R9 290-290X owners thread

[Durvelle27]

I have s question. Is 1200W enough for 3x 290Xs

 

[R00kie]

I have s question. Is 1200W enough for 3x 290Xs

It should be, depends on the make of the power supply.

 

[Durvelle27]

It should be, depends on the make of the power supply.

Corsair

 

[R00kie]

Corsair

AX1200i

 

[Durvelle27]

AX1200i

Yes but I also looked at the Seasonc X1250

 

[R00kie]

@Durvelle27, both should be fine.

 

[buildzoid]

@Durvelle27 if I was you I would go for more than 1200W because those cards can pull quite a lot more than 300W once OCed heavily. So if you try bench them you will be screwed.

 

[broken pixel]

A guy at MSI global support said that removing stickers will void the warranty

Call a MSI support technician and ask them. They will say it does not because replacing the TIM is maintenance. I have RMAd 7950s and 7970s after re- applying their horrid factory TIM jobs.

 

[Durvelle27]

@Durvelle27 if I was you I would go for more than 1200W because those cards can pull quite a lot more than 300W once OCed heavily. So if you try bench them you will be screwed.

Hmmmm ok thx

 

[The Mac]

1200 is fine for 3xfire, its been tested...

but youll need at least 1350 for 4x....

 

[buildzoid]

1200 is fine for 3xfire, its been tested...

but youll need at least 1350 for 4x....

Where? Because according to W1zz's review an R9 290X above 1.3V core voltage pulls 400+W so 3 of them + 130W CPU + other stuff = at least 1350W
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/R9_290X/31.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/R9_290X_Lightning/27.html
Those graphs show a 200W increase in power draw so about 180W(efficiecy) more from the GPUs also crossfire uses the some extra logic on the GPU so that'll boost power draw a little too. And those GPU use 270W at stock so 270+180 = 450W per card so benchmarks like 3D mark 11 and Catzilla which heavily use both GPUs and the CPU at the same time will make your system shut down.

 

[the54thvoid]

Where? Because according to W1zz's review an R9 290X above 1.3V core voltage pulls 400+W so 3 of them + 130W CPU + other stuff = at least 1350W
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/R9_290X/31.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/R9_290X_Lightning/27.html
Those graphs show a 200W increase in power draw so about 180W(efficiecy) more from the GPUs also crossfire uses the some extra logic on the GPU so that'll boost power draw a little too. And those GPU use 270W at stock so 270+180 = 450W per card so benchmarks like 3D mark 11 and Catzilla which heavily use both GPUs and the CPU at the same time will make your system shut down.

^ this

You'd be a lunatic to put 3 x 290x on a single 1200w PSU. It doesn't really matter that the stock power draw may come in bang on 1200 with CPU and other components but the stress on it would be very high. Any fluctuations would cause PSU instability and shutdowns.

1200w PSU is what you would recommend for a crossfire or sli system, not tri card. It's not about 'squeezing' in the power demands, it's about giving the system some breathing room.

 

[the54thvoid]

Also, while I'm at it.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...ktdetailseite&emcs2=GX-353-SP&emcs3=GX-351-SP

£600 for 8GB of needlessness.

It's funny it's touted as ideal for 4k because it has 8GB yet the basic 290x with 4GB is also touted as the ideal card for 4k. Gotta love marketing. One card is stil pretty weak for 4k, AMD or Nvidia.

 

[Lopez0101]

I've been thinking about going over to a watercooling setup using an AIO and a Kraken G10 bracket. I've seen a lot of good things for decreasing temps. My MSI 290 Gaming cooler does a good job, until I put the side panel on. I've already got better case fans on order to fix the airflow issue, but I think it would be nifty to switch to an AIO. I've got the space on the front of the case for a 120 or 240mm radiator (unless it has a small reservoir on the bottom like most seem to). I think a double thick 120mm AIO (similar to the H80i, or any other brand). If anything, getting even 10C lower temps would be neat, but I also just kind of want to do it for the hell of it.

Anybody else gone the G10/AIO route?

 

[chevy350]

Yeah I went with the G10 and a ThermalTake Water 3.0 Performer on my Diamond 290X, much better temps all around.

