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AMD R9 290 (Non-X, Pro, etc) Owners Club

I have 2 reference ones in crossfire, and they are right next to each other as the pci lanes are 2 slots away from each other. I was thinking of adding a http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-029-CS to either both or one of the cards, along with a h55. My main question is are there any better solutions, and/or will there be enough room between the cards to run this setup? In some photos the pipes for the block seem to stick out quite far.
 
Quick question.

Can A different BIOS help with vdroop? I'm thinking of going crossfire with a gigabyte windforce OC with my stock XFX watercooled 290.

In an ideal world I would flash the gigabyte BIOS to my card now and run them both at the same speeds.

Is there a chance this would work or would the BIOS just refuse to work as it is from a different vendor. I'm worried it wont work as all gigabyte BIOS's on the TPU site seem to only list elpida memory as support where all the others seem to list autodetect/hynix/elipda. I have hynix memory

gigabyte card
http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/153622/gigabyte-r9290-4096-131231-2.html

random card
http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/154918/msi-r9290-4096-131223.html
 
In your case, you have 2 BIOS's so why not give it ago. I'm assuming you have run that program that checks and gives you a bunch of codes that tells you if yours will unlock?

What make is your card also?
 
yes i checked that, its the sapphire branded one

_12_zpsygojcjgd.jpg


(edit)
nvm, done it, worked a treat 1000mhz gpu clock, shaders didnt unlock though
 
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Worth running benchmarks, some forum posts I read said they had worst performance on the 290x bios on non unlocked cards compared to the 290 stock bios.

Which version of atiflash did you use? Want to try a new bios on mine but never used atiflash before. Do you have to boot of a usb?
 
well im getting much better results
heaven benchamark max fps was 91.9 before and a score of 2316
after
fps 103.4 and a score of 2605
also getting a few degrees lower in overall temps strangely
i used ati flash 4.17, tested with a normal sapphire branded rom first, no shader unlock, so thought id try the asus rom included in the package i downloaded, same 1000mhz gpu clock but still no shader unlock, still, with the temps being better, i think i might stick with this rom
 
Thanks,

Another question for those in the know, if I put on the bios I linked to above (290 windforce oc) could gigabyte have increased the VRAM voltage? Although it's a relatively small increase in speed mine will not run that St stock volts.

I'm still concerned that it only lists elipda in the bios and mine is Hynix and if I brick it I can't reflash as I'm watercooled so can't switch it out to a different pc.
 
kiel367 said:
ok heres a quick question, iv looked into wether my card would take a 290x rom, and according to what iv checked it will, anyone tried this?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I have 2 290s flashed with 290X bios. Unlocks the extra stream processors. Worthwhile.

Edit: I see you have a sapphire. I don't think the shaders unlock on those. Have you tried atitool?
 
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not tried ati tool, whats the deal with it? i see on the site it says no longer supported by the latest graphics cards, and it doesnt adjust the shaders, what does it do? looks just like an overclocking utility
 
Atitool will just give you some serials that you run by a thread over at overclock.net. There's only a couple of serials that indicate a full unlock is possible. Google 'unlock radeon 290' and it should take you to the thread in question.
 
Flashed my XFX 290 with the Gigabyte 290 OC BIOS, runs fine at stock but overclocks worse than my old BIOS so going to try others.

Thought as it was a newer BIOS version it may have been more stable.
 
snips86x said:
I've started having issues with my GPU flickering black & strange colours again but not in full screen. Hardware acceleration is disabled and its still happening. Clocks were -37mv and -100aux, they're back at stock, will see what happens.

Other suggestions??

....and don't give me the uninstall/reinstall driver bull! I've never encountered anything worse than the AMD drivers!
Click to expand...

Hardware issue, If changing drivers as not helped.. Can you try it in another PC?
 
kiel367 said:
well im getting much better results
heaven benchamark max fps was 91.9 before and a score of 2316
after
fps 103.4 and a score of 2605
also getting a few degrees lower in overall temps strangely
i used ati flash 4.17, tested with a normal sapphire branded rom first, no shader unlock, so thought id try the asus rom included in the package i downloaded, same 1000mhz gpu clock but still no shader unlock, still, with the temps being better, i think i might stick with this rom
Click to expand...

Which 290x rom did you use? Like the sounds of lower temps!

Could you load up GPU-Z and tell me what your VDDC & VDDCI voltages are at idle to?
 
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