. Surely that would be different if they weren't using the most expensive 290X custom cooler (and seemingly not a huge effective one)?

ASUS should be given **** for this not AMD.

 

[Gregster]

ASUS should be given **** for this not Gregster.

Fixed that

If you want this card, wait it out for a revision/Matrix, as they can definitely do better.

 

[uksoldierboy]

Tbh even with AMD, in all the cards i've had, overclocking has been just as easy as nvidia.. install afterburner, gpu tweak etc, slider to the right till it crashes, go back or add voltage..rinse and repeat.

surely that's the same for all cards if your looking at getting the best performance?

IMO the that reviewer either didn't have a clue or just couldn't be arsed.

I'd just like to add that Greg, i wasn't having a pop at you directly pal, but seeing as you know that the majority of 290/x's will get much better temps/overclocking results as posted here in the bench threads, and you stated in your post that you were just trying to let guys know that the DCII seems a poor card>>>


"So people would rather buy a Asus DCII and ignore this and the [H] thread and anything else that basically shows this card up?

1115mhz at 1.4v is shocking and I know full well that other cards are capable of more mhz on less volts. I would be glad of this thread if I was looking to buy this card but seems some don't want people to know and would rather call me out.... Seriously?"

Maybe put it in the topic title, instead of just 290X
.

 

[Gregster]

Tbh even with AMD, in all the cards i've had, overclocking has been just as easy as nvidia.. install afterburner, gpu tweak etc, slider to the right till it crashes, go back or add voltage..rinse and repeat.

surely that's the same for all cards if your looking at getting the best performance?

IMO the that reviewer either didn't have a clue or just couldn't be arsed.

I'd just like to add that Greg, i wasn't having a pop at you directly pal, but seeing as you know that the majority of 290/x's will get much better temps/overclocking results as posted here in the bench threads, and you stated in your post that you were just trying to let guys know that the DCII seems a poor card>>>


"So people would rather buy a Asus DCII and ignore this and the [H] thread and anything else that basically shows this card up?

1115mhz at 1.4v is shocking and I know full well that other cards are capable of more mhz on less volts. I would be glad of this thread if I was looking to buy this card but seems some don't want people to know and would rather call me out.... Seriously?"

Maybe put it in the topic title, instead of just 290X
.

I copied the Title from PCPer.com and like I said, I didn't realise I had to butter it up for the more delicate amongst us.

Edit:

Spoiler

 

[RavenXXX2]

Obviously custom air cooling is enough for an 290x as shown by the reviews out there so title is slightly misleading, I can see why team AMD are getting their pitchforks out.

 

[uksoldierboy]

I copied the Title from PCPer.com and like I said, I didn't realise I had to butter it up for the more delicate amongst us.

Edit:

Spoiler

I don't think anyone is asking you to "butter it up" bud, i'm just saying you took the time to post it, at least title the thread correctly so someone looking to get DCII 290X will find it easy enough.

I'll jump out at this point, really can't be arsed with it tonight.

 

[l2ez4m]

By the way the very same site tested exactly the same ASUS gpu and came to absolutely different conclusion while also achieving better overclock 1150.

The ASUS R9 290X DirectCU II is one of the best graphics cards I have ever tested in the PC Perspective labs. It takes a powerful GPU that was first released with a lot of concerns and irons them all out. This card runs at consistent clock speeds. It keeps the GPU much cooler (in the Performance setting). It also doesn't have the sound profile of a Dyson. (I kid, I kid.) It looks great, overclocks well and ASUS is only asking $20 more than the current MSRP. You can't really demand much more from an enthusiast class GPU today!

So where is the catch? Politics.

 

[Gregster]

I don't think anyone is asking you to "butter it up" bud, i'm just saying you took the time to post it, at least title the thread correctly so someone looking to get DCII 290X will find it easy enough.

I'll jump out at this point, really can't be arsed with it tonight.

Well the point being the 290X temps in general, so the title is correct. The sub part points out how bad the DCII is at cooling and what volts were used to get a decent overclock. For water coolers, the thread is a non issue, as you can comfortably ram the volts in and not give it a second thought but for the majority of people, they don't do this, so therefore awareness is a good thing. However you look at it, it was stated that the reference card ran hot and needed a semi high fan speed to keep it cool and with normal custom coolers, this is no longer required but according to [H], they said it would still run very hot (talking specifically the DCII here).

When you compare [H] reviewing the 780 DCII, it is a different story.

To start our overclocking procedure, we increased power target, max GPU voltage, and temperature target all to their highest values. Doing this ensures we have all available resources at the highest possible value, in order to achieve higher and more stable overclocks. We did not need to manually set the fan speed, with them running automatically we had cool temperatures while performing quietly.

Next we began increasing the GPU boost clock. We found the ASUS GeForce GTX 780 DirectCU II OC's highest stable overclock was with the GPU boost clock set to 1145MHz. The memory on the other hand did not impress much. We only managed to increase it from 6008MHz, up to 6158MHz.

Article Image
The standard base clock speed set by NVIDIA is 863MHz with the boost clock set to 900MHz. ASUS goes ahead and overclocks the ASUS GeForce GTX 780 DC II at the factory, bringing the base clock up to 889MHz and the boost clock up to 941MHz. Our highest stable overclock increased the base clock up to 1093MHz and the GPU boost clock all the way up to 1145MHz. This is a 204MHz increase to our boost clock compared to the stock video card, and 245MHz faster than a reference GeForce GTX 780. Our real world frequency increased from 1006MHz up to1228MHz. This is an overall increase of 222MHz in-game. The memory as we said did not handle overclocking so well. The base memory frequency was 6008MHz, which increased only to 6158MHz.

