R9 290X Owners Thread

[Avenged7Fold]

awww that's a tad disappointing.

 

[thesmokingman]

The legend once again is more myth than legend. Shakes head...

 

[Silent_Scone]

yea and it just so happens to be 1310 or so on the clock. Heavy benching? lol

I thought it was more than that? Have you heard anything back from MSI Jr?

 

[Rangerjr1]

I thought it was more than that? Have you heard anything back from MSI Jr?

Well it will do higher but it'll start artifacting if i dont increase volts, and if i increase volts it'll throttle. So 1310 is the highest consistent clock i could get.

 

[Kaapstad]

SAPPHIRE Adds Radeon R9 290X OC To New Vapor-X Line-up

SAPPHIRE technology, the leading manufacturer and global supplier of AMD-based graphics products, has just added another new model to its highly acclaimed Vapor-X family of graphics cards in the successful R9 series. The SAPPHIRE R9 290X Vapor-X OC features several of the company's industry-leading technologies and a factory overclock to deliver best in class performance with very low noise.

Based on the award-winning Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture from AMD with 2816 Stream Processors, the SAPPHIRE R9 290X Vapor-X is an Overclocked edition which boasts 4 GB of the latest GDDR5 memory running at 1410 MHz (5.64 GB/s effective) and high speed engine clocks of 1080 MHz. Together these clocks deliver industry leading performance - but to achieve this performance with stability and reliability demands high quality components throughout the design (especially in the power control circuitry) together with a sophisticated cooling solution.


SAPPHIRE Innovations

The advanced cooling system for the new SAPPHIRE Vapor-X series has been engineered with a combination of SAPPHIRE innovative technologies to provide not just efficient cooling, but also quiet operation. At the core of the cooling system is the SAPPHIRE exclusive Vapor-X technology. SAPPHIRE pioneered the use of vapor chamber technology on graphics cards and has now used it in several generations of highly successful products. The vapor chamber is mounted between the GPU itself and the base of the heatsink and cooler assembly to ensure the maximum transfer of heat away from the GPU into the cooler.

The new Vapor-X cooler uses SAPPHIRE's latest and highly acclaimed Tri-X structure comprising five heatpipes and three efficient fans. The core heatpipe is an industry leading 10 mm pipe, flanked by two 8 mm pipes and two 6 mm pipes ensuring even heat distribution across the cooler. The three 90 mm fans use aerofoil section blades for maximum airflow with minimum noise, and are each equipped with two sets of dust repelling ball bearings. The stylish fan shroud also contains molded guides to control the airflow across and through the cooler, including over the Power Control circuitry. The combination of Vapor-X and Tri-X technologies results in GPU temperatures between 5 and 10 degrees cooler than with Tri-X alone - delivering industry leading cooling for this generation of graphics cards.

Another new feature of the cooler on this new model is a PCB Component heat spreader. Along the edge of the card the PCB is extended and one of the copper layers left exposed. An additional heatsink mounted directly to this copper layer allows heat absorbed into the PCB from the GPU and other components to be transferred to the heatsink and cooled by the airflow. This feature alone can reduce core temperature by several degrees.


New VRM Engine

To deliver sufficient power for maximum performance, the Vapor-X series uses Digital Power control and a new Aero10 VRM section delivering 10-phase power with high power Direct-FET technology to the GPU, memory and control circuitry. The power design uses the latest version of SAPPHIRE Black Diamond chokes, so called because they feature a black ferrite cooler for cool running and better efficiency. High reliability solid electrolyte capacitors are used throughout. The Aero10 gets its name because the layout of the 10-phase power circuits, chokes and the dedicated FET cooler resembles the appearance of a high performance engine.

Recognising that the R9 series will not always be running at high performance, SAPPHIRE has incorporated another new feature in the Vapor-X models, Intelligent Fan Control (IFC). With IFC engaged, if the system is running simpler applications such as 2D work or watching video, only one of the three fans will operate, resulting in near silent operation. As soon as the GPU temperature rises, when performing more demanding tasks such as gaming or 3D rendering, all three fans will operate, and continue to run with fan speeds regulated by the temperature profile. Extreme users or keen gamers might want to have all three fans running all the time, so the card is equipped with an IFC override switch.