 

[Outback Bronze]

Hi guys.

Im now the official owner of 2x R9 290s.

Picked up some reference cards second hand.

Ive flashed the bios to the Asus 290x but unfortunatly they didnt unlock. I wasnt really worried about that anyway but im keeping the 290x bioses on them regardless.

WARRANTY VOIDED !!

Universal GPU Blocks Installed.

Finished Case Pics. The actual cards pictured here are HD7950s but the R9 290s look pretty much the same with this setup.

Im finding the 290s very fussy to overclock.

Im getting a lot of black screens testing. I hope this is normal.

Any advive on overclocking these cards will be much appreciated.

They are extremely power hungry over my HD 7950s. The stock 290x bios is ok for now but overclocking them is pushing the boundaries of my 800w PSU.

Looking forward to contributing to this thread.

Cheers.

 

[GhostRyder]

Wow cool computer, love the orange glow.

I got 3 PowerColor R9 290X cards that are cooled with Swiftech Epsilon Waterblocks.

I have s question. Is 1200W enough for 3x 290Xs

I have my Trio with a AMD 9590 overclocked and the three cards at 1125 on the core running on a Rosewill Lightning 1300Watt Gold PSU which has been fine even under 100% load on both CPU and GPU for 3 hours of testing. I would at least recommend 1300 for stability and longevity of the PSU because the stress over time can wear them out if they near max every time you game.

 

[buildzoid]

Im finding the 290s very fussy to overclock.

Im getting a lot of black screens testing. I hope this is normal.

Any advive on overclocking these cards will be much appreciated.

They are extremely power hungry over my HD 7950s. The stock 290x bios is ok for now but overclocking them is pushing the boundaries of my 800w PSU.

Looking forward to contributing to this thread.

Cheers.

There are a few key things to know about the R9 290(X) cards when OCing.
1. Memory clock scales with core voltage. Even Elpida ram can do 1600mhz+(6400mhz effective) at +200mv core voltage.
2. There is a magic ratio for mem clock / core clock that will yield the highest stability if your memory likes the voltage. For me that's 1.36 so 1100core clock * 1.36 = 1496 mem clock if I supply enough voltage(+72mv).
3. These cards will pull a ton of power if you push them. 180W more than stock with 1.35V core voltage. So your PSU is going to give up if both cards are running on 1.35+V and you got both of them at 99% load. (there is reason behind me using a 1200W PSU with only a pair of these cards.)
4. Use Sapphire Trixx to OC since AB is kinda weird with these cards and avoid CCC Overdrive like the plague.

As for the black screens and BSODs. My findings are that if you push the core clock too far the driver recovery will fail and you'll get a nice BSOD telling you. If you puysh memory too high then you will either end up with a colorful repeating psychedelic pattern or a black screen.

 

[Outback Bronze]

There are a few key things to know about the R9 290(X) cards when OCing.
1. Memory clock scales with core voltage. Even Elpida ram can do 1600mhz+(6400mhz effective) at +200mv core voltage.
2. There is a magic ratio for mem clock / core clock that will yield the highest stability if your memory likes the voltage. For me that's 1.36 so 1100core clock * 1.36 = 1496 mem clock if I supply enough voltage(+72mv).
3. These cards will pull a ton of power if you push them. 180W more than stock with 1.35V core voltage. So your PSU is going to give up if both cards are running on 1.35+V and you got both of them at 99% load. (there is reason behind me using a 1200W PSU with only a pair of these cards.)
4. Use Sapphire Trixx to OC since AB is kinda weird with these cards and avoid CCC Overdrive like the plague.

As for the black screens and BSODs. My findings are that if you push the core clock too far the driver recovery will fail and you'll get a nice BSOD telling you. If you puysh memory too high then you will either end up with a colorful repeating psychedelic pattern or a black screen.

Im trying to find out the stock voltage. Im guessing its at 1.25v no?

Idle.

Its a bit weird, if i mouse over GPUz i get higher load VDDC. If i dont its lower??

This is with no mouse over GPUz.

