R9 290-290X owners thread

[BarbaricSoul]

considering I'm staying on reference cooling.

If your not going to change the cooler, wait for the non-reference cards. It sucks, I'm in the exact same boat as you. I want a 290x, but I don't want a card that throttles.

 

[RCoon]

If your not going to change the cooler, wait for the non-reference cards. It sucks, I'm in the exact same boat as you. I want a 290x, but I don't want a card that throttles.

I also want a blower type card(for reasons I mentioned earlier), so you know, options are limited to reference, or hoping that HIS brings out an ICEQ blower cooler like they did for the 7950/70, but from what I saw it did not cool the VRM's or inductors.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

I fully understand the need for a blower type cooler in your case. I definitely agree with you needing one. But what good is it going to do you to buy a 290/290x if after 10 minutes of game time, it throttles to performance levels equal to a 280x. In your situation especially, heat is going to be a issue. I honestly think you should wait for the non-ref cards and hope one of them is a "good" blower type solution. Otherwise, you'd probably be better off going with Nvidia for the better reference cooler.

 

[RCoon]

I fully understand the need for a blower type cooler in your case. I definitely agree with you needing one. But what good is it going to do you to buy a 290/290x if after 10 minutes of game time, it throttles to performance levels equal to a 280x. In your situation especially, heat is going to be a issue. I honestly think you should wait for the non-ref cards and hope one of them is a "good" blower type solution. Otherwise, you'd probably be better off going with Nvidia for the better reference cooler.

Probably true that, shame the 780ti is so overpriced, I could build a whole new intel 4670K rig for that cost and OC my gigabyte( literally I just checked, new board, PSU, CPU and silverstone case). But I don't want to go full size anymore!

 

[The Mac]

the reference cooler does not throttle if you set up a custom fan curve. It MAY throttle on auto settings, depending on the airflow in your case.

I have my 290 pro up to 1100 with zero throttling with the reference cooler.

 

[the54thvoid]

Probably true that, shame the 780ti is so overpriced, I could build a whole new intel 4670K rig for that cost and OC my gigabyte( literally I just checked, new board, PSU, CPU and silverstone case). But I don't want to go full size anymore!

Hmm.... I'm still thinking about a 290X but never with an air cooler. My good friend Mr RCoon, do you want such noise?

I'd look at the best R290 with water solution. Still might be cheaper than a 780Ti? Just checked, you can get pump/res, 240 rad & block for £190. Cheapest OcUK 290 is £323. So at £513, still cheaper than a GTX 780 Ti without throttling and the freaking noise festival.....

 

[RCoon]

Hmm.... I'm still thinking about a 290X but never with an air cooler. My good friend Mr RCoon, do you want such noise?

I'd look at the best R290 with water solution. Still might be cheaper than a 780Ti? Just checked, you can get pump/res, 240 rad & block for £190. Cheapest OcUK 290 is £323. So at £513, still cheaper than a GTX 780 Ti without throttling and the freaking noise festival.....

Shame all that doesnt fit in my kind of ITX case Yeah I don't want the noise, but I want the blower cooler. The IceQ Boost card was apparently a very effective and quiet reference cooler, so I'm hoping a 290/X comes out with one of those.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Probably true that, shame the 780ti is so overpriced, I could build a whole new intel 4670K rig for that cost and OC my gigabyte( literally I just checked, new board, PSU, CPU and silverstone case). But I don't want to go full size anymore!

isn't that the truth. I'd have a 780ti if it wasn't for the $150 premium compared to the 290X. I have wanted a GK110 GPU ever since we first heard about them, but were given the GTX680 (GK104)

 

[fullinfusion]

sub'd for future reading when the non references hit the market.. tax time is near and so are a new set of twins

 

[claylomax]

Overclockers are selling 290s pre-flashed to 290X with two year warranty. Funny thing is that the brand is VTX3D X-Edition, now the X makes sense

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-014-VX&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

 

[manofthem]

Before tearing down my rig, I wanted to throw these pics up. These are from looping the Firestrike demo in 3DMark for several runs.

