R9 280x or R9 290

[Confused Stu]

Some days the GPU forum is so hostile that nobody dares come in, other days it's so overly friendly that nobody dares come in. It's this kind of variety that keeps the excitement in my life.

 

[Uncle Petey]

All are welcome to join the group hug.

Except jh30uk who can do one

 

[Phil2008]

Do you think the OP will ever come back?

Then again, he's been here since 2004, so I'm sure he's seen worse things than Tommy's cheeks.

Boo,, Im back..lol, You have to have a bit of a laugh on a bank hol, don't you?

Well I play mainly racing games, f1, grid autosport ect and a bit of Thief as I love sneaking about the place. I have just over £300 to spend if needs be and I want the card to last a fair few yrs?

 

[Uncle Petey]

I wish you had a more suitable case, as I'd love to furnish you (on the MM of course) with a watercooled 290 full setup and all within your budget (well, near enough)

Bit of a random thought, but there it is...

 

[Phil2008]

I wish you had a more suitable case, as I'd love to furnish you (on the MM of course) with a watercooled 290 full setup and all within your budget (well, near enough)

Bit of a random thought, but there it is...

I think my case is plenty big enough as I cannot do with these huge cases with enough room to swing a double decker bus round in, I like it just big enough to fit my stuff in but enough room to work in. I think the fractal design R3 case keeps my hardware cool enough?

 

[LtMatt]

Some days the GPU forum is so hostile that nobody dares come in, other days it's so overly friendly that nobody dares come in. It's this kind of variety that keeps the excitement in my life.

Lol, i laughed at this more than i should have.

 

[tommybhoy]

Basically I'm gregs love child, coupled with the slack buttocks of Tommy.

I'd take my cheeks over instead of greg's face any day.

 

[Phil2008]

Ok guys, what do you think about the "XFX Radeon R9 290 DD Black Edition"? It looks very tasty, but some reviews say you have to be careful what one you get because some go up to 90c and others 70c load.

So do you guys know what version or model number I need for the cooler one, is there anyway to turn off the xfx light, and lastly am I making the right choice this time?

 

[LtMatt]

Ok guys, what do you think about the "XFX Radeon R9 290 DD Black Edition"? It looks very tasty, but some reviews say you have to be careful what one you get because some go up to 90c and others 70c load.

So do you guys know what version or model number I need for the cooler one, is there anyway to turn off the xfx light, and lastly am I making the right choice this time?

It's had a new bios to fix the high temp issue on the vrms, the stock bios was too lazy. It's a very quiet card I'm told, even with a higher fan speed.

 

[Jericho.u.k]

Ok guys, what do you think about the "XFX Radeon R9 290 DD Black Edition"? It looks very tasty, but some reviews say you have to be careful what one you get because some go up to 90c and others 70c load.

So do you guys know what version or model number I need for the cooler one, is there anyway to turn off the xfx light, and lastly am I making the right choice this time?

Possibly get a console LOL

Seriously though when my brother recently bought 2x 780 ti`s the ones he was going to go for he found out were not considered good for failure rates, so after some research he got 2 other 780 ti`s which he is over the moon with. I guess what i am saying is do some good research on the card you want because would be nothing worse than ending up with a very hot running card whereas you could have a guaranteed cooler running card of the same type but a different brand maybe.

 

[Phil2008]

So Im guessing I will have to upgrade the bios or use msi afterburner and make a fan profile? Also I hope this isnt a problem but I have only pcie 2.0 not 3.0, so Im guessing its backwards compatible? Also is my 650watt psu ok?

 

[metalmackey]

PCIe 2 is fine. Will probably have the newer BIOS installed. 650watts should be enough if PSU is a goodun.

That'll be 15 quid

 

[Phil2008]

Possibly get a console LOL

Seriously though when my brother recently bought 2x 780 ti`s the ones he was going to go for he found out were not considered good for failure rates, so after some research he got 2 other 780 ti`s which he is over the moon with. I guess what i am saying is do some good research on the card you want because would be nothing worse than ending up with a very hot running card whereas you could have a guaranteed cooler running card of the same type but a different brand maybe.

Yeah I just kind of automatically ordered the MSI 1fan blower card because my current 6950 has the same fan and it keeps really cool. But anyway, I will do more looking on the net about the XFX and if Im still happy with what I read about it over the next few days, I will order it when my money has been refunded

PCIe 2 is fine. Will probably have the newer BIOS installed. 650watts should be enough if PSU is a goodun.

Thats great stuff.. I do have a pcie 3.0 board but because Im using a 2500k cpu the pcie is in 2.0

 

[metalmackey]

Is 78C cool for a 6950? I thought about 70C was what most run at.

 

[MrMoonX]

nothing yet, but its my only x1 slot

You can use x1 cards in any other slot, my sound card is in a full size one but is only 1x

 

[Phil2008]

I've just had a look at the measurements of the card and it will be a tight fit and if it fits, you wont be able to get a penny down the side of the card. If this is the card I want and it doesn't fit, I will chop a slot out of the hdd cage to get it in.

Has anyone got one of these cards and the R3 case, if so does the card fit without chopping the case up?

You can use x1 cards in any other slot, my sound card is in a full size one but is only 1x

If you do that your first pcie slot gets dropped down to 8x

 

[Pleiades]

I hope its ok Pleiades, let us know?

Hi Phil, got the Gigabyte 280x with Windforce (I still LOL @ that name, I'm very immature) - @ idle it's between 15-20c cooler than my XFX 7950

Haven't tried it in Xfire yet as one of the PSU Molex-PCI-E adaptors started burning LOL (well the insulation did) - never had smoke coming out of my PC so that's a first

The 7950 is staying out of case until it gets a decent cooler (and a proper 8-pin power cable)....

 

[Phil2008]

Look what came this morning guys........

I Decided first to blow out my pc case to get rid of all the dust, then I installed the card and got all the cables nice and tidy....

Once I had installed the latest drivers, I then made my own fan profile and as you can see temps are not great, but running the ingame benchmarks and 3D mark, the temps never got higher then 70c, so that isn't too bad.....

Now for the HD 6950 vs R9 290 benchies and wow what a diff......

Crysis on max settings...........
6950

R9 290

F1 2010 on max settings..........
6950

R9 290

GRID AutoSport on max settings with HD Pack..........
6950

R9 290

Tombraider using the 6950 settings(Forgot to turn off vsync for the 6950 test)...........
6950

R9 290

Thief using the 6950 settings(Forgot to turn off vsync for the 6950 test)...........
6950

R9 290

I am thrilled with the speed boost from my 6950, as its roughly 50% faster in those benchies. The temps are ok, not great but I can live with that, and the same goes for the noise level is roughly as loud as my 6950, but I have got the fans running at 90% to keep the temps down a bit..One thing I have noticed, I thought the black edition was ment to run at 1050mhz, but it only goes up to 980mhz?

 

[arc@css]

Great stuff. Now update your sig.

 

[Phil2008]

Just looking at the specs again, the memory is ment to boost to 5000mhz, but on the gpu-z screenie its only going to 1250mhz?