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MSI 290/290X Gaming Edition Thread

nitram100 said:
What is this throttling I keep hearing about? Doesn't that only happen when a 290 hits like 94c ?

I have mine arriving within the hour hopefully and I am off work today so good times ahead :)
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Now I've got afterburner setup it doesn't throttle or fluxuate.. it does sit idle at 300mhz which is fine.. when under load it hits what AB tells it... basically don't use the Msi gaming app and get the latest afterburner beta (3.18)
 
frobinrobin said:
Now I've got afterburner setup it doesn't throttle or fluxuate.. it does sit idle at 300mhz which is fine.. when under load it hits what AB tells it... basically don't use the Msi gaming app and get the latest afterburner beta (3.18)
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Quoted for truth. This also extends to every other overclocking app out there, trixxx, HIS iTurbo etc. GPU Tweak seems ok to use though. (sorry Kaap :p)
 
I installed the MSI R9 290 Gaming Edition in my PC but (not surprisingly) I think my old Lynnfield Core i5 750 is a bottleneck because I'm not seeing the expected framerates in Metro Last Light when playing at 1440p.
I can' be bothered to squeeze out a few extra FPS by overclocking it so it's probably time for an upgrade.
Can someone tell me which CPU I should be matching it with. I would prefer to go with Haswell. I know the Sandybridge/Ivybridge are better overclockers but as you have probably guessed, I am not interested in overclocking at the moment. It would take up too much of my gaming time.
I just want to play in 1440p heaven :)
 
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wapcatlet said:
I installed the MSI R9 290 Gaming Edition in my PC but (not surprisingly) I think my old Lynnfield Core i5 750 is a bottleneck because I'm not seeing the expected framerates in Metro Last Light when playing at 1440p.
I can' be bothered to squeeze out a few extra FPS by overclocking it so it's probably time for an upgrade.
Can someone tell me which CPU I should be matching it with. I would prefer to go with Haswell. I know the Sandybridge/Ivybridge are better overclockers but as you have probably guessed, I am not interested in overclocking at the moment. It would take up too much of my gaming time.
I just want to play in 1440p heaven :)
Click to expand...

I was running an i5 760 when I first got my 290X and I can tell you that in everything I run the 290X was a bottleneck not the processor and that's at 1080P. This was with extreme/ultra settings.

At 4.0Ghz my i5 760 was performing just as well as my new i7 4770K at stock.

It really is worth overclocking your i5 750.

Or do what I did and get a 4770K and not have to worry about overclocking.

Though with my new motherboard I just press a button and I get an instant overclock of 4.2Ghz, more than enough.
 
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Ordering my R9 290X Twin Frozr IV on Lunch today.

I was adamant on getting an R9 290 but the extra little bit of potential has pushed me towards the 290X...I was considering a 780 Classy anyway and its priced the same!

It doesnt go with my White and Blue Colour scheme though :( I could go for a KFA2 HOF 780 (Dat white PCB) but I want an R9 Series too much to drop performance for looks.
 
rolypolyman said:
Just ordered the 290 on Gibbos recommendation, better have the hynix memory L
ol. Normally go for Gigabyte for warranty and uk rma, hope I don't regret it. Only six left. :eek:
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They are great cards, though I have found one weakness.

The fans, they are too damn quiet, literally 100% fan is probably quieter than 40% on the reference cooler.

What this means is under constant 24/7 load from something litecoin, the card will sit at 90-95c with the fans at 100%.

So the fans are lacking a little at 100%, but you can't have everything. Saying that the card is not throttling however and -50 on the voltage helps keep it closer to the 90c mark.

As a gaming card, well its name is spot on, they call it gaming because its designed for gaming and does a superb job of it and gaming titles don't place the card under the same level of stress as litecoin does at intensity 19/20.

For me its still my favourite with the Sapphire, though the Sapphire cards fans can push more CFM, so if you are planning on mining as well 24/7 then the Sapphire might be the better choice. :)
 
I'm torn between these two cards!!

MSI Radeon R9 290X Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

Gigabyte Radeon R9 290X OC WindForce 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

Which one do I got for?

Which is better at keeping things cool?

Which one can i overclock better?

Are either volt locked? (is that the phrase?)


regards! :)
 
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uscool said:
Still no actual review on this compared to the others, very rare for no reviews and its been released ?
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Because I demanded we had stock, sick and tired of 50 units being sent around the world for review, I want the stock so we could get it selling.

The reviewers will be or will have their samples now too, so they should start cropping up. :)
 
Wizzfizz said:
I'm torn between these two cards!!

MSI Radeon R9 290X Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

Gigabyte Radeon R9 290X OC WindForce 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

Which one do I got for?

Which is better at keeping things cool?

Which one can i overclock better?

Are either volt locked? (is that the phrase?)


regards! :)
Click to expand...


MSI - Backplate, all great overclocks so far with AMD / Asus BIOS. Extremely quiet, but lacking all out fan CFM for maximum benchmarking/OC attempt or mining usage. Pretty much guaranteed Hynix RAM too on this first batch which will run out today. 3yr warranty.

Gigabyte - Great cooler, seems to run a little hotter, but with a custom fan profile is cooler and has a bit more fan CFM power. No idea on OC ability. 3yr warranty.

Sapphire - Probably the best cooler, runs the coolest, can be quiet and loud based on desired fan speed. 2yr warranty.


Best part, OcUK has all three in stock, NONE OF OUR COMPETITORS DO! :D
 
Few questions:-

Is the 290x better than the 780?

Will a Corsair 750w be enough to power the gpu and rest of the rig ( i74770k - 8gig 2400mhz RAM - Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H- 120gig SSD - 1tb hdd - h100i cpu cooler?
 
the1gooner said:
I was running an i5 760 when I first got my 290X and I can tell you that in everything I run the 290X was a bottleneck not the processor and that's at 1080P. This was with extreme/ultra settings.

At 4.0Ghz my i5 760 was performing just as well as my new i7 4770K at stock.

It really is worth overclocking your i5 750.
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Thanks the1gooner. I will give it a try and save myself a few hundred quid :)
 
Wizzfizz said:
Few questions:-

Is the 290x better than the 780?

Will a Corsair 750w be enough to power the gpu and rest of the rig ( i74770k - 8gig 2400mhz RAM - Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H- 120gig SSD - 1tb hdd - h100i cpu cooler?
Click to expand...

To answer your first question - Stock vs Stock the R9-290X thrashes the 780.
OC vs OC its not so much a thrashing, but to get the best 780's for OCing you have to push into R9-290X Territory pricing anyway (Im talking to you, Classy)

For the second question - The most system load I have seen from an overclocked single R9-290X was ~580w and that was with an i7 3930K OC'd to 4.5Ghz and a whole load of other crap. I'm gonna guess the average is gonna be 400-500w full system load.
 
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