Radeon R9 290x QUADFIRE (Hell yeah)

[KaRLiToS]

I don't know if it's worth it per se. I bought it simply because it's the fastest and that's how I roll.

That is usually how I roll. But I'm broke... new house, new priorities.

( I don't know how long I'll hold myself though :awe:)

 

[mojobear]

Hey there Karlitos,

I have a similar GPU setup quad 290s on a 4770K + asus extreme 6. Such beasts...love them.

Was thinking about upgrading my 5760 x 1080 setup and was really hoping to do PLP with a 40 inch 4k in the middle but looks like PLP is only enablled for the R9 285

Alternatively I was looking at 2560 x 3 and given your experience and troubles with this setup + quad..hopefully you can give me some advice.

1) How is vram usage in most games? need to turn down MSAA?

2) Did you get all your eyefinity + crossfire issues fixed with the 2560 eyefinity setup?

3) What general FPS are you getting in popular games, ex: BF4, mordor, etc at high/ultra settings?

4) Was thinking of going 3 x freesync asus 2560 monitors when they come out but our R9 290s cant do eyefinity freesync right?

5) Any other general tips?

Thanks a bunch in advance!

 

[UaVaj]

Hey there Karlitos,

I have a similar GPU setup quad 290s on a 4770K + asus extreme 6. Such beasts...love them.

Was thinking about upgrading my 5760 x 1080 setup and was really hoping to do PLP with a 40 inch 4k in the middle but looks like PLP is only enablled for the R9 285

Alternatively I was looking at 2560 x 3 and given your experience and troubles with this setup + quad..hopefully you can give me some advice.

1) How is vram usage in most games? need to turn down MSAA?

2) Did you get all your eyefinity + crossfire issues fixed with the 2560 eyefinity setup?

3) What general FPS are you getting in popular games, ex: BF4, mordor, etc at high/ultra settings?

4) Was thinking of going 3 x freesync asus 2560 monitors when they come out but our R9 290s cant do eyefinity freesync right?

5) Any other general tips?

Thanks a bunch in advance!

running 290x x4 @ 1080 x3 w/ 3770k w/ z77 ws.

for #1 and #3. have been asking him these same questions for the longest time. he has yet to get back to me. so get in line. patience.

for #2. the issue was the DP to DVI-DL adapter. as long as you are all native DP you should be fine.

 

[mojobear]

Hopefully we can necro this thread

With the R9s how can you do native DP all three monitors?

It has to be DP + DVI-D + DVI-D for 2560 x 3 no? Unless you are using adapters?

 

[UaVaj]

that works too.. DP + DVI-D + DVI-D. (that is what he is running right now)
just no.. DP->DVI-D adapter.

you could also run DP x3 with a DP hub.



back to #1. for enjoyable and playable experience. you will run out of GPU before you bump the vram limit. on the other hand - if you are worrying about unenjoyable and theoretical scenarios, then even 8gb might not be enough.

back to #3. according to newegg's review. 290x x4 stock is not enough for BF4 @ 1600p x3 with all the eye candy on. will not maintain that minimum 60fps. that means - have to turn down some settings. however, karl's situation is a little different. he is heavily overclock and underwater and he is running 1440p x3. that lesser resolution w/ oc w/ h20 that might be the needed edge? hopefully he can post a video and/or some frame times confirming so.

 

[KaRLiToS]

Hey there Karlitos,

I have a similar GPU setup quad 290s on a 4770K + asus extreme 6. Such beasts...love them.

Was thinking about upgrading my 5760 x 1080 setup and was really hoping to do PLP with a 40 inch 4k in the middle but looks like PLP is only enablled for the R9 285

Alternatively I was looking at 2560 x 3 and given your experience and troubles with this setup + quad..hopefully you can give me some advice.

1) How is vram usage in most games? need to turn down MSAA?

It all depends on the game and the age of the game. With 7680x1440 and no AA it can vary from 2GB to 3.7GB but as soon as you put AA or Ultra Texture it can easily top off the 4GB.

2) Did you get all your eyefinity + crossfire issues fixed with the 2560 eyefinity setup?

Those posts will explain my issue (That I don't have anymore since I have all native DVI or DP monitors.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=36196953&postcount=404
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=36212123&postcount=441
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=36256240&postcount=549

Everything is fixed now and 100% stable. I enjoy pretty much every games even Nvidia GameWrecks games.

My issue was with those adapters which worked fine with Quad HD 7970 and Tri HD 6970:

It is working correctly with 2 x DVI-DL and one DP. All native ports. Adapters like the USB powered are not stable enough for that much bandwidth in my opinion. I only had issues with Hawaii and adapters.

3) What general FPS are you getting in popular games, ex: BF4, mordor, etc at high/ultra settings?

I only tested Far Cry 4 for you because today I didn't had time to spend on the computer (work+family+10cm of snow+ etc)

(Check the OSD in the top left corner. You have indication of the Vram used and the FPS)

(Vram is divided by 4 to know how much is loaded in each cards (its mirrored but its how monitoring works in MSI afterburner.)

SEE NEXT POST FOR Far Cry 4 SCREENSHOTS

_______________________________
____________________________________
________________________________________


I did this a while back, this is with Ultra and full AA (Single and Quad Overclocked) in Sniper Elite 3

This is with Ultra settings but no AA. With all Combinations of Cards + Overclocked.

4) Was thinking of going 3 x freesync asus 2560 monitors when they come out but our R9 290s cant do eyefinity freesync right?

If you get a R9 295x2, you could easily do Eyefinity FreeSync. Multi DisplayPorts outputs

1 x R9 295x2 and two R9 290 ? QuadFire?

5) Any other general tips?
Thanks a bunch in advance!

I will try to make some screenshots of Shadow of Mordor If I find the time this week. I play a lot of Far Cry 4 these days. Its way more nice in front of my screens than on the screenshots I provided.

The experience is awsome and remember, Far Cry 4 doesn't have any CrossFire support just yet, I'm forcing Optimize 1 x 1 on my cards.

 

[KaRLiToS]

3) What general FPS are you getting in popular games, ex: BF4, mordor, etc at high/ultra settings?

I only tested Far Cry 4 for you because today I didn't had time to spend on the computer (work+family+10cm of snow+ etc)

(Check the OSD in the top left corner. You have indication of the Vram used and the FPS)

(Vram is divided by 4 to know how much is loaded in each cards (its mirrored but its how monitoring works in MSI afterburner.)

ULTRA ULTRA settings SMAA. Other AA mode are killing (crashing the game)

 

[Silverforce11]

I thought FC4 didn't scale on AMD CF, or was that recently patched up?

 

[KaRLiToS]

You can also check those vids for an idea of how well it runs.

Check them in 1080p60HD
http://youtu.be/z2kJgx9HhAM - COD Advanced warfare
http://youtu.be/VFk16jVziR8 - Sniper Elite 3
http://youtu.be/L8WKZZb5q8I - Grid AutoSport
http://youtu.be/TubrESZCTxs - Tomb Raider

running 290x x4 @ 1080 x3 w/ 3770k w/ z77 ws.

for #1 and #3. have been asking him these same questions for the longest time. he has yet to get back to me. so get in line. patience.

for #2. the issue was the DP to DVI-DL adapter. as long as you are all native DP you should be fine.

You asked me to run specific type of Benchmarks with battlefield 4 and asked to run around many times just to be sure to make a proper average.

I told you via PM that I didn't have the time for that, sorry. If BF4 had a built-in benchmark I would have done it for you but I didn't have time to do all the things in BF4 in order to get perfect benchmark.

that works too.. DP + DVI-D + DVI-D. (that is what he is running right now)
just no.. DP->DVI-D adapter.

you could also run DP x3 with a DP hub.



back to #1. for enjoyable and playable experience. you will run out of GPU before you bump the vram limit. on the other hand - if you are worrying about unenjoyable and theoretical scenarios, then even 8gb might not be enough.

back to #3. according to newegg's review. 290x x4 stock is not enough for BF4 @ 1600p x3 with all the eye candy on. will not maintain that minimum 60fps. that means - have to turn down some settings. however, karl's situation is a little different. he is heavily overclock and underwater and he is running 1440p x3. that lesser resolution w/ oc w/ h20 that might be the needed edge? hopefully he can post a video and/or some frame times confirming so.

A DisplayPort Hub doesn't have enough bandwidth to drive 3 x 1440p monitors at 60hz.

Also, with 1440p monitors at 27" only, the need for AA is less important and it is the most demanding options.

I mostly run my games at 1000/1250mhz and get 60 fps (with vsync) on (this is how I play my games, 60 fps minimum).

Hawaii in QuadFire array are really powerful cards. It is normal that you will have weaker performance in demanding games such as Metro Last Light Redux, some games are demanding at ULTRA full AA.

I will try to provide more info this week end.

 

[KaRLiToS]

I thought FC4 didn't scale on AMD CF, or was that recently patched up?

I am using patch 1.7 and forcing Optimize 1x1 Crossfire mode. Without that it is only utilizing a single R9 290x.

 

[mojobear]

Thanks very much Karlitos!

Very useful comments. The only thing I have been a bit afraid of before going 2560 x 3 is the VRAM limit. Do you feel like you the itch to turn up AA @ your pixel density with 1440p @ 27 inches (I know you said it was less important)? I am interested to see other VRAM limits if you get the time to check them out.

Gotta say the R9 290s this generation have surprised me. Other than lack of crossfire profiles at a reasonable pace, the cards themselves esp quad have worked very well. Too bad I wont be going 295x2 My R9 290s are already EK blocked and stuck deep into the system. Ill skip the 380/390x and go for the following generation.

This monitor caught my eye @ CES. Asus MX27AQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSyv5RvQtcw

 

[UaVaj]

You asked me to run specific type of Benchmarks with battlefield 4 and asked to run around many times just to be sure to make a proper average.

I told you via PM that I didn't have the time for that, sorry. If BF4 had a built-in benchmark I would have done it for you but I didn't have time to do all the things in BF4 in order to get perfect benchmark.

to keep the benchmark "objective."

did ask for the same benchmark as newegg, as techpowerup and as bit-tech with through instructions sent via pm. these reviewers uses the same SP benchmark from the tashgar mission.

anyway do accept my apology for reminding you.
you actually said you will run it whenever you find time. hence waiting patiently. (since May 2014)
lastly thanks for being clear and upfront this time.

 

[UaVaj]

here is the newegg bench for those that are wondering what 290x x4 can do at 1600p x3. time is 6:30.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5AVIaeWZ1k

 

[KaRLiToS]

My Lepa G 1600 started failing and wasn't providing more than 1000watts anymore without shutting down.

Openned a thread here about the issue: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2455424

I ended up getting an EVGA SuperNova 1600 Titanium.

Did a quick custom PSU cover. To hide the label.

With some lights (don't know why I chose blue)

With panel close. (Sorry for reflection)

 

[brandonmatic]

Wow, looking sharp!