R9 290X Owners Thread

Kaapstad · 22 Jan 2014 at 06:05

Gigabyte AMD Radeon R9 290X WF OC (GV-R929XOC-4GD) Video Card Review @Mad Shrimps placed in OP.

http://www.madshrimps.be/articles/article/1000548/#axzz2r6VVgBl6

Kaapstad · 22 Jan 2014 at 06:18

ASUS R9 290X DirectCU II OC 4 GB review @TechPowerup placed in OP

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/R9_290X_Direct_Cu_II_OC/

aceytrixx · 22 Jan 2014 at 07:00

Kaapstad said:
One could just about handle 1440p but it would be a bit of a drop in performance compared to what you are using now.

If you want to upgrade a couple of non ref 290Ps would be a better and cheaper way to go. The performance would only be a few % less than using 290Xs but it would be a lot cheaper.

Ah right. Might keep hold of the 7950s try them at 1440 and look at upgrading if I'll struggling. Will look into the non ref 290Ps

LtMatt · 22 Jan 2014 at 07:14

Kaapstad said:
ASUS R9 290X DirectCU II OC 4 GB review @TechPowerup placed in OP

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/R9_290X_Direct_Cu_II_OC/

I cringe at the overclocking expertise of some of these sites. If they dialled back the memory a tad they'd get so much more from the core. They also didn't bump the voltage. Why they would not bump voltage when using a AMD card - AIB cooler (albeit crap AIB cooler - poor core contact) is beyond me.

thefogo · 22 Jan 2014 at 07:20

LtMatt said:
I cringe at the overclocking expertise of some of these sites. If they dialled back the memory a tad they'd get so much more from the core. They also didn't bump the voltage. Why they would not bump voltage when using a AMD card - AIB cooler (albeit crap AIB cooler - poor core contact) is beyond me.

Yeah a 40Mhz OC, ouch

Boomstick777 · 22 Jan 2014 at 08:35

KaRLiToS said:

Very nice

MOOGLEYS · 22 Jan 2014 at 08:49

aceytrixx said:
How many of these are needed at 1440p I currently have crossfire 7950 but if one of these is close to that and could handle 1440p smooth then that could sway me towards one worth an eye to getting a 2nd later if need be

I have a single 290x and it copes fine for me at 1440p. BF4 runs nice and smooth at max settings.

I doubt you would see much benefit swapping to a 290x as crossfire 7950's is still a superb setup. In games that work well with crossfire the 7950's will give you more.

aceytrixx · 22 Jan 2014 at 09:09

MOOGLEYS said:
I have a single 290x and it copes fine for me at 1440p. BF4 runs nice and smooth at max settings.

I doubt you would see much benefit swapping to a 290x as crossfire 7950's is still a superb setup. In games that work well with crossfire the 7950's will give you more.

Yeah I reckon I'll just try the 7950 's out and hopefully they will be fine at that res so I can wait for the new cards to come out. Just got a real craving for some 1440p!

LtMatt · 22 Jan 2014 at 09:18

aceytrixx said:
Yeah I reckon I'll just try the 7950 's out and hopefully they will be fine at that res so I can wait for the new cards to come out. Just got a real craving for some 1440p!

I loved my 7950's and they will be faster than a 290 (X or otherwise) but id consider moving to a 290 and maybe another at a later date, especially if going 1440P. Not only do you have an extra gb of vram to play with, (which may come in handy further down the line at 1440P) you have a wider bit bus, the latest tech, XDMA frame pacing (assuming you eventually go xfire - its better than Tahiti frame pacing) TrueAudio and better Mantle scaling.

With all that said and done though, it would make sense to try the 7950's out first and see how you go. I found at stock they did not have quite enough grunt at 1440P though. This meant i had to keep them overclocked and keep the fan profiles running loud and the cards running with higher voltage. Since moving to 290 Pro crossfire i now have too many fps and can run the cards at stock clocks, undervolted and with a quieter fan profile.

Just something to consider.

aceytrixx · 22 Jan 2014 at 10:23

The main reason I'm considering moving is because I wouldn't lose much money on my 7950's due to mining. Which has since spiralled into an upgrade for 1440p the way these things always spiral. Might revisit the budget see what I'll get for selling off parts and see if I can just squeeze in 290 crossfire....

LtMatt · 22 Jan 2014 at 11:04

aceytrixx said:
The main reason I'm considering moving is because I wouldn't lose much money on my 7950's due to mining. Which has since spiralled into an upgrade for 1440p the way these things always spiral. Might revisit the budget see what I'll get for selling off parts and see if I can just squeeze in 290 crossfire....

I cashed in on the mining craze and sold my 7990 and got a free upgrade to 290 crossfire. Its about 15-25% faster at stock than my 7990 at stock depending on the game/bench.

I found 7990 at stock was around 15% faster than stock 7950 crossfire.

Hunt0r · 22 Jan 2014 at 13:09

400 odd notes well spent

I have to say god damn its quiet! I thought my DCII was quiet but damn!

dfour · 22 Jan 2014 at 16:01

Hunt0r said:
400 odd notes well spent

I have to say god damn its quiet! I thought my DCII was quiet but damn!

Your image doesnt work. If you try it in a browser window it just gives you an invalid request return

LtMatt · 22 Jan 2014 at 16:07

dfour said:
Your image doesnt work. If you try it in a browser window it just gives you an invalid request return

Works fine here (in chrome) Brotein shake.

Kaapstad · 22 Jan 2014 at 16:10

Hunt0r said:
400 odd notes well spent

I have to say god damn its quiet! I thought my DCII was quiet but damn!

And on the Roll of Honour.

Mtom · 22 Jan 2014 at 21:02

Guy what are you factory voltage on the cards? I just got my MSI 290X Gaming, and GPU-Z and Afterburner both shows around 1.06 stock on the core. So with +100mV im still only around 1,156-1,164, which is limiting my OC.
As far as i know i could run with another +100mV safely, and still only hit 1,25 ish volltage.

the1gooner · 22 Jan 2014 at 22:56

Mtom said:
Guy what are you factory voltage on the cards? I just got my MSI 290X Gaming, and GPU-Z and Afterburner both shows around 1.06 stock on the core. So with +100mV im still only around 1,156-1,164, which is limiting my OC.
As far as i know i could run with another +100mV safely, and still only hit 1,25 ish volltage.

Stock volts as reported by gpu-z for my Gigabyte Windforce 290X are:-

Idle: 0.961
Load: 1.172

That's VDDC which I take it is the correct reading.

Mtom · 22 Jan 2014 at 23:10

the1gooner said:
Stock volts as reported by gpu-z for my Gigabyte Windforce 290X are:-

Idle: 0.961
Load: 1.172

That's VDDC which I take it is the correct reading.

Then my stock voltage is low:

I tried with Trixx +200mV, and that puts it around 1.3V

KaRLiToS · 23 Jan 2014 at 03:04

Can someone with CrossFire R9 290(x) try to run a bench with a Monitor plugged on the display port?

Kaapstad · 23 Jan 2014 at 04:13

KaRLiToS said:
Can someone with CrossFire R9 290(x) try to run a bench with a Monitor plugged on the display port?

I am going to buy a display port cable in the next couple of days and will give it a go when I get the watercooling sorted on my cards.