Custom R9 290X

[Bubbleawsome]

Which best buy do you shop at? Around here, you can find Titans online via Best Buy but other than that...you'd be lucky to find a 660ti on a retail shelf.

Just mine here in TX. Highest tier they had a 7870 for AMD and a 780ti for nvidia. They were also selling H100i's and stuff. It was a PC gaming isle.

Of course there are no Fry's or MC around here. Fry's are mostly a West coast thing, yeah?

No idea. I know they are in TX.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

1150MHz @ 1350mv, I wonder if it was just another dirty OC or just a typical sample?

I did reach the 1.2 GHz mark for about 25 minutes but wasn't able to keep it 100% stable at any voltage settings

 

[nurturedhate]

They had a titan at the best buy here in Scranton, Pa several months ago. There was a nice large sign advertising it as the fastest card on the planet or something close and they were wanting $1500ish for it if I remember correctly.

 

[24601]

1150MHz @ 1350mv, I wonder if it was just another dirty OC or just a typical sample?

The card has worthless VRM cooling as already detailed. It hits 87c on the back of the PCB of the VRM area at stock according to guru3d FLIR.

Obviously no-one read my post about that though.

The card is trash, wait for reviews of other cards or go reference.

 

[DiogoDX]

First custom 290 (non X). http://www.kitguru.net/components/g...ire-r9-290-tri-x-oc-review-1600p-ultra-hd-4k/



Sapphire 290 Tri-X OC (1000/1300)

 

[24601]

SNIP

That's the kind of VRM cooling we're looking for.

Here's the link your didn't add

http://www.kitguru.net/components/g...ire-r9-290-tri-x-oc-review-1600p-ultra-hd-4k/

Looks like it has Hynix instead of the Elpida on the DCU-II

 

[Silverforce11]

That's the kind of VRM cooling we're looking for.

Here's the link your didn't add

http://www.kitguru.net/components/g...ire-r9-290-tri-x-oc-review-1600p-ultra-hd-4k/

Looks like it has Hynix instead of the Elpida on the DCU-II

Now this is an excellent card. VRM cooling built into the heatpipe radiator.

Awesome temps and performance as well as gaming power use:

 

[Teizo]

First custom 290 (non X). http://www.kitguru.net/components/g...ire-r9-290-tri-x-oc-review-1600p-ultra-hd-4k/



Sapphire 290 Tri-X OC (1000/1300)

Definite improvement on all avenues. Interesting as well to see how it fares against the 780 Lightening. Looks to perform based on this to be the same.

 

[Lonyo]

First custom 290 (non X). http://www.kitguru.net/components/g...ire-r9-290-tri-x-oc-review-1600p-ultra-hd-4k/

ETA 17th Jan at Overclockers.co.uk, and priced around 15% higher than the reference cards. ($517 vs $450 without tax).

In the UK it's the same price as the very cheapest 780, but NV seem to have more of a premium on their pricing in the UK.

 

[RussianSensation]

The card has worthless VRM cooling as already detailed. It hits 87c on the back of the PCB of the VRM area at stock according to guru3d FLIR.

Obviously no-one read my post about that though.

The card is trash, wait for reviews of other cards or go reference.

The VRM cooling on the DCUII is identical to the one used on the 780 version and it works just fine. I didn't see a single 780 DCUII fail from VRM overheating since June 2013.

VRMs on my 7970s have been running at 105C 24/7 since the first day I got the cards. What's your point? Do you have evidence that VRM tempeartures of 87C are dangerous?

If you did your research, you would have known that many GPUs from NV and AMD have the back of the PCB where the VRMs are hitting 83-97*C at stock settings. This is absolutely nothing to worry about. Most VRMs are rated at 120-130C.

Definite improvement on all avenues. Interesting as well to see how it fares against the 780 Lightening. Looks to perform based on this to be the same.

If only its real world price was at $450 or below. Feel sorry for those who wasted $1K on a Titan for gaming and now an after-market R9 290 is as fast/faster 10 months later. Another interesting observation is 770 OC got beaten by R9 280X in every single test except SC at 1080p.

 

[Z15CAM]

That Sapphire solution looks like the Actic Xtreme III with added heat pipe contact for the VRM's on a reference PCB. The Extrteme III does effectively cool the GPU on my 290X but terrible at cooling the VRM's causing the card to throttle when OC'd say at 1130/1300 with +100mv.

I can OC to 1195/1550 with +144mv using the stock cooler with fan screaming at 95%. The GPU runs hotter but the STK cooler does effectively keep the VRM's under 87C.

