GTX780 Lightning or R9 290 - watercooled

Monkeyspaz5000 · 17 Mar 2014 at 17:02

Really about to pull the trigger on a card here, but can't make up my mind at all. I can get a lightning at a reasonable price from a friend, so taking the cost of each card and blocks into consideration - the lightning will cost me £50 more overall.

Really curious about your thoughts on both of these cards, especially when watercooled.

What would you guys recommend?

I use a single 1080p 120Hz monitor.

vsg28 · 17 Mar 2014 at 17:28

Is that a reference 290 in consideration? Depending on the manufacturer, you may get Hynix or Elpida memory whereas with the 780 Lightning you get Elpida for sure. But them 780 Lightnings overclock great on water with BIOS/voltage software mods so personally I would go with the Lightning.

Monkeyspaz5000 · 17 Mar 2014 at 17:43

Yeah - reference 290.

vsg28 · 17 Mar 2014 at 18:02

780 Lightning is my recommendation then.

Vipernet · 17 Mar 2014 at 18:16

I had the same choice. Picked up a cheap 290 with waterblock already fitted. Cant go wrong with either tbh.

RavenXXX2 · 17 Mar 2014 at 18:25

LtMatt · 17 Mar 2014 at 18:27

Monkeyspaz5000 said:
Yeah - reference 290.

If you're going to the trouble of water cooling go for the 290 as it has unlocked voltage control. If you're sticking to air then the 780 is probably a better choice over the reference 290.

vsg28 · 17 Mar 2014 at 18:35

I would counter that and say if you are going to the trouble of watercooling, you may as well flash a BIOS that takes a whole of 1 minute to do and then get non-boost, high power limit and voltage unlocked control over the 780 lightning.

Be aware that EVGA is the only company that explicitly allows watercooling without voiding warranty but neither choice you got is from them. Some reference 290 cards have a sticker on the back (ASUS and XFX I think) as well which are hard to take off without tearing them.

LtMatt · 17 Mar 2014 at 18:39

vsg28 said:
I would counter that and say if you are going to the trouble of watercooling, you may as well flash a BIOS that takes a whole of 1 minute to do and then get non-boost, high power limit and voltage unlocked control over the 780 lightning.

Be aware that EVGA is the only company that explicitly allows watercooling without voiding warranty but neither choice you got is from them. Some reference 290 cards have a sticker on the back (ASUS and XFX I think) as well which are hard to take off without tearing them.

None of the AMD reference cards (or AIB's that ocuk sell) have those (warranty void if removed) stickers on the back, which is what he will be buying. Infact, MSI, Sapphire and Powercolor all specifically allow you to water cool AMD cards (through ocuk) without voiding warranty. So you're safe in removing the cooler without ruining warranty.

vsg28 · 17 Mar 2014 at 18:41

Unless the situation has changed, I had an ASUS 290x that had this sticker and plenty of owners of these cards have said the same.

If OcUK is allowing watercooling warranty, props to them!

LtMatt · 17 Mar 2014 at 18:44

vsg28 said:
Unless the situation has changed, I had an ASUS 290x that had this sticker and plenty of owners of these cards have said the same.

If OcUK is allowing watercooling warranty, props to them!

He's considering a reference card though, so its irrelevant. No reference cards contain those stickers. XFX might, but ocuk don't sell those.

Props to them indeed. Think it only applies to AMD cards though. For Nvidia i think only EVGA offer the same deal.

vsg28 · 17 Mar 2014 at 19:08

Ya, mine was an ASUS reference card with that darn sticker.

LtMatt · 17 Mar 2014 at 19:11

vsg28 said:
Ya, mine was an ASUS reference card with that darn sticker.

That's odd. Kaap had four of them and didn't have that sticker. Come to think of it Reece (UkSoliderboy) had two as well and he didn't have any.

vsg28 · 17 Mar 2014 at 19:13

I think all the ASUS reference card owners on OCN had the sticker. US/UK policy maybe?

LtMatt · 17 Mar 2014 at 19:15

vsg28 said:
I think all the ASUS reference card owners on OCN had the sticker. US/UK policy maybe?

That explains it then. One up the yanks. :cool:

Kaapstad · 17 Mar 2014 at 19:32

LtMatt said:
That's odd. Kaap had four of them and didn't have that sticker. Come to think of it Reece (UkSoliderboy) had two as well and he didn't have any.

No stinkers here

Ran this today and not an artefact in sight.

Monkeyspaz5000 · 17 Mar 2014 at 19:32

So does the ASUS reference "voltage unlocked" R9 290 that OCUK sell have those stickers?

LtMatt · 17 Mar 2014 at 19:34

Monkeyspaz5000 said:
So does the ASUS reference "voltage unlocked" R9 290 that OCUK sell have those stickers?

NO!

Kaapstad · 17 Mar 2014 at 19:38

vsg28 said:
Unless the situation has changed, I had an ASUS 290x that had this sticker and plenty of owners of these cards have said the same.

If OcUK is allowing watercooling warranty, props to them!

Oh sticker, I misread the other post.

When fitting my waterblocks, the cards had a tiny sticker over one of the screws on the back. It is almost impossible to undo the screw without destroying the sticker.

Monkeyspaz5000 · 17 Mar 2014 at 19:39

So they do have a sticker then?! Confused much.

I'm looking at the ASUS reference card.