AMD Radeon R9 295X2 Owners Thread

VincentHanna · 6 Mar 2015 at 19:38

I have 295x2 and 290x ref in my system

Can I undervolt the 290x as well or is that a bad idea? What about the power limit of the 290x? Should that be +50% as well?

Ayahuasca · 6 Mar 2015 at 19:41

The 295x2 uses binned 290x chips, it will depend how good your 290x chip is as to whether it will undervolt that far, I'd be inclined to say no but there's other people who'll know more.

nails666 · 6 Mar 2015 at 19:57

VincentHanna said:
I have 295x2 and 290x ref in my system

Can I undervolt the 290x as well or is that a bad idea? What about the power limit of the 290x? Should that be +50% as well?

I think generally the power limit might as well always be +50% so the card can draw the extra juice if it needs it. You can try undervolting the 290x, worst that can happen is you'll get crashes and just have to put it back to stock volts. I wouldn't expect it go as low as the 295x2 though as they seem to be pretty well binned chips.

VincentHanna · 6 Mar 2015 at 20:39

Well I've seriously messed something up.

Using MSI Afterburner - Which doesn't start with Windows

I changed my 295x2 memory clocks to 1400
I changed my 290x memory clocks to 1400
Changed my 290x core clock speed to 1018 (to match the 295x2)
Power limit +50% on all cards
Dropped 295x2 Voltage to 0.050
Kept voltage on 290x as standard (it looks locked anyway)

Then I was playing Max Payne 3 and after 10 minutes the system froze up. When Windows restarted I now get this error:

And when I attempt to re-install the AMD 14.12 Omega drivers, the system reboots right after I select 'custom' install (I always disable Raptr install)

What can I do?!?

Ayahuasca · 6 Mar 2015 at 21:02

Playing Diablo 3 with -60mv, 1625mhz memory and +50% power the screen sometimes goes black shows the desktop then goes back into game and continues working for a few minutes then does the same. Is this likely to be because of the reduced volts? I'll try upping it to -50mv and seeing if it still happens, if not it's probably the memory.

VincentHanna · 6 Mar 2015 at 21:23

Literally can't install drivers at all now. Absolutely bolloxed it.

Tried safe mode, used DD Uninstaller - As soon as it starts installing the PC locks up

thefogo · 6 Mar 2015 at 21:26

VincentHanna said:
Literally can't install drivers at all now. Absolutely bolloxed it.

Tried safe mode, used DD Uninstaller - As soon as it starts installing the PC locks up

Even with just the 295x2 in?

VincentHanna · 6 Mar 2015 at 21:30

Solved it, must have done something to my 290x card because I had to flick the BIOS switch on that and then I managed to get the drivers to install.

That'll teach me to overclock!

Edit: Does this mean I've cocked one of my 290x BIOS's?

LtMatt · 6 Mar 2015 at 21:33

VincentHanna said:
Well I've seriously messed something up.

Using MSI Afterburner - Which doesn't start with Windows

I changed my 295x2 memory clocks to 1400
I changed my 290x memory clocks to 1400
Changed my 290x core clock speed to 1018 (to match the 295x2)
Power limit +50% on all cards
Dropped 295x2 Voltage to 0.050
Kept voltage on 290x as standard (it looks locked anyway)

Then I was playing Max Payne 3 and after 10 minutes the system froze up. When Windows restarted I now get this error:

And when I attempt to re-install the AMD 14.12 Omega drivers, the system reboots right after I select 'custom' install (I always disable Raptr install)

What can I do?!?

VincentHanna said:
Solved it, must have done something to my 290x card because I had to flick the BIOS switch on that and then I managed to get the drivers to install.

That'll teach me to overclock!

Edit: Does this mean I've cocked one of my 290x BIOS's?

Are you synching settings in afterburner? If so you likely set the 290X at -0.050v as well as the 295x2 and this is likely way too low unless you have a good, low asic 290X.

