MSI R9 290X Lightning

[TheGoat Eater]

Hows it going - I am going to be testing the 290X Lightning here over the next few weeks . I have taken some photos for you to oogle in the meantime

IMGUR Album

I am taking this slowly over the coming weeks to limit my stress that I get from testing ( trying to take it easier for my health :/ - no more hours of testing at the computers for me :'( )

I also will be finishing up testing the A88X-G45 GAMING and the 750Ti GAMING. Plus I have a lot of writing to do for some other items I am doing reviews on

 

[Rangerjr1]

Hows it going - I am going to be testing the 290X Lightning here over the next few weeks . I have taken some photos for you to oogle in the meantime

IMGUR Album

I am taking this slowly over the coming weeks to limit my stress that I get from testing ( trying to take it easier for my health :/ - no more hours of testing at the computers for me :'( )

I also will be finishing up testing the A88X-G45 GAMING and the 750Ti GAMING. Plus I have a lot of writing to do for some other items I am doing reviews on

Please dont do [redacted] clocks like 1150/1450 that most people do with their cards on that lightning, push it so we know what it can do :awe:

Ive been contemplating one

Profanity isn't allowed in the technical forums.
-- stahlhart

 

[Gikaseixas]

Top notch packaging from MSI, just hope the extra performance matches the looks haha

 

[Shmee]

Is that guaranteed Hynix memory?

 

[Jodell88]

Sorry to sound like a n00b, but what's this black bracket?
http://imgur.com/a/Wnjow#9

 

[3DVagabond]

Sorry to sound like a n00b, but what's this black bracket?
http://imgur.com/a/Wnjow#9

Heatsink for the VRM when you are using LN cooling and remove the stock heatsink.

 

[guskline]

What test bed will you be using?

 

[Jodell88]

Heatsink for the VRM when you are using LN cooling and remove the stock heatsink.

Thank you for the explanation.

 

[Attic]

Looks good so far, felt like I was there opening the box. Can't wait for more of your impressions and findings. That card just looks like all business.

It might be interesting to tie in CPU speeds on performance of these cards. I can help you with performance numbers from an i3 4330 in any benchmarks we share or if you can disable cores/downclock your processor i'd be interested in the wieght of that impact in high gpu load scenarios.

 

[Stuka87]

Really nice packaging!

 

[TheGoat Eater]

What test bed will you be using?

I will be using an ES 4670K and a Z87 MPOWER to test it with some a decent 2x4GB Micron based kit. I will be pre-tuning and testing on the A88X-G45 w/ 7850K until I get the GPUs moved off of my MPOWER that I have mining for me.

Really nice packaging!

Yeah, Its by far the best packaging I have ever seen for any computer part I have had.

 

[TheGoat Eater]

Until monday I am using my A88X-G45 GAMING and 7850K to test the GPU on. I am right now running it buttery smooth @ 1207/1601 while I play BF4 with all the eye candy @ 1440 res.

I will be tweaking and testing some more to get it even further and run some benches with the Intel setup maxed out

 

[TreVader]

Is that guaranteed Hynix memory?

Most of the cards i've seen have samsung but some have hynix. So no guarantees.

 

[tolis626]

Apart from being curious about what overclocks you're gonna get, I only have one question about the Lightning. Does it also include BF4? I'm trying to find a reason to justify giving 630€ for it...

 

[lavaheadache]

I have a 290x lightning inbound aswell. Should have it mid next week

 

[rtsurfer]

Apart from being curious about what overclocks you're gonna get, I only have one question about the Lightning. Does it also include BF4? I'm trying to find a reason to justify giving 630€ for it...

Doesn't come with BF4.
Expect somewhere around 1220/1600 OC at least.

I have a 290x lightning inbound aswell. Should have it mid next week

Already have mine.
Now I'll have company.

 

[TheGoat Eater]

I am just pre-testing to find a good stable start point and have found 1200/1600 is great and stable for me with my +200 core + 100 mem + 65 aux (please note that these limits are past what you will see in Afterburner... I have ABX a special version from MSI for certain people... But you can find guide to extend limits of the standard version. I don't distribute my version as it is actually coded to me in the software.

See attached for the temps - game is at OC and mining is at stock

 

[TheGoat Eater]

Some tests with the solid settings that I am using daily to game...

http://imgur.com/a/KjG5A

1200/1600 w/ 4670K ES at 4.3 and 2400 RAM

I am getting in a cascade cooler and prepping to do some good runs hopefully around 6GHz and higher yet card clocks (will be pushing the volts)

 

[guskline]

Some tests with the solid settings that I am using daily to game...

http://imgur.com/a/KjG5A

1200/1600 w/ 4670K ES at 4.3 and 2400 RAM

I am getting in a cascade cooler and prepping to do some good runs hopefully around 6GHz and higher yet card clocks (will be pushing the volts)

Is that being tested in the rig in your sig? Sounds like an impressive card!

 

[spinejam]

Always liked those Lightning ed. cards --- great cooling and usually overclock well!

 

[sze5003]

Looks good, what's the retail value? I'm interested even though I should wait for the 20nm cards.

 

[TheGoat Eater]

Is that being tested in the rig in your sig? Sounds like an impressive card!

The rig in my sig is actually a notebook - The notebook sure is a beast - just like the Lightning

Always liked those Lightning ed. cards --- great cooling and usually overclock well!

I have too - I started testing them with the GTX 275 Lightning (275L) as I missed my chance to play with the 260L at MSI MOA in Beijing... Didn't have a passport at that time, never thought I would be asked to go on a trip with a months notice LOL... Luckily I had one when I went to visit MSI in Taiwan a few months later

Looks good, what's the retail value? I'm interested even though I should wait for the 20nm cards.

These at about $700-$750... I did just see at TPU a headline that said no 20nm for AMD this year :/

 

[sze5003]

The rig in my sig is actually a notebook - The notebook sure is a beast - just like the Lightning



I have too - I started testing them with the GTX 275 Lightning (275L) as I missed my chance to play with the 260L at MSI MOA in Beijing... Didn't have a passport at that time, never thought I would be asked to go on a trip with a months notice LOL... Luckily I had one when I went to visit MSI in Taiwan a few months later



These at about $700-$750... I did just see at TPU a headline that said no 20nm for AMD this year :/

Oh man forget that. Not sure I would want to spend more than $430 or so.