And

First pic is with the default fan in CCC wihtout enabling Overdrive, which in CCC says tops at 40%, but according to the pic, it looks like it hits 43%, so it must do that to prevent overheating. At those default settings, you can clearly see throttling on the core clock, as low as ~898ish Mhz.

The second pic is with Overdrive enabled, which maxes the fan at 47% and prevents the core clock from throttling, sitting at a nice 947Mhz. Looks good IMO, and the noise difference from 40-43-47 isn't all that much

 

[manofthem]

Finally back and just got done with a few hardware changes, after a terrible time....

My pc isn't fully back together and I need to make some change to the tubing, but I'm feeling the vibe of the card so far.

idle

Ran 2 rounds of BF4 today with the following result.

I think there's some driver/game issue that's playing funky, which would account for strange GPU usage, but BF4 played nice and smooth. I can complain about some issues in BF4, like video settings resetting all the time, but other than that, I'm happy with the temps on the 290!

 

[15th Warlock]

Finally back and just got done with a few hardware changes, after a terrible time....

My pc isn't fully back together and I need to make some change to the tubing, but I'm

idle

feeling the vibe of the card so far.

Ran 2 rounds of BF4 today with the following result.

I think there's some driver/game issue that's playing funky, which would account for strange GPU usage, but BF4 played nice and smooth. I can complain about some issues in BF4, like video settings resetting all the time, but other than that, I'm happy with the temps on the 290!

That water block is so epic! Those are some weird spikes on the GPU usage though...

Anyways, thanks for sharing may I ask for your VRM with the stock cooler?

 

[jboydgolfer]

@petedread

CCC missing problem is NOT R9 specific, it happended to Me earlier today as well, and I'm running Windows 7 64 bit, with an HD 6950.

I just used the AMD un-install utility , then rebooted, and Re-installed 13.9 WHQL, THEN added the Latest beta. Just be sure to use the "express install" option , and NOT the "custom" option, I THINK that's how I lost CCC atleast.

 

[manofthem]

That water block is so epic! Those are some weird spikes on the GPU usage though...

Anyways, thanks for sharing may I ask for your VRM with the stock cooler?

My pleasure

The spikes are weird, not sure whats' going on. It may just be a weird reading, because at those points, the fps doesn't drop of anything like that; it all stays solid. Not sure either, I haven't tested too many games yet with this card, but I will do further testing.

On the stock cooler, the highest VRM reading I ever saw was in the high 80*s, maybe 90*C, according to GPUz. One time when I checked it during a session, the vrms weren't too bad, in the 60/70*Cs. (thought I had a pic somehwere, looking now. it may have been ghosted when i reinstalled )

 

[Doc41]

Ok I'm not an owner but I thought I’d share my opinion on it,
The R9 290-X really is a great card, and once reviews went out it showed its capability, and with custom cooling it can show its real potential.

I really considered getting the 290 over the 780 but for personal preference and current inability to purchase custom cooling after buying it went with the 780 (thanks to AMD's competition prices dropped) but who knows I might get one in the future!

On another note I noticed on Tom’s hardware they did a review where they just changed the paste on the stock cooler and got better thermal management over stock:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-290x-thermal-paste-efficiency,3678.html
also in another review they slapped the Accelero Xtreme 3 on:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/r9-290-accelero-xtreme-290,3671.html
Anyone still on stock cooler or waiting on a block care to try to change paste and show us some results !?

 

[sulfur]

Damn ;P

1. 290 + LC would be nice
   Anyone can share with normal 290 LC OC results?

290 is better in performance per dollar and with OC it should be close (-5/-10%?) to 290X after OC too.

And non-referential coolers are cooming soon. DirectCU, TwinFrozr, Windforce, Vapor-X, IceQ... Referential 290/290X will explode (&kill owner) in summer

 

[15th Warlock]

Why do you have to be a fucking dick? There's no need for insults. Coming into a AMD video card thread and call people "fucking retarded" is uncalled for. I guess you think I'm fucking retarded also just because I have two Intel CPUs paired with a AMD video cards? Nvidia fan boys need not troll AMD threads.