Throughout this evaluation we will be using our highest stable overclock as a fourth video card in the evaluation, in order to express everything the ASUS GeForce GTX 780 DC II OC is capable of. Please remember that every video card is different and the overclocks we achieve here are not necessarily what you will be able to achieve. Below is a screenshot of GPU-Z after achieving our highest stable overclock on the ASUS GeForce GTX 780 DirectCU II OC video card.

The improved DirectCU II cooling system, which utilizes a new 10mm heat pipe and the CoolTech fan, performed to our expectations. Both the stock and overclocked ASUS GeForce GTX 780 DC II OC idled at 24 degrees Celsius. Under load the stock video card increased only to 58c with fans at 51%. After overclocking the ASUS GeForce GTX 780 DC II OC the full load temperature increased to 60c with fans at 56%.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013...ectcu_ii_oc_video_card_review/10#.UuLKQxBFAUE

As you can see, there is a big difference in temps between the 290X DCII and the 780 DCII and they used the same testing methodology. So if we consider the DCII to be a good cooler, what will it take to keep the 290X cool?

 

[Gibbo]

Hi there

I had a play with a Sapphire 290X Tri-X today, by far the best 290X I've tested, even just edging out the mighty MSI 290X gaming.

It was able to hit 1260MHz core and 7000MHz memory, with 100% fan and temperatures did not exceed 60c, this is the King of the 290X cards and the cooler is easily the most powerful cooler I've tested to date, not the quietest however. Sapphire use it on their Toxic and Tri-X cards, stunning cooler.

I fear that Asus have used lesser quality components on their 290X PCB and hence the poor overclocks reviewers are seeing. My Asus DC2 290X stock lands on Monday and a FREE one for me, so I shall give it a good thrashing and see what it gets.

 

[Steampunk]

Any idea when you are going to get a Powercolor PCS+ to test? Not just the two and a half slot cooler, but the claimed higher quality components should make it very fast. It's already specced for high clocks out of the box.

 

[Gibbo]

Any idea when you are going to get a Powercolor PCS+ to test? Not just the two and a half slot cooler, but the claimed higher quality components should make it very fast. It's already specced for high clocks out of the box.

Due to the shortage, Powercolor are still waiting for chips from AMD.
I shall ask them if they have maybe 1-2 units they can sell me for testing.

 

[andybird123]

I don't think anyone is asking you to "butter it up" bud, i'm just saying you took the time to post it, at least title the thread correctly so someone looking to get DCII 290X will find it easy enough.

I'll jump out at this point, really can't be arsed with it tonight.

To be fair, the thread title is the one from the article, maybe go and have a pop at the reviewer?

 

[Rasch]

Asis half assed their work on the dcuii card.Most ref cards.are.better.I got a ref card with the tri-x bios.I did 1125\1690 on stock volgs today.

 

[uksoldierboy]

I know Andy I've seen, I expect that from a reviewer, I'm just saying that imo this forum is full of enough misinformation and opinions from people who don't even own the cards in question, AMD and Nvidia.

My problem isn't the fact that gregster posted it, my issue is that he could have titled it as it should have been, and not make it sound like the thread encompassed all 290x's.
I don't want anything buttered up, if a cards got issues then people should know about it, but at least post it in the title so people can see.

 

[tommybhoy]

To be fair, the thread title is the one from the article, maybe go and have a pop at the reviewer?

Why have a pop at PCper?

That's how they published the article on their front page, pretty self explanatory-in direct reference to 290X DCUII poor clocking no?

Yet compare the above to this thread title:

A '290X DCUII are poor clockers yada yada' thread would have been more suitable imho as he would have helped a lot of users to not make the mistake of getting the DCUII as it has been built with lesser parts:

This card has a lot of potential but I fear Asus have made a grave error as from looking at the board in detail it seems Asus have opted to not use AMD's Direfet memory controller/components and gone with mosfet design. Which could be a good reason why the reviews are not achieving very good overclocks with this card, putting that powerful cooler to waste.

my issue is that he could have titled it as it should have been, and not make it sound like the thread encompassed all 290x's.
I don't want anything buttered up, if a cards got issues then people should know about it, but at least post it in the title so people can see.

It's galling to say the least claiming the usual 'innocent guv honest' stance to mask his dislike for AMD, it's blatent **** taking out of a lot of oCuk members.

No point posting any positive AMD spin behind gritted teeth btw, the long term members aren't blind to the spin and know the general purpose behind these sort of threads, his posting history speaks volumes, one thread not so long ago got deleted after all-why was that?

I don't see any threads regarding Evga Black Screen issues, despite not being able to recommend 290's due to Black screen issues.

Where is the dodgy Classy bios threads?

What about a thread discussing Evga asking users to mail them for unofficial bios fixes that invalidate Nvidia/Evga's warranty(you couldn't make it up tbh) despite the fact you highly recommend them?

Can you explain that?

Tbh i'm tired of seeing the same crap by people who don't even own the cards.

Agreed if it was posted from a 680/670 user who is having the issue but since it comes from an AMD user....

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=21916261#post21916261

Blatant hypocritical double standards mate.

I am still waiting to hear back from Asus about my Titan that was sent on the 12th of December

Why did you even send it back?

You invalidated the warranty with unofficial overvolting modded bios, YOU broke it by pushing too much voltage through it.

I remember MalX getting dogs of abuse for doing the same thing, wonder who gave him plenty of verbal for doing the same thing?

Again, hypocritical double standards.




I don't often agree with rusty, but he's spot on in regards to the forum going down hill recently with some of the posting going on in here to suit agendas.

Apologies for being very harsh and to the point, but it's shocking and needs to stop.