Sell my ref 290x for Tri-X 290?

WalderX · 4 Mar 2014 at 10:36

So... the Sapphire Radeon R9 290 Tri-X is on a 'this week only' deal. I currently have a reference Sapphire 290x and have loved it to be honest. Yes it's noisy but other than that I have had no issues with it. With Mantle enabled i get around 100 FPS in BF4 which is great for my 120Hz monitor

Now I understand that the Tri-X is pretty much the best gfx card money can buy, and I would not be too sorry to remove the Dyson from inside my PC and replace with this

I know the Tri-X is far from silent but it's gotta be quieter than the reference at 60 - 70% fan speed!

The going rate for 290x's on the bay of E is average £350, minus 15% for ebay and paypal fees leaves me with around £300. I can buy the 290 through our OCUK trade account for £266 + delivery + VAT, so all-in all I will actually be up £30 or so out of the process!

Shall I go for it? The only thing holding me back is that will my FPS drop down much with the 290? I would like to still be hitting 100fps or more! I can flash it to 290x BIOS right? :confused:

Lastly, should I hold out for the 290x lightning? Or we think it will be mega bucks?

Cheers people. :cool:

ndaar · 4 Mar 2014 at 10:46

I think the performance difference is supposed to be around 5-10%??? I don't think you will actually notice it from what most people have said.

I don't think all cards can be flashed, although a lot of people have had success.

The sapphire will obviously be quieter and cooler than the reference design.

Really its up to you.

cwgk91 · 4 Mar 2014 at 10:47

Not all 290s can be flashed to 290x. Loads of people on here saying that the 290 gives just as good performance as the x, not sure about exact figures though

4737Joker · 4 Mar 2014 at 10:54

if they were both ref design you wouldn't trade a 290x for a 290.

It's just a question of can you put up with the noise of the ref cooler (which isn't that bad).

Diagro · 4 Mar 2014 at 10:55

i would just spend £30 on a decent 3rd party cooler for the 290x tbh

Gregster · 4 Mar 2014 at 10:56

Diagro said:
i would just spend £30 on a decent 3rd party cooler for the 290x tbh

Good call.

Rasch · 4 Mar 2014 at 10:58

Your reference card and the sapphire tri-x are exactly the same!Only difference is the bios.Flash the Tri-X bios on your card and put a 3rd party cooler on it.Get the Kraken G10 with some clc and you got awesomeness.

LtMatt · 4 Mar 2014 at 11:07

I'd go for the Tri X 290. Its overclocked anyway so will be as fast, or almost as fast as a stock 290X reference card. 290's run slightly faster the cooler they are so i doubt you will notice much difference. As you can see its within 1fps of the 290X.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7601/sapphire-radeon-r9-290-review-our-first-custom-cooled-290/3

4737Joker · 4 Mar 2014 at 11:09

Watercooling!

good excuse to take the plunge.

WalderX · 4 Mar 2014 at 11:22

Thanks for responses guys!

Diagro said:
i would just spend £30 on a decent 3rd party cooler for the 290x tbh

Well, I already did this back in October, I fitted the Prolimatech mk26 to my card but unfortunately had untold issues with artefacting and blackscreening. After 4 days of tinkering I chose to go back to the stock blower and sold the prolimatech on ebay. I'm sure if I tried again I might have success but to be honest would rather keep things simple and go with a factory fitted HSF.

Rasch said:
Your reference card and the sapphire tri-x are exactly the same!Only difference is the bios.Flash the Tri-X bios on your card and put a 3rd party cooler on it.Get the Kraken G10 with some clc and you got awesomeness.

Well the 290x has more stram processors right? That's the only difference as far as I was aware. But reports are that the fps difference is usually in single figures so yeah I think I will go for the Tri-X

LtMatt said:
I'd go for the Tri X 290. Its overclocked anyway so will be as fast, or almost as fast as a stock 290X reference card. 290's run slightly faster the cooler they are so i doubt you will notice much difference. As you can see its within 1fps of the 290X.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7601/sapphire-radeon-r9-290-review-our-first-custom-cooled-290/3

I was hoping for your input Matt - I knew you would be able to convince me! (you being the go-to guy for AMD GPU's on here)

4737Joker said:
Watercooling! good excuse to take the plunge.

I also have looked at this, I created a thread on it a while back. The general consensus is that it would cost the best part of £200 for the block, pump, res and other kit needed. Would be ideal but don't have money to burn at the mo unfortunately.

I think I'm gonna go for it...

~Mike~ · 4 Mar 2014 at 11:41

LtMatt said:
I'd go for the Tri X 290. Its overclocked anyway so will be as fast, or almost as fast as a stock 290X reference card. 290's run slightly faster the cooler they are so i doubt you will notice much difference. As you can see its within 1fps of the 290X.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7601/sapphire-radeon-r9-290-review-our-first-custom-cooled-290/3

The one that is on Today Only isn't overclocked.

4737Joker · 4 Mar 2014 at 11:47

Buy the card and try it, if you think it's a pointless move atfer the weekend or whatver just send it back

LtMatt · 4 Mar 2014 at 11:49

Mike306 said:
The one that is on Today Only isn't overclocked.

Good shout, but getting it to 1040 core will be as easy as urinating undetected in the the public swimming pool.

~Mike~ · 4 Mar 2014 at 12:07

LtMatt said:
Good shout, but getting it to 1040 core will be as easy as urinating undetected in the the public swimming pool.

lol trust you to lower the tone

LtMatt · 4 Mar 2014 at 12:09

Mike306 said:
lol trust you to lower the tone

We've all done it, haven't we? :eek:

Lance9394 · 4 Mar 2014 at 12:22

I'm using the sapphire R9 290 Tri-x Oc, never goes above 72c, and it's quiet, I love it

Rasch · 4 Mar 2014 at 12:23

I meant its the same reference design as yours with a fancy triple fan cooler which gets blitzed by the Arctic Xtreme 3.I dont see the point.

WalderX · 4 Mar 2014 at 12:40

4737Joker said:
Buy the card and try it, if you think it's a pointless move atfer the weekend or whatver just send it back

Hadn't even though of this - yet another reason to go for it!

LtMatt said:
Good shout, but getting it to 1040 core will be as easy as urinating undetected in the the public swimming pool.

Yep I am pretty competent with overclocking so will of course have fun pushing it to the max

- I've had my 290x running at 1100/1350 since day 1 with stock volts (+50 powertune). I've had it at 1200/1500 with asus bios and max voltage but BF4 don't like it (nor do my ears).

LtMatt said:
We've all done it, haven't we?

I'm weeing with excitement for this card right now! Unfortunately I'm not in a swimming pool :eek:

Lance9394 said:
I'm using the sapphire R9 290 Tri-x Oc, never goes above 72c, and it's quiet, I love it

Nice, my 290x doesn't go above 85 but that's with at least 60% fan and stock volts. Tis a bit Dyson-y

WalderX · 4 Mar 2014 at 16:22

I've gone ahead with the tri-x - £267 + VAT inc free delivery

nice.

I think it's the right thing to do seeing as I can sell my 290X for £350 and performance is almost the same. Do these tri-x's take the release day Asus 290X voltage unlocked bios? Or might it possibly be locked for bios flashing?

Rasch · 4 Mar 2014 at 16:24

You dont need the Asus bios.Trixx gives you +200mV thats plenty to play with.Hell even too much for air cooling.