Then when i mouse over.

When i dont mouse over GPUz the voltage ranges from 1.016-1.070 with the average being 1.055.

When i do mouse over GPUz the voltage ranges from 1.047-1.172. This is a big diffrence and i find a bit strange.

Full screen furmark got upto 720w! Ouch. This is stock 290x crossfire.

Futuremark 3DM11 gets to 615w. CPU 3.46 no HT @ 1.1v, memory @ 2133.

Score.

Im finding that even when i try to undervolt to use less power at stock 290x speeds it will bsod with less than -30mv. Is this normal??

Just going to test stability with a few games for a while. I dont think there is any point overclocking too much with 800W PSU.

I do have a 1kw here for when im ready to push the limits. Thats if its going to be enough lol.

Thanks for your OC info btw. I know no two cards are the same so it will probably be diffrent than mine but still gives me a decent guide.

Cheers.

 

[fullinfusion]

Exactly no point over clocking on a 800w psu. My hx 850 went pop with a modest over clock on 2 290's pulling over 1007w from the wall. I've upgraded to a 1300 and having 1 290 and 2 290x trifired on Saturday was pulling at tops 1178w and the fan thou was clicking it wasn't working that hard at all. BTW got my replacement today so if you guys need a set of braided cables red sleeved and black hit me up

 

[Outback Bronze]

Exactly no point over clocking on a 800w psu. My hx 850 went pop with a modest over clock on 2 290's pulling over 1007w from the wall. I've upgraded to a 1300 and having 1 290 and 2 290x trifired on Saturday was pulling at tops 1178w and the fan thou was clicking it wasn't working that hard at all. BTW got my replacement today so if you guys need a set of braided cables red sleeved and black hit me up

Yes mate exactly. I can see why you had to dog yourself a1300w!!

 

[fullinfusion]

No lol it was a test run with two borrowed x cards while I wait for my rma card to come back. I sported this psu because price and its hasswell ready plus I like being able to arc weld if I ever get board

108amps on a single 12v rail

 

[Outback Bronze]

No lol it was a test run with two borrowed x cards while I wait for my rma card to come back. I sported this psu because price and its hasswell ready plus I like being able to arc weld if I ever get board

108amps on a single 12v rail

I saw your 3dmark11 score bud of 33k thats mad! I think that was one of the reasons i went out and grabbed some 290s.

My Silverstone psu is 1kw with 80 amps. Should this be sufficient?

Also i put some added voltage on one of my cards +50 PT and run a furmark and it crashed immediately!

I saw the watts go to like 550w+ just before the crash on the one card. Im guessing there wasn't enough amps on the psu to handle it?

 

[fullinfusion]

What's the ASIC on your cards?

And if it pooped out on +50 then your outa gas on the psu or like me need 150mv to clock over 11**/14**
Don't touch the memory. Leave the voltage on stock and bump the core up till it crashes.. If it black screens just Ctrl/alt/delete and wait because its still rendering. Log off when the screen shows back up and reboot. Take that last run and add +50 and see what that does then repet.. Treat it like a 7,series gpu.. All the 290 is, is a grown up 7970 so treat it as such.. Crank the power control to the max... But I can tell ya that after playing with 4 cards your going to need +100 min to get a good clock and I'm NOT talking about reference..

 

[Outback Bronze]

What's the ASIC on your cards?

And if it pooped out on +50 then your outa gas on the psu or like me need 150mv to clock over 11**/14**
Don't touch the memory. Leave the voltage on stock and bump the core up till it crashes.. If it black screens just Ctrl/alt/delete and wait because its still rendering. Log off when the screen shows back up and reboot. Take that last run and add +50 and see what that does then repet.. Treat it like a 7,series gpu.. All the 290 is, is a grown up 7970 so treat it as such.. Crank the power control to the max... But I can tell ya that after playing with 4 cards your going to need +100 min to get a good clock and I'm NOT talking about reference..

Top card reads 77.9%

Slave card reads 72.0%

Im pretty sure i tried 1050MHz on stock volts and it crashed.

Im still trying to figure out stock volts. Is it 1.25v?

Thanks.