Just got notice NCIX has shipped my back order for a XSPC Razor WB ;o)

The ASUS 290X DUII with redesigned VRM Pkg looks like a good AIB solution and I see NCIX has the MSI Radeon R9 290X Gaming Twin Frozr IV1040MHZ listed as pre-order for a ridiculous $700 - I see no review on the MSI Twin Frozr yet.

I paid $550 for a Ref Gigabyte 290X + another $125 for the XSPC Razor with back plate on Nov 11th. Judging by to days prices for top end AMD cards to-day it appears I didn't do too bad.

 

[24601]

The VRM cooling on the DCUII is identical to the one used on the 780 version and it works just fine. I didn't see a single 780 DCUII fail from VRM overheating since June 2013.

VRMs on my 7970s have been running at 105C 24/7 since the first day I got the cards. What's your point? Do you have evidence that VRM tempeartures of 87C are dangerous?

If you did your research, you would have known that many GPUs from NV and AMD have the back of the PCB where the VRMs are hitting 83-97*C at stock settings. This is absolutely nothing to worry about. Most VRMs are rated at 120-130C.

If only its real world price was at $450 or below. Feel sorry for those who wasted $1K on a Titan for gaming and now an after-market R9 290 is as fast/faster 10 months later. Another interesting observation is 770 OC got beaten by R9 280X in every single test except SC at 1080p.

Never said they were dangerous. It's just that in my experience with 7970 and 290/290x, VRM temps over 80c lead to instability in 24/7 operation.

As a matter of fact when my 290 and 290x VRMs get over 80c they crash after a few hours. Same thing happened on both my 7970s and both my 7950s.

Higher VRM temps aren't about component longevity for anyone here, since people here upgrade far too quickly. They are about voltage stability, since voltage jitter means you need more nominal voltage to compensate, which is extremely undesirable especially in these furnace cards that are 300w+.

Also, last time I checked, 780s don't have a stock voltage of 1.25-1.30v

But whatever, the people fine with 105c VRM temps are the same people who said XFX Double Dissipation 7970 is an awesome cooler.

Go make your own bad decisions, I'm not here to hold your hand.

 

[CitanUzuki]

I think RussianSensation has the right of it. Where are people getting the idea that ~87C VRMs are a big deal?

 

[Z15CAM]

From what I see with my 290X is that the VRM's can hit over 110C but it causes the card to throttle and kills the OC. The cards is not voltage locked. I've had it running a +156mv 1250/1550 with the stock cooler screaming. The GPU goes up to 95C but the VRM's stay under 90C - Needles to say the OC is useless as the Card throttles.

When that XSPC Razor WB shows up I should be able to OC with less voltage off-set and temps below 70C for both GPU and VRM's and run say a 1250/1550 Mhz OC with say +138mv off-set without the card throttling - Should have it Monday or Tuesday.

 

[hjalti8]

I think RussianSensation has the right of it. Where are people getting the idea that ~87C VRMs are a big deal?

GURU3D measured 87°C with an infrared camera at the back of the pcb through a hole in the backplate.
It is very likely that the VRM's themselves are over 100°C. AND those measurements were made without any additional voltage at stock clocks.
That is not a good sign for those who want to OC.

IMO ASUS needs to up their game regarding their tiny vrm heatsinks.

 

[Z15CAM]

The Reference Cooler isn't that bad for OC'g but it's insanely loud. It beats the Arctic Acellerro Xtreme III all to H#*L as it cools the VRM's better.

That Sapphire Vapor does appear to have direct cooling to the heat pipes and should be better then the Acelerro Xtreme III.

 

[parvadomus]

That sapphire 290 is sexy. Consumes less power than the 780 and runs on par with 780 lightning. :sneaky:

 

[Erazor51]

GURU3D measured 87°C with an infrared camera at the back of the pcb through a hole in the backplate.
It is very likely that the VRM's themselves are over 100°C. AND those measurements were made without any additional voltage at stock clocks.
That is not a good sign for those who want to OC.

IMO ASUS needs to up their game regarding their tiny vrm heatsinks.

Also the ram chips, they have no heat sink or source of cooling on the chips, their all naked on the asus.

 

[Face2Face]

That sapphire 290 is sexy. Consumes less power than the 780 and runs on par with 780 lightning. :sneaky:

Looks like their lighting didn't boost so well... But hey it's heavily overclocked

The MSI GTX GTX780 Lightning Edition is heavily overclocked from 863mhz core to 980mhz core, with a turbo speed of 1033mhz+.

http://www.kitguru.net/components/g...si-gtx780-lightning-3gb-graphics-card-review/

It's kind of crazy, but their max OC for their lighting is my stock boost clock out of the box (core clock) with the 1st bios.

 

[Imouto]

http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/grafikkarten/2013/asus-radeon-r9-290x-directcu-ii-oc-im-test/