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Powercolor R9 290X

DMF1986

DMF1986

DMF1986

Associate
Joined
17 Nov 2013
Posts
407
Location
United Kingdom
Hello

I have just had to RMA my Sapphire R9 290 for a refund so I have purchased the Powercolor R9 290X from OCUK @ £359.99 which I think is a great price for a 290X.

Whats everyones opinon on this manufacturer?

The reason I chose this (Not just the great price) is:

As per the OCUK forum page ->

48-72Hr RMA turn around dealt directly with OCUK
Replacing the stock cooler does not void warranty

The only thing is I believe they use both Elpida & Hynix memory, Going off horror stories and my previous RMA the Elpidia is not as strong memory with a few faulty chips around.
 
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With Powercolor, the issues have always been RMA related, which is probably the motivating factor behind OCUK taking the RMA on directly as they will have an open communication channel with Powercolor to ensure things move quickly.
 
Bargain for a 290X. That's titan black/780TI performance. Elpida is not quite as strong on the overclocking front and its marginally slower vs Hynix and Samsung. Its far from terrible though and both of my cards will easily reach 1575 mhz (probably higher - not pushed it) on +100mv. Its quite possible they'll do this on even less voltage tbh. AIB cards will easily be capable of +100mv assuming case cooling is decent. 1575mhz is a hell of a lot of bandwidth, no matter what your memory maker is. 400gb+? Yes please.

6d3.png


spoffle said:
With Powercolor, the issues have always been RMA related, which is probably the motivating factor behind OCUK taking the RMA on directly as they will have an open communication channel with Powercolor to ensure things move quickly.
Click to expand...

Spoffles back. :eek:

Welcome back old boy. You serve your time?
 
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LtMatt said:
Bargain for a 290X. That's titan black/780TI performance. Elpida is not quite as strong on the overclocking front and its marginally slower vs Hynix and Samsung. Its far from terrible though and both of my cards will easily reach 1575 mhz (probably higher - not pushed it) on +100mv. Its quite possible they'll do this on even less voltage tbh. AIB cards will easily be capable of +100mv assuming case cooling is decent. 1575mhz is a hell of a lot of bandwidth, no matter what your memory maker is. 400gb+? Yes please.

6d3.png
Click to expand...

Nice overclock Matt whats your voltages. Is this a 24/7 overclock
 
Hi there

Its being a long time since Overclockers UK sold Powercolor and some of you more keener lot noticed we had started selling them again before Christmas and this is why:-

2yr Advanced Warranty: OcUK 48-72hr turn-around which OcUK deal with
Removal of cooler won't invalidate warranty
New Black PCB / Cooler designs in mostly black/red colours
Exclusive on Devil Range to OcUK
LCS Range also available

In short you can now buy Powercolor with confidence in the UK with no RMA issues and the added benefit of cooler removal, bear in mind these terms are only with OcUK.



Here is the range including many custom 290's!
 
DMF1986 said:
Nice overclock Matt whats your voltages. Is this a 24/7 overclock
Click to expand...

That's with +100mv, fully stable. Could probably go a bit higher on the memory, 1625 i expect. Core not sure, probably need more voltage to go higher. This is on two different cards, both using Elpida. Just comes down to luck of the draw as usual.

24/7 i run 1050/1250 @ -0.031mv on both cards.

32s.png
 
DMF1986 said:
Hi there

Its being a long time since Overclockers UK sold Powercolor and some of you more keener lot noticed we had started selling them again before Christmas and this is why:-

2yr Advanced Warranty: OcUK 48-72hr turn-around which OcUK deal with
Removal of cooler won't invalidate warranty
New Black PCB / Cooler designs in mostly black/red colours
Exclusive on Devil Range to OcUK
LCS Range also available

In short you can now buy Powercolor with confidence in the UK with no RMA issues and the added benefit of cooler removal, bear in mind these terms are only with OcUK.



Here is the range including many custom 290's!
Click to expand...

It seems my assumption was correct. It looks like my next graphics cards might have to be Powecolor from OcUK, as Powercolor tend to be the cheaper cards.
 
So looking like a steal at that price:)

Hope for Hynix but not to bothered looking above. Also the RMA and stock cooler replacement is the main selling points for me;)
 
I bought one when they were on offer last week.

The card has gone back for a refund as it was constantly Black Screening in games. It had Elpida memory and appeared to have been opened / used before I received it (the seals on the box had been removed).

For the little bit of game time I did get the performance was fantastic, it was a lot of card for the money. Although The cooler I did find to be very loud, almost too loud for my liking.
 
Fire_fly said:
I bought one when they were on offer last week.

The card has gone back for a refund as it was constantly Black Screening in games. It had Elpida memory and appeared to have been opened / used before I received it (the seals on the box had been removed).

For the little bit of game time I did get the performance was fantastic, it was a lot of card for the money. Although The cooler I did find to be very loud, almost too loud for my liking.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that I will check my Box seal upon receipt, How did your RMA go?

I have a EK waterblock to slap on it so not to bothered about the stock fans
 
Fire_fly said:
For the little bit of game time I did get the performance was fantastic, it was a lot of card for the money. Although The cooler I did find to be very loud, almost too loud for my liking.
Click to expand...

I think the_fogo and Humbug (who both own the 290 versions) said the fan profile on the card was very aggressive and tried to keep temps in the low 60'c range. You can easily create your own fan profile (in afterburner) for less noise with little increase in temps apparently.
 
I think I will go with the custom profile or even flash another bios for a week or so just to make sure the card is stable before I fit my EK block. Its £14 just for the thermal pads every time you remove the block from Scan unfortunately OCUK don't sell them.
 
id buy one for a dollar!!

still running my powercolor 7970,and that was a bargain price also,cooler was pants though but changed it and its fine now,also I got Hynix memory with mine so good luck

EDIT: as a brand id deffo buy another,no issues at all
 
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It was between this and the Asus R9 290 OC II but that's £350 on offer, Plus I believe its a revised PCB which wouldn't fit my waterblock, So for a extra £10 for a R9 920(X) Happy Days
 
DMF1986 said:
Thanks for that I will check my Box seal upon receipt, How did your RMA go?

I have a EK waterblock to slap on it so not to bothered about the stock fans
Click to expand...

RMA went through fine. I sent the card off yesterday and received an email earlier today confirming the refund, so I'm assuming that the card was found to be faulty. That said it was within the initial 28 days of purchase, I'm not sure if it will stay like that for the life time of the warranty.

Water cooling is definitely the best way to go with these cards, you should get a decent OC with it too.

LtMatt said:
I think the_fogo and Humbug (who both own the 290 versions) said the fan profile on the card was very aggressive and tried to keep temps in the low 60'c range. You can easily create your own fan profile (in afterburner) for less noise with little increase in temps apparently.
Click to expand...

You mentioned it in the thread I posted from last week, I never got around to playing with the fan speed due to the card not working. I think the 60'c thing is for the PCS+ version with the custom cooler. Mine hit 74 and I'm guessing that it would have gone higher if it hadn't kept failing.
 
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Fire_fly said:
You mentioned it in the thread I posted from last week, I never got around to playing with the fan speed due to the card not working. I think the 60'c thing is for the PCS+ version with the custom cooler. Mine hit 74 and I'm guessing that it would have gone higher if it hadn't kept failing.
Click to expand...

Correct. My mistake, didn't realise it was the reference 290X we were talking about. :)
 
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