This could explain the issues you had. What was likely happening is that voltage setting was stuck in the driver/afterburner and it was getting triggered and applied when you re-added the driver.

Now you've got the drivers installed the voltage is back at stock you'll be safe to flick the switch back.

Kaapstad · 6 Mar 2015 at 21:35

VincentHanna said:
Well I've seriously messed something up.

Using MSI Afterburner - Which doesn't start with Windows

I changed my 295x2 memory clocks to 1400
I changed my 290x memory clocks to 1400
Changed my 290x core clock speed to 1018 (to match the 295x2)
Power limit +50% on all cards
Dropped 295x2 Voltage to 0.050
Kept voltage on 290x as standard (it looks locked anyway)

Then I was playing Max Payne 3 and after 10 minutes the system froze up. When Windows restarted I now get this error:

And when I attempt to re-install the AMD 14.12 Omega drivers, the system reboots right after I select 'custom' install (I always disable Raptr install)

What can I do?!?

Try underclocking your CPU a lot to see if the system will boot properly and if it does then reboot again to reapply your CPU OC.

Sometimes after the drivers crash they won't play ball until you slow the CPU down.

If the above does not work uninstall the drivers and use DDU to remove anything remaining of the drivers. Then do a fresh install.

thefogo · 6 Mar 2015 at 21:52

Just ran Heaven for 15 minutes and hit 63C and 59C

Also here's a pic.
Having two closed loops makes it a bit messy

VincentHanna · 6 Mar 2015 at 22:02

AMDMatt said:
Are you synching settings in afterburner? If so you likely set the 290X at -0.050v as well as the 295x2 and this is likely way too low unless you have a good, low asic 290X.

This could explain the issues you had. What was likely happening is that voltage setting was stuck in the driver/afterburner and it was getting triggered and applied when you re-added the driver.

Now you've got the drivers installed the voltage is back at stock you'll be safe to flick the switch back.

I wasn't syncing settings in Afterburner, not that silly

Ayahuasca · 6 Mar 2015 at 22:03

Upping it back to -50mv fixed the issue.

thefogo · 6 Mar 2015 at 22:13

Ayahuasca do you notice much difference in temperature with the memory clock increase?

Ayahuasca · 6 Mar 2015 at 22:16

Nope, but BF4 just locked up after 10 minutes with it at 1625mhz, not a hard lock, I could alt tab out and close the game normally, there were no error messages either.

It's not the +50% power causing it is it? I only changed that today as well.

thefogo · 6 Mar 2015 at 22:24

Nah the power can't crash anything. It's probably just a bit too high on the memory.
I had to max the volts on my Lightning to get 1600mhz, so 1625 is pretty damn high.

Ayahuasca · 6 Mar 2015 at 22:44

Just locked up again at stock with this mantle error...

thefogo · 6 Mar 2015 at 23:00

Just played around 20 minutes on mine and haven't had any problems yet.
Played about an hour with no problems

I don't need to put the heating on any more

Ayahuasca · 7 Mar 2015 at 10:34

What's the default core clock on yours thefogo?

I think I switched the BIOS switch when I was installing the card when my screen wouldn't come on and forgot to switch it back.

I've put it back to the original slider position and it's now 1018 core and 1250 memory. I've just checked the XFX page and those are the defaults.

LtMatt · 7 Mar 2015 at 10:45

thefogo said:
Just played around 20 minutes on mine and haven't had any problems yet.
Played about an hour with no problems

I don't need to put the heating on any more

Ayahuasca said:
What's the default core clock on yours thefogo?

I think I switched the BIOS switch when I was installing the card when my screen wouldn't come on and forgot to switch it back.

I've put it back to the original slider position and it's now 1018 core and 1250 memory. I've just checked the XFX page and those are the defaults.

I flashed a different bios to the other switch on both cards. It's a special OC bios from Sapphire. It allows for a big increase in voltage and has a higher stock core clock of 1030. For everyday use i would use the normal bios for safety, the other bios has voltage overshoot so use with caution.