Overvolting? Unlocking? AMD 290 questions

[STaRGaZeR69]

Hi there guys, I'm in the market for an AMD 290 card.

However, I'm confused as to which card to get, since I've been reading that some brands do not unlock to a 290X, some come voltage locked... I'm really lost here. I want/need the following:

1. Full Afterburner support. That means core, memory and voltage control. Also a working RTSS for automatic profile loading.
2. If possible, unlockable to 290X. Is this limited to some brands or it's just pure luck?
3. Watercooling. Right now I have an EK Supremacy on my 7870, it works just fine. Are there any models with a plate covering the RAM and the VRM are like this? That would be ideal. If not, I guess I'll go the full cover route, since I don't trust those little RAM sinks that people use.

Thanks!

Happy holidays!

 

[Djxinator]

1. I know some of the Gigabyte versions of the card are Voltage unlocked, as are some of the ASUS ones. The ASUS BIOS I believe is applicable to any reference card on the market and should unlock your Voltage.

2. The unlockable ones are literally within the first period of production. There are a few batch numbers floating around that you may want to look into. Even then there is no guarantee the card will be stable. Non-reference cards may have been backlogged pre-release so many of them may use chips/PCBs that are early production and simply have been waiting for release.

3. Go full cover. I wouldn't go any other way.

 

[tommybhoy]

1. ALL reference 290/X ARE unlocked voltage-without any bios flashing.

AB was updated after 290/X release to enable full core voltage control, no Vram voltage adjustment available on any 290/X cards-it may/not be available at a later date.

2. You may be able to unlock reference editions the VTX 290 X edition, or Powercolor, His and XFX, but I highly doubt the new AIB custom boards will unlock.

 

[hyperseven]

2. I think the un-lockable 290's boat has long since sailed. (were they not 290X's anyway and just BIOS locked due to the shortage of 290's at time)

 

[STaRGaZeR69]

Thank you folks, looks like I'll go reference PCB and get a full cover EK block. However, I don't know how I'm supposed to fit this inside my TJ08 m-ATX case

What about the black screen issue? Is it fixed with lastest drivers or is it a hardware problem? I read that memory seems to be the cause of this. Looks like I'll be getting either a Gigabyte or MSI card, as this is what is available here. Do you know if any of these have the bad memory chips?

EDIT: Djxinator, we have the same card with the same overclock. I just got a 1440p monitor and this thing keeps up with some recent games at medium settings, but fails hard on high and ultra