The AMD R9 290 (non x) Thread

iron_monkey · 26 Nov 2013 at 00:15

Is the sapphire bios voltage locked?

SS-89 · 26 Nov 2013 at 11:18

Well my 3 powercolor cards have apparently arrived at home to replace my xfx cards that I returned...Who knows maybe I'll get lucky

Marine-RX179 · 26 Nov 2013 at 11:20

SS-89 said:
Well my 3 powercolor cards have apparently arrived at home to replace my xfx cards that I returned...Who knows maybe I'll get lucky

You are seriously abusing the use of DSR mate :rolleyes:

What's wrong with the XFXs? None of them unlocked?

4737Joker · 26 Nov 2013 at 11:28

Just bought the saphire as it's on offer, should i just get the latest beta drivers and the new bios? or is there a better previous driver verison people are using?

Also last time a downloaded some beta drivers the CCC panel thing wasn't bundled with them so i couldn't alter any settings etc, is that normal and can you download it on it's own?

Marine-RX179 · 26 Nov 2013 at 11:33

4737Joker said:
Just bought the saphire as it's on offer, should i just get the latest beta drivers and the new bios? or is there a better previous driver verison people are using?

Also last time a downloaded some beta drivers the CCC panel thing wasn't bundled with them so i couldn't alter any settings etc, is that normal and can you download it on it's own?

I didn't even bother to go into CCC...I just change my settings in MSI Afterburner (the latest Beta added support for the 290s). The voltage and powerlimit is already adjustable in AB, but I'm not sure if that's anything to do with my card being the VTX290 flashed to the Asus 290x bios with unlocked shader.

rpggamesplayer · 26 Nov 2013 at 11:42

why is my usage like this in batman arkham origins it drops frame rate randomly, anyone getting this?

Martini1991 · 26 Nov 2013 at 11:44

Ignore the GPU usage currently with the 290's.
Unwinder mentioned it, it's to do with the driver and algorithms or some mumbo.

SS-89 · 26 Nov 2013 at 11:46

Marine-RX179 said:
You are seriously abusing the use of DSR mate What's wrong with the XFXs? None of them unlocked?

Perhaps read above? Instead of the sarcastic :rolleyes:

If the cards unlock it's purely a bonus. I can live with a level of coil whine but I can't live with the coil whine that two of the cards were putting out. Considerably louder than my previous 7990.

So no I'm not abusing DSR as the law is in place to allow consumers to try the goods to ensure they meet their standards.

I'm paying close to £1000 on cards I am well within my right to return the goods but thanks for your valuable input.

Marine-RX179 · 26 Nov 2013 at 11:49

SS-89 said:
Perhaps read above? Instead of the sarcastic If the cards unlock it's purely a bonus. I can live with a level of coil whine but I can't live with the coil whine that two of the cards were putting out. Considerably louder than my previous 7990.

So no I'm not abusing DSR as the law is in place to allow consumers to try the goods to ensure they meet their standards.

Na no offense meant...there's just too many post in threads like this and thought it'd faster to just ask

But had they actually been able to unlock, would you have try to put up with the coil whine (since I think they do eventually die down?)?

SS-89 · 26 Nov 2013 at 11:52

Marine-RX179 said:
Na no offense meant...there's just too many post in threads like this and thought it'd faster to just ask

But had they actually been able to unlock, would you have try to put up with coil whine (since I think they do eventually die down?)

Would have been a harder choice but in all honesty I think I would have. Let me put it this way, the coil whine was extremely audible even when all three cards were at 60% fan speed...

Marine-RX179 · 26 Nov 2013 at 11:54

SS-89 said:
Would have been a harder choice but in all honesty I think I would have. Let me put it this way, the coil whine was extremely audible even when all three cards were at 60% fan speed...

That's pretty bad. If these card were actually manufactured by XFX I'd expect no less from their usual QUALITY, however these reference cards are all made by Sapphire, so really tough luck there

SS-89 · 26 Nov 2013 at 11:58

Marine-RX179 said:
That's pretty bad. If these card were actually manufactured by XFX I'd expect no less from their usual QUALITY, however these reference cards are all made by Sapphire, so really tough luck there

Exactly, like I said I had a good string of luck with regards quality of components but that all ran out when I got these cards lol. I'm hoping the Powercolor ones are at least better in relation to coil whine.

Marine-RX179 · 26 Nov 2013 at 12:05

SS-89 said:
Exactly, like I said I had a good string of luck with regards quality of components but that all ran out when I got these cards lol. I'm hoping the Powercolor ones are at least better in relation to coil whine.

May be the moment the XFX stickers went onto the card, it somehow managed to kill Sapphire's quality even by just having their brand name on it

vUNREALv · 26 Nov 2013 at 12:07

I finally got my refund from ocuk and ordered a power color 290 should arrive tomorrow, it would be nice if it unlocks.

SS-89 · 26 Nov 2013 at 12:12

Marine-RX179 said:
May be the moment the XFX stickers went onto the card, it somehow managed to kill Sapphire's quality even by just having their brand name on it

Haha, to be fair my XFX 7990 was fine.

melmac · 26 Nov 2013 at 13:29

Hi All,

I will soon be a member of the R9-290 club. Was thinking about buying one since they released but had decided to wait until custom cooled ones arrived. Changed my mind this morning when I saw the 290 for £299.

Currently I have a Nvidia 680GTX, I hope I will notice the performance increase. And it's looking like the black screen issue is sorted for most people, so I am hoping that I wont have that problem either.

vUNREALv · 26 Nov 2013 at 13:43

Well my Powercolor 290 just arrived 15mins ago

Which was a nice surprise, anyway first thing was to flash it and cross the fingers, checked the memory before the flash and its Hynix which I am glad about and it flashed to a 290X no problems, I used the Powercolor 290X bios as its overclocked from the stock 1000 to 1030

To say I am happy would be an understatement especially after the sapphire I sent back.

SS-89 · 26 Nov 2013 at 13:46

vUNREALv said:
Well my Powercolor 290 just arrived 15mins ago Which was a nice surprise, anyway first thing was to flash it and cross the fingers, checked the memory before the flash and its Hynix which I am glad about and it flashed to a 290X no problems, I used the Powercolor 290X bios as its overclocked from the stock 1000 to 1030

To say I am happy would be an understatement especially after the sapphire I sent back.

Ooo mind trusting me where you bought yours from? As I had 3 arrive this morning from a retailer that drop ships direct from the manufacturer. Would be good to know if it's the same stock you got yours from (At work currently).

vUNREALv · 26 Nov 2013 at 14:05

Yeah will do mate.

I have to say the Powercolor was better packaged than the Sapphire I had, it had the small plastic covers on all the ports and pci connection which the sapphire didn't.

SS-89 · 26 Nov 2013 at 14:08

vUNREALv said:
Yeah will do mate.

I have to say the Powercolor was better packaged than the Sapphire I had, it had the small plastic covers on all the ports and pci connection which the sapphire didn't.

So it turns out Unreal purchased from the same place I did, like I said they actually drop ship from the manufacturer so chances are we have got cards from the same batch.

Really don't want to get my hopes up but signs are at least a bit positive!

How is coil whine? My previous XFX cards were packaged pretty well (apart from one box being torn and seal broken :mad:

) with all the port covers on etc.