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Gigabyte change the cooling solution on the Radeon R9 290 (X)

I think it's great that Gigabyte are 'owning' up, such acts like this and the one MSI did further cement my belief that they are the top manufacturers to buy from.

What I really want to know though is will the EK Waterblock fit on the new R9 290X Windforce. EK says after a visual check that it will, yet I've seen other sources saying it won't.
 
LtMatt said:
Good work guys. Thanks for clearing it up.



Will do. Was just trying to help people at the time.

EDIT

I've added Gigabytes reply to the OP and edited the post accordingly. :)
Click to expand...

mmm...I still have doubts regarding my card as I had to aggressively modify the cooling of my case and use a manual fan profile to make the card run with decent temperatures. Leaving everything by default/as it was I was getting silly temperatures (~70 on idle) and systematic GPU throttling on load.

I already contacted Gigabyte when I first got the card, will see what response I get.

EDIT: just checked Gigabyte's website and I have actually received an answer, unfortunately not much impressed by it.

Dear xxx,

Thank you for your kindly mail and inquiry. The fan speed will increase when the temperature arises. Kindly check the air circulation in chassis is well. Meanwhile, this mail has been forwarded to relevant department, possible improvement will be made under a comprehensive evaluation.

If you still have any further question or suggestion about our products/service, please do not hesitate to contact us. We will try our best to help you resolve the problem ASAP.

Regards,
GIGABYTE
 
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Chewie said:
mmm...I still have doubts regarding my card as I had to aggressively modify the cooling of my case and use a manual fan profile to make the card run with decent temperatures. Leaving everything by default/as it was I was getting silly temperatures (~70 on idle) and systematic GPU throttling on load.

I already contacted Gigabyte when I first got the card, will see what response I get.
Click to expand...

You should contact the reseller first IMO.
 
fowler002 said:
Yeah for the best part of £100 more.
Click to expand...

Around £30 more for a 780Ti actually considering the massive mark up for these custom cooled R9 290/X cards. These cards are reference PCB with a better cooler and should not be no more than ~£30 over reference IMHO.
 
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ICDP said:
Around £30 more for a 780Ti actually considering the massive mark up for these custom cooled R9 290/X cards. These cards are reference PCB with a better cooler and should not be no more than ~£30 over reference IMHO.
Click to expand...

Plz show me a 780ti for ~£510, the guy you replied to said he spent £480 on the 290x. The cheapest 780ti I've seen is as I said best part of £100 more(£70 more). Unless the prices have gone up recently due to the mining craze the most expensive custom 290x ocuk have is £500, the rest are £470/£480.

Not disagreeing with you on the markup on the non reference as you're right about them being high, the reference 290 were like £300-£330 and the non defence are £380 while they should be like £350 and the 290x reference cheapest it had hit on ocuk was £399 but usually like £420/£430 and again non ref should be £30 or so cheaper than they are.
 
Seen 2 brands of 780ti for 501 and 503 pounds around the net.

409 for ref 290x , if only they were non ref ones that did not black screen and throttle .
 
fowler002 said:
Plz show me a 780ti for ~£510, the guy you replied to said he spent £480 on the 290x. The cheapest 780ti I've seen is as I said best part of £100 more(£70 more). Unless the prices have gone up recently due to the mining craze the most expensive custom 290x ocuk have is £500, the rest are £470/£480.

Not disagreeing with you on the markup on the non reference as you're right about them being high, the reference 290 were like £300-£330 and the non defence are £380 while they should be like £350 and the 290x reference cheapest it had hit on ocuk was £399 but usually like £420/£430 and again non ref should be £30 or so cheaper than they are.
Click to expand...

You know fine well the rules here are very strict and I cannot directly link you a competitors site showing a GTX780Ti for £510. The best I can find from any decent retailer is £517. You just need to shop around.

For the time being OCUK have exclusive selling rights on all non reference custom cooled R9 290/X cards. So the prices will reflect this exclusivity as people who want these cards will pay that little bit extra. When these custom cooled R9 290s are available in quantity and at other etailers then prices will become more competitive.
 
Ian Evey said:
Seen 2 brands of 780ti for 501 and 503 pounds around the net.

409 for ref 290x , if only they were non ref ones that did not black screen and throttle .
Click to expand...

So R9 290X's all black screen and throttle do they? 1st I heard of it. All those people, myself included who use R9 290X cards with no such issues must be in the tiny minority. Right? ;)

I agree R9 290X non ref are overpriced compared to GTX780Ti but that in no way excuses the pricing on that overpriced card either. It's hard to believe a reference R9 290 is ~40%-45% cheaper and gives only ~15% less performance than 780Ti and R9 290X non-ref.
 
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GIGA-Man said:
Hi All
The problem that was raised only applied to the initial media review samples – NOT the cards that have been supplied to and sold by OcUK. All products available on market are not affected with this problem. This is an error in translation from Tom’s Hardware, and we are in the process of getting this changed.
However if you experience any issue with these cards, please contact GIGABYTE technical support under below link:
http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/technical-support.aspx
Click to expand...

This is good to know, so tempted to buy one of these.
 
Definitely not confident about what's going on at Gigabyte with these Windforce cards.

"Hardware.fr" (French number 1 reference hardware site) has posted a preview of their upcoming custom R290/R290X cards round-up. They are mentionning that they have been in contact with Gigabyte regarding a possible issue with the card having a wrong bios loaded with an incorrect fan profile. They're also mentionning the cooling/radiator flaw and have asked Gigabyte for further details.

Link here (in French): http://www.hardware.fr/news/13513/radeon-r9-290-290x-customs-nos-1ers-tests.html
 
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Chewie said:
Didn't dare yet, was waiting for some feedback on the 'net but none found so far :(
Click to expand...

There is not so many information on the internet for this BIOS update. The strange thing is that both Gigabyte easyboot and VGA@bios don't recognize the BIOS file when you try to update.
Even the backup procedure on these programs don't work.

I know that the BIOS can be updated via ATI Winflash, but when Gigabyte's programs don't recognize there own BIOS I'm a little afraid to update.

I contacted Gigabyte via FB and via mail but after 4 days, still no answer.
 
Received additional feedback from Gigabyte advising me to flash my 290 Windforce to the latest bios version (F3L). Will do so when I'm back from the US.

They also said that if I still have high temperatures in normal conditions (meaning with without a custom fan profile and additonal fan case blowing air on the card) I should have it returned to OC UK for further examination.
 
Flight404 said:
There is not so many information on the internet for this BIOS update. The strange thing is that both Gigabyte easyboot and VGA@bios don't recognize the BIOS file when you try to update.
Even the backup procedure on these programs don't work.

I know that the BIOS can be updated via ATI Winflash, but when Gigabyte's programs don't recognize there own BIOS I'm a little afraid to update.

I contacted Gigabyte via FB and via mail but after 4 days, still no answer.
Click to expand...

Hey Flight404 were you finally able to flash your card to the new F3L bios version? I've just tried to do it on mine today and I got the same problem, Gigabyte VGA@BIOS tool gives me an ID error.

I've also contacted Gigabyte (again) as they were recommending to flash to the new version...
 
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