Interesting yet somewhat conflicting benchmarks all over the net at the moment...

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon...0x,3635-11.html
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/radeo...chmarks,20.html

Will do more reading later tonight.

There’s not much more I can say at this point, except that I have several cards tested at 3840x2160, and R9 290X doesn’t just do well against the GeForce GTX 780…


Hohoho. Will be interesting to see the official numbers vs Titan. Can't wait for the official lauch. lol

lol no wonder - A lot of people misread that line.
Does not just do well against = It performs good against many cards, not just GTX780.

The concept is good I'd say - This is indeed a long overdue issue which needed to be addressed.
What irks me are some unanswered questions though not necessary only pointing to nVidia unless stated:

1) This is an issue known for years. A solution (hardware/software) should had been implemented since years ago, why did nobody took this up much earlier? Why now when 120hz monitors had been released (admittedly, relatively young)?

2) Is nVidia going to patent and make this an nVidia-only concept? OK this is just me being paranoid, my gut's not feeling to comfortable seeing how nVidia's market recently had been diversifying (Tegra, nVidia shield), and how would they react to the recent decline in PC market share? Reminiscent of..... Apple. nVidia's making themselves unique from their competitor, which is a good thing. But with G-Sync, would they take the patent route on this attempt?


Maybe it's a good thing that nVidia implemented the G-Sync, so down the road we can see how AMD responds to it with their own implementation. Maybe AMD will reply "we will continue churning out butt-powerful cards and you just need to turn on V-Snyc". Whatever it is, hopefully nothing "closed-sourced" or strictly patented, that all.



Still, I am not gonna wait for G-Sync as my desktop is dead and I NEED a PC within this year. lol

This post has been edited by Enigmatic: Oct 20 2013, 10:21 AM

While these third party coolers help with core temps, a few users had been reporting higher VRM temps especially on the left top (11 o'clock position) though - Either because the cooler's fan coverage does not properly cool the VRM/the heatsinks for VRM uses thermal tapes/pads instead of thermal adhesive which greatly decreases efficiency.

Will need to do some experimenting when I get my 290. Hmm.

OK, I stand corrected to some account: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthrea...18553466&page=3
peppi's case seemed to be either wrong temp reads, or something. Problem went away overnight.


THG did report that on lower fan speeds (7v), using the Arctic Accelero Xtreme III, the GPU core is alright but the VRM overheats:



Still, I think I *did* (blame my aging brain) read some owners who had problems with the VRM cooling when they switched to third party coolers. I'd need to check back on those 290/290x owners thread.
Whatever it is, I think I'd prefer to have copper heatsinks on those VRMs, maybe some insulation tape as well, maybe start off with thermal pads/tape first and monitor the temps. Don't wanna apply thermal adhesives just yet.


Personally interested in the Gelid for a lower cost solution. Maybe the Accelero Hybrid if I feel like spending.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=25349671

No third party R9 290(x) for this year it seems.

That's in my list too - need to make sure I get a pair of light fans (to prevent board flex) but with good static pressure to cool those VRMs though.

But my PC will be nearly 3M away from me so I reckon I'd be not as bothered by the noise. So I'll be taking a "see how" approach. Need to get an SSD and an external HDD to start my PC migration first. Lol

Gotten my R9 290! And some others. Will be setting up my PC next week though I reckon, still intending to get an SSD and an external HDD.
So... Benchies next week?

Look who's talking, with that hardware list in your siggy.
Now THAT'S a nice rig.

Eh haven't read back the few pages, have you posted any benchies on your Giga R9 290 yet?



Down with a little flu at the moment.... Plus, a little lazy to reformat later next week once I get my SSD. Sorry lah have to make you all wait a while.
RM13xx for the R9 290 from lingloong. Promo price I believe since I've bundled it up with a few other parts.

This post has been edited by Enigmatic: Nov 23 2013, 07:45 PM

Personally, not too keen on BF4. Hmmm. On a side note, is there a BF4 pack for R9 290? Thought that was for 280x and 290x at the moment?
Will be pretty occupied for the next 6 months at least on games I need to catch up with though. Haven't been playing much for the past 4 years! Maybe I'll try to catch BF4 during Steam/Origin sales then.


3x 4GB DDR3 1333mhz KVR - Bought since 2011 (explains the speeds lol) as I wanted to build a computer then, ended up holding off the purchase until today, so only now the RAMs will see some use. lol
Am contemplating another 4GB stick if I can find another similar one, pushing it up to 16GB.


Will report back when I do. Had been nearly 6 years since my last upgrade/PC purchase.



OK let's not derail the thread too much... Not seeing too many 290(x) users reporting in yet? I remember llk (290), Unseen83 (290x), and a few others from earlier in this thread. Where are the rest?

There are a lot of reports on Powercolor R9 290 being able to bios unlock to 290x, not sure if feiton is bringing in any of these Powecolor R9 290.
Something interesting to share as well: http://www.overclock.net/t/1445030/is-your...e-find-out-here

This post has been edited by Enigmatic: Nov 23 2013, 10:26 PM

You meant 1866? Or 1600?

Nah. 8GB will be too little for me. I will possibly be setting up a few VMs on this desktop, plus with SQL Server hosting a couple DBs when scripts/migration programs run over a few days, 8GB will easily be used up.
Furthermore, pretty negligible differences as reported by AnandTech. No real reason for me to swap the RAMs I have now.

Maybe in the future when I have excess funds, I'll swap them out for a 8GBx2 1600/1866mhz pair. Then hey, I'll have an additional 2 slots for 32GB total RAM! lol
But I doubt a 8GB 1600mhz will do better than 16GB 1333mhz especially when the situation demands for it.

The conclusion takes into consideration if you're using the iGPU. And also the price difference between 1333mhz vs 1600mhz these days.

This post has been edited by Enigmatic: Nov 24 2013, 01:05 AM

Oit skylinelover! Missed out your reply. lol
This fella -kytz- had been telling me the same thing too. Haha. But later lah, I need a smaller monitor which pivots to portrait first, mostly for reading purposes. 27" when set to portrait mode will hit the shelves above my desk.

Def getting a 27" monitor some time in the future. 1440p FTW.


====

OK, gotten to set up my PC and done a few temperature and noise tests (the rest of the tests to come during the weekends).
These are my thoughts so far, only had the chance to do a brief stress test using MSI Afterburner and Kombuster:

1) Heat - Was not that bad at all, at 50% fan speed. Core topping off around 60C while running Kombuster; not sure about the VRMs though (did not see it anywhere in HwInfo64, need to further check around for a bit).
2) Noise - At 50% fan speed the fan noise is very noticeable, even over most ceiling fans. Whether it is annoying that would depend on individual tolerance. At 100% fan speed, while temps seem to improve a great deal then, it literally sounds like a vