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MSI 290X or Sapphire 290 Tri-x

jwilliamson47

jwilliamson47

jwilliamson47

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Hi, I recently got the MSI 290x but had to send it back as it was DOA. I am now wondering if i am better getting a replacement card, or perhaps getting a refund and going for the cheaper 290 tri-x which seems to have a better cooler and overclocking potential. What sort of difference in gaming will I see?

Thanks.
 
The Tri-X certainly is a better clocker and runs quieter and cooler. I would go with the Tri-X while its on offer and is cheaper, I would say its a no brainer :D
 
I would probably be tempted to go for the Tri-x OC. Trying to look at benchmarks because the MSI didn't seem too bad at £400. However, being DOA didn't give a good impression and i've been told it runs rather hot.
 
I seem to be saying this a lot around the forum, but the Tri-X is very long. You need to check the space in your PC to make sure it fits. If your case isn't big enough then the choice is made for you. The MSI Gaming OC is listed as 276mm long, the Sapphire Tri-X is listed as 305mm.
 
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Ignore the messy cables. The hdds are in a temporary position until my soundcard, and gpu arrives.

This should give a general idea though.

1780870_659083257462577_1812950317_n.jpg
 
You may not need to worry about the length with no lower drive bay on the right, but will you be able to get it in under the CPU cooler? :eek: It might just be the camera angle...
 
yeah the Noctua doesn't give much room at all to the GPU. The MSI fitted without problems, but the fan was close to the backplate. Perhaps I'm better going with what I know will fit :P
 
The MSI has a nice backplate, the Tri-X doesn't, so that might make a difference. Also will the CPU fan work with a card right up against it? There's not going to be much airflow if it's that close. Have you considered turning the CPU cooler 90 degrees anti-clockwise?
 
jwilliamson47 said:
If you think that would improve things, I could try that :) You mean so the cooler faces to the right then?
Click to expand...

Yes. Air would come in from the right and go to the left (from the front to the back of the case). It's still a big cooler, and you'll need to check clearances for RAM and the first graphics card slot. At least you won't be choking the air to the CPU cooler.
 
Steampunk said:
Yes. Air would come in from the right and go to the left (from the front to the back of the case). It's still a big cooler, and you'll need to check clearances for RAM and the first graphics card slot. At least you won't be choking the air to the CPU cooler.
Click to expand...

the cooler is already over the ram lol so he probably has low profile ram.
But yea I would turn the cooler 90 degrees anti-clockwise so it puts the exhaust fan to some use. This would give the GPU/CPU more room to breath. The Tri-X should fit fine in there also.
 
Yeah, I checked the RAM compatibility list before I ordered the NH-d14. I have room for another Corsair af120, but the wires make such a mess :/

Checked it round now, and it seems to be working a lot better, so thank you for the advice.

I'm not used to air coolers :P
 
Looked at that photo and wondered if you needed to have gpu on a seperate mb outside the case:)
Have one of those noctua's,nice cooler,but big enough when facing right way!
Pleased you've turned it now,should help with rear fan extracting more efficiently.
 
Case wouldn't fit a h100i, so this was the next best thing.

I used to have a h50 and wasn't too impressed with the cooling performance.

Haha, at least it's the right way up now :D
 
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