XFX Radeon R9-290X DD CrossfireX?

[TeaganP]

Hi there,

I'm thinking of buying a couple of these cards for my new machine:

http://xfxforce.com/en-us/products/amd-radeon-r9-series/amd-radeon-r9-290x-double-dissipation-edition-r9-290x-edfd

Do you think they would CrossfireX well together?

My new machine is pretty good spec, Asus Rampage IV Extreme Motherboard, 6 Core i7 processor, 16 gigabytes of Corsair Platinum 2133Mhz RAM etc.. Windows 7 64 bit Ultimate, 1200 Watt Corsair PSU etc..

Just curious to know if anybody else here has bought this cards and linked them up? Just curious if anybody knows much about whether or not it is worth spending the money?

 

[thefogo]

They wouldn't be my choice. I don't think the cooler is really powerful enough for crossfire.
I'd go for the sapphire tri-x cards instead.

 

[old gamer]

Yep the tri x would be my first choice for crossfire also, matt should be able to advise on the xfx as he has 3 in tri fire, thats if he can drag himself away from bencmarking of course

 

[smogsy]

Matt has 3 and in another thread he's thinking about going back to reference coolers soon I would say go for something else

 

[tommybhoy]

Just curious if anybody knows much about whether or not it is worth spending the money?

Right now, no it's not worth the money:


2 x XFX Radeon R9 290X DD Black Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (R9-290X-EDBD) with FREE Kingston 60GB SSD £379.99 (£759.98)



Because of this:

1 x Sapphire AMD Radeon R9 295 X2 8192MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £699.95



This solves the heat and noise problem that no other air solution can while costing less, won't be that price much longer.

 

[~>Dg<~]

no they'll drop even more.

 

[TeaganP]

I don't fancy liquid cooling, don't like it don't want it in my machine. Yes it might be quiet and all but it seems crap when there's a chance it might leak and it will ruin my new machine. No wonder they've come down in price.

I'm not bothered about a bit of fan noise, those XFX look like the DD version has a fair decent cooler on it, that's the most expensive version anyway I was thinking of getting that.

I want air cooling, it's the only one I trust. With certain games I'm not always bothered about, whether it will work well with 2 of those XFX cards, that's what I'm wanting to know. If Crossfire is supposed to be bad like some people say then why do the manufacturers put it on their motherboards? Surely it must work like it's supposed to and those XFX cards are top end stuff I've always had XFX it's my favourite brand. I think the design and the cooler on a XFX card is the best.

 

[pastymuncher]

The problem with the XFX DD cards is that there is no heatsink on the vrm's. They rely on cooling from the fans and it's not enough because people have been reporting throttling due to very high vrm temps even at stock speeds. There is a 5 page thread on it here at [H]ardForum. This is typical of XFX and has been going across several generations of cards yet they seem unwilling to do anything about it. There are better brands available and I would be looking to a decent manufacturer. The MSI is the same price yet has a year longer on the warranty.

There is nothing wrong with watercooling as long as it's done right. I have been watercooling for over 8 years now and the only leak I ever had was when I first started and overtightend a barb into a perspex res and slightly cracked it. I learnt my lesson and have never had a leak since.

 

[shankly1985]

They wouldn't be my choice. I don't think the cooler is really powerful enough for crossfire.
I'd go for the sapphire tri-x cards instead.

Thing is no cooler is good enough for crossfire. When cards are close together no matter the cooler the top GPU will always suck in the hot air.

So it's wrong to say best to get this or that GPU when you bassing on just the cooling.

Op either as choice to make sure the cards are good space apart, or go with reference design plan or water cooling.

 

[LtMatt]

Two XFX 290X cards will work fine together if you have two slot spaces or more between the cards and capable case cooling. Plenty of intake fans, positive case pressure, remove spare pci brackets from the rear and use side exhaust fans to suck out some heat that the two cards dump in the case. (if possible)

Source: I use three XFX 290X DD Black edition cards in TriFire with one slot spacing in between and the side off of my case. I don't have any side exhaust fans in the carbide 540.

 

[danny86]

Hi there,

I'm thinking of buying a couple of these cards for my new machine:

http://xfxforce.com/en-us/products/amd-radeon-r9-series/amd-radeon-r9-290x-double-dissipation-edition-r9-290x-edfd

Do you think they would CrossfireX well together?

My new machine is pretty good spec, Asus Rampage IV Extreme Motherboard, 6 Core i7 processor, 16 gigabytes of Corsair Platinum 2133Mhz RAM etc.. Windows 7 64 bit Ultimate, 1200 Watt Corsair PSU etc..

Just curious to know if anybody else here has bought this cards and linked them up? Just curious if anybody knows much about whether or not it is worth spending the money?

i wouldnt go for the xfx models mate, you should also wait till the new cards pop on the 19th and there should be a price drop on the older ones.

 

[LtMatt]

The XFX cards are very quiet and very slim. They may not be the best 290X model available, but they look extremely nice and perform well.

 

[Kaapstad]

Hi there,

I'm thinking of buying a couple of these cards for my new machine:

http://xfxforce.com/en-us/products/amd-radeon-r9-series/amd-radeon-r9-290x-double-dissipation-edition-r9-290x-edfd

Do you think they would CrossfireX well together?

My new machine is pretty good spec, Asus Rampage IV Extreme Motherboard, 6 Core i7 processor, 16 gigabytes of Corsair Platinum 2133Mhz RAM etc.. Windows 7 64 bit Ultimate, 1200 Watt Corsair PSU etc..

Just curious to know if anybody else here has bought this cards and linked them up? Just curious if anybody knows much about whether or not it is worth spending the money?

You could get two of these.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-350-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1515

Faster,
Easier to keep cool,
Easy to install
Can run X16/X16 on X79

Just make sure you have a very big PSU.

Edit, misread your OP. If you are looking for a 2 way cf solution you only need one of the above.

 

[TeaganP]

The XFX cards are very quiet and very slim. They may not be the best 290X model available, but they look extremely nice and perform well.

That's what I mean, they may not be the "Bestest" performing card, like you say but the design of the cooler looks pretty good and that's what's more important to me. I don't want something that's going to get too hot, just something that's designed pretty well, quality more than speed. I've bought XFX cards in the past and I've always been very happy with them. Spending around £400 each on 2 cards doesn't matter too much to me, there's always the option of selling one on ebay if it doesn't work out and just sticking to the 1 card instead. I know some of you might be into liquid cooling but I'm not, it's not my thing really so I'm looking for the air cooling solution instead. When I was at school as a kid they always said don't mix water with electric because it's very dangerous. I don't know who invented the idea of water cooling but it's not for me, sorry to say that but I'd rather stay away. I can't afford to go and ruin a machine by doing something wrong and I'm no expert in water cooling I've never been taught by anyone officially. I would probably make a right **** of it and that card that's come down in price, makes me wonder why the sudden price drop, maybe nobody wants it because it's a liquid thing and it can simply leak

 

[GoogalyMoogaly]

That's what I mean, they may not be the "Bestest" performing card, like you say but the design of the cooler looks pretty good and that's what's more important to me. I don't want something that's going to get too hot, just something that's designed pretty well, quality more than speed. I've bought XFX cards in the past and I've always been very happy with them. Spending around £400 each on 2 cards doesn't matter too much to me, there's always the option of selling one on ebay if it doesn't work out and just sticking to the 1 card instead. I know some of you might be into liquid cooling but I'm not, it's not my thing really so I'm looking for the air cooling solution instead. When I was at school as a kid they always said don't mix water with electric because it's very dangerous. I don't know who invented the idea of water cooling but it's not for me, sorry to say that but I'd rather stay away. I can't afford to go and ruin a machine by doing something wrong and I'm no expert in water cooling I've never been taught by anyone officially. I would probably make a right **** of it and that card that's come down in price, makes me wonder why the sudden price drop, maybe nobody wants it because it's a liquid thing and it can simply leak

If you shouldn't water and electricity then whoever came up with the electric kettle must've been insane!

And electric washing machines!
Dishwashers too!
Electric toothbrushes...
Electric showers...
Don't car batteries have water in them?

I'd go MSI over XFX, although I would and did go Sapphire over them.

 

[TeaganP]

If you shouldn't water and electricity then whoever came up with the electric kettle must've been insane!

And electric washing machines!
Dishwashers too!
Electric toothbrushes...
Electric showers...
Don't car batteries have water in them?

I'd go MSI over XFX, although I would and did go Sapphire over them.

We're talking about something here that normal every day folk like the people build on this forum. Not everybody on here fully knows 100% what they're doing that's why I say it's dangerous really. I would rather stay well away myself, that's just me, if somebody else wants to have a go then it's their choice but I say be prepared for it to go wrong sometimes. Even my mate who is quite an experienced Water Cooling builder has admitted they always leak in the end, these things aren't made to last. Soon enough you're gonna have problems and he has been in the water cooling game now for many years he is an IT professional working as a IT manager for almost 20 years now.

If anything I'm a XFX guy Don't like MSI, I hear the laptops they make are a bit poor quality. Again with Sapphire, it's not my kind of card really, I like the look of the XFX and that's what I'm gonna get it seems like a lovely piece of technology!

 

[GoogalyMoogaly]

We're talking about something here that normal every day folk like the people build on this forum. Not everybody on here fully knows 100% what they're doing that's why I say it's dangerous really. I would rather stay well away myself, that's just me, if somebody else wants to have a go then it's their choice but I say be prepared for it to go wrong sometimes. Even my mate who is quite an experienced Water Cooling builder has admitted they always leak in the end, these things aren't made to last. Soon enough you're gonna have problems and he has been in the water cooling game now for many years he is an IT professional working as a IT manager for almost 20 years now.

If anything I'm a XFX guy Don't like MSI, I hear the laptops they make are a bit poor quality. Again with Sapphire, it's not my kind of card really, I like the look of the XFX and that's what I'm gonna get it seems like a lovely piece of technology!

Yeah, I was just making the point that it's a sealed unit, it's not like you tip a glass of water in the PC and hope for the best. Corsair and the others aren't gonna mass produce this sort of thing if every other one they sell fails (in a reasonable amount of time).
Proper watercooling is different from this. With proper watercooling you can, if you're not careful, make mistakes. The scope for making mistakes with this sort of watercooling is massively reduced.
It's true that there is more to potentially go wrong on a AIO cooler than an air cooler, but things can still go wrong (fans could stop for example or there could be an electrical issue).

The important thing is to get something that you'll be happy with. Doesn't matter how wonderful everyone else on the forum thinks something is, if you're not happy with it then you're not happy with it. If someone is giving it to you then that's a different story, but if you're spending your own money then you should get what you want.

Personally I'm a substance over style sort of a person, hence I go for the Sapphire (and considered the Powercolor PCS+). I think the Asus DCII probably looks better, but could not convince myself to buy that card, not even close. I think the MSI card is pretty ugly and have heard less than glowing things about its cooling performance too.

 

[TeaganP]

I think I've made my mind up really. I'm gonna get 2 cards, those XFX like I said, the other stuff doesn't interest me. The XFX Radeon R9-290X Double Dissipation, it's for sale on Scan at the moment (sorry Overclockers but you're not stocking it) it's for about £404 last time I looked, I noticed the price is dropping. When I can afford to buy 2 of these I will do and I will CrossfireX them. My PSU isn't an issue I've got 1200 watts so it shouldn't be a problem. The cooling, well my Asus Rampage IV Extreme, it's got a fair decent gap between the 2 16X PCI-E lanes. I've positioned 2 140mm fans at the top of my case blowing upwards to extract as much heat as I can from my Corsair Obsidian 750D. I will try them out and see what it's like, yes it will cost me £800 but I don't care at the moment and want to buy these cards because I have decided they are the cards for me and they look nice and even light up.

There's a lot of games out there that I don't care about, I plan on buying some more games in the future when I get around to it but the one game that I'm planning on buying is Grand Theft Auto 5 for the PC when it is released. I know this game is coming out quite soon now for PC the wait is nearly over. I was a big fan of Grand Theft Auto 4 when it came out, it seemed to play very well on my old machine with Crossfired Radeon HD 4870 Overclocked cards. Yes you are right the top card is usually hotter so I usually in that case would turn the fan up slightly more than the bottom card's fan.

 

[Mal X]

Two XFX 290X cards will work fine together if you have two slot spaces or more between the cards and capable case cooling. Plenty of intake fans, positive case pressure, remove spare pci brackets from the rear and use side exhaust fans to suck out some heat that the two cards dump in the case. (if possible)

Source: I use three XFX 290X DD Black edition cards in TriFire with one slot spacing in between and the side off of my case. I don't have any side exhaust fans in the carbide 540.

hi Matt
can you take a look at our thread, we've a problem with fan speed on MSI Afterburner.....http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18622622

thanks