How Cool is that?

The user has a simple visual indication of the temperature of the card as the colour of the LED illuminated SAPPHIRE logo on the side of the card will change from blue when cool, through yellow and on to red when running hot.


Universal Compatibility

The SAPPHIRE R9 290X Vapor-X is equipped with a Dual BIOS - so at the touch of a button it can be switched between compatibility with the latest UEFI or for use in legacy based systems. For optimum performance this card should be used in a mainboard with PCI Express Gen3.0 expansion slots. Multiple cards can be used in AMD CrossFire in a compatible mainboard.


Latest Displays

The SAPPHIRE R9 290X Vapor-X is equipped with Dual DVI-D, High speed HDMI 1.4a and DisplayPort 1.2 outputs enabling it to support the latest digital monitors. It is ideal for use with three monitor Eyefinity set-ups, with no active adapter needed, or up to five displays in total, as well as with the latest high resolution 4K displays.

The SAPPHIRE R9 290X Vapor-X is shipping now and will be available from the usual SAPPHIRE etailers and retailers.

http://www.techpowerup.com/200326/sapphire-adds-radeon-r9-290x-oc-to-new-vapor-x-line-up.html

 

[LtMatt]

^ Lovely looking card.

 

[Rangerjr1]

^ Lovely looking card.

Only thing that makes it better is the cooler. The fact that its a non reference PCB brings the overall quality down.

 

[LtMatt]

Only thing that makes it better is the cooler. The fact that its a non reference PCB brings the overall quality down.

Might the vrm section be better though? The advertising spiel seems to go on about a 10 phase vrm.

 

[humbug]

http://www.techpowerup.com/200326/sapphire-adds-radeon-r9-290x-oc-to-new-vapor-x-line-up.html

SAPPHIRE R9 290 Vapor-X test with IFC engaged


Intelligent Fan Control


This is clever.

 

[Kaapstad]

Only thing that makes it better is the cooler. The fact that its a non reference PCB brings the overall quality down.

A bit like the MSI Lightning then.

 

[Sugarhell]

Non ref pcb without a block is quite pointless. They could just use the vapor-x cooler with a ref pcb

 

[Rangerjr1]

A bit like the MSI Lightning then.

Exactly. I feel ripped off, its 7970 Matrix all over again.

 

[Rangerjr1]

Might the vrm section be better though? The advertising spiel seems to go on about a 10 phase vrm.

Who cares if it has more phases when a ref pcb can handle 1.6v?

 

[Kaapstad]

Non ref pcb without a block is quite pointless. They could just use the vapor-x cooler with a ref pcb

There is nothing wrong with using a non ref PCB if it means better components.

 

[Rangerjr1]

There is nothing wrong with using a non ref PCB if it means better components.

There's nothing wrong with buying ref cards that are completely unlocked coupled with a good cooler or block. Infact i cant see a better way of running 290xs.

 

[Kaapstad]

There's nothing wrong with buying ref cards that are completely unlocked coupled with a good cooler or block. Infact i cant see a better way to do it.

The only problem with that is you would miss out on the Samsung VRAM your Lightning uses, clock for clock it does give a nice boost compared to other makes of memory.

 

[Silent_Scone]

Yeah the memory and the cooler is the only thing the Lightning has going for it. There aren't enough people pushing them for potential buyers to get a decent enough scope of what they're capable of - which is slightly object defeating!

 

[Kaapstad]

Yeah the memory and the cooler is the only thing the Lightning has going for it. There aren't enough people pushing them for potential buyers to get a decent enough scope of what they're capable of - which is slightly object defeating!

Have you or Rangerjr1 talked to 8 Pack about using big volts, I remember him saying that the Hawaii chip is a bit different.

 

[Rangerjr1]

Have you or Rangerjr1 talked to 8 Pack about using big volts, I remember him saying that the Hawaii chip is a bit different.

Different on the Lightning?

 

[Rangerjr1]

The only problem with that is you would miss out on the Samsung VRAM your Lightning uses, clock for clock it does give a nice boost compared to other makes of memory.

My refs memory clocks to 1775 dude