Couldn't agree more, some people are so insecure they feel the need to belittle everyone who thinks different from them and can only recourse to name calling under the cover of anonymity the internet offers to them.

So this guy calls himself an "nvidia fanboy", well whoop dee fucking doo, did he even care to check that some of us are also nvidia users? And what's with the attitude, under this logic people would be entitled to call their neighbor a fucking retard because they drive a Mercedes-Benz and they drive another brand like BMW? Seriously w. t. f. ?

Take a chill pill dude...

Back to topic,

Thanks for the link Doc41, those articles by Tom's have been really informative and actually motivated me to get a new cooler for my card, been really busy this past week but I hope I have the time bench my card with the new cooler soon

 

[manofthem]

Can anyone with a 290(x) give a little run on a game and see how their GPU usage looks compared mine posted below:

Tonight I've tested BF3, BF4, and Payday so far, and the GPU usage is all kind of funky, yet the gameplay remains smooth. I'm just curious if it's just me or if anyone has experienced something similar. Also, this is a brand new install of Windows 8 as of yesterday.

Spoiler: Usage

BF3

BF4

Payday the Heist

I ran 3DMark Firestrike and it did not look like that, ran normally.

If anyone can test and post a shot (if possible) of their usage in game, could you please say which OS you're running, Windows 7/8/8.1?
Thanks!


Edit: ok Nevermind. after some searching, it seems that there's a little bug between MSIab and driver, but since it's smooth regardless, I'm not worried

 

[Doc41]

Thanks for the link Doc41, those articles by Tom's have been really informative and actually motivated me to get a new cooler for my card, been really busy this past week but I hope I have the time bench my card with the new cooler soon

Glad I could help, IMO the only con against Arctic for me is their VRM/RAM heatsinks ,too small to cool properly and I don't like the installation method much.
Making one like zalman did for its VF3000F (480/580, single slab of alu for the whole card) would limit cooler's compatibility but would be great if they make it as a separate accessory.

Anyway good luck on your quest!

 

[radrok]

Shame all that doesnt fit in my kind of ITX case Yeah I don't want the noise, but I want the blower cooler. The IceQ Boost card was apparently a very effective and quiet reference cooler, so I'm hoping a 290/X comes out with one of those.

I'm pretty positive that if you would lap the original reference heatsink and pair it with a good TIM you'd probably have a non throttling card which operates within reasonable noise levels.

 

[15th Warlock]

Can anyone with a 290(x) give a little run on a game and see how their GPU usage looks compared mine posted below:

Tonight I've tested BF3, BF4, and Payday so far, and the GPU usage is all kind of funky, yet the gameplay remains smooth. I'm just curious if it's just me or if anyone has experienced something similar. Also, this is a brand new install of Windows 8 as of yesterday.

Spoiler: Usage

BF3

BF4

Payday the Heist

I ran 3DMark Firestrike and it did not look like that, ran normally.

If anyone can test and post a shot (if possible) of their usage in game, could you please say which OS you're running, Windows 7/8/8.1?
Thanks!


Edit: ok Nevermind. after some searching, it seems that there's a little bug between MSIab and driver, but since it's smooth regardless, I'm not worried

Matt, I'm sorry I couldn't reply sooner, I just tested my 290X running Valley in a loop and MSI afterburner shows the exact same behavior in my system, spikes in the GPU usage but no obvious dips in the frame rate, sorry I couldn't upload a pic, but you'll have to take my word, it seems like this is a bug in afterburner as GPU z doesn't show the same dips

 

[The Mac]

GPU usage is erratic in the drivers.

Use clocks and FPS instead.

 

[m0nt3]

My GPU usage is all over the place in BF3/4 as well. In AC4 the GPU useage is much more stable at 100% most of the time. Same with 3DMark and Heaven. Will have to test valley.

 

[The Mac]

Its a problem with the sensor implementation in the drivers.

apparently if the drivers poll gpu usage too quickly after another sensor, it returns bogus results.

AB polls the drivers, not the hardware, so its an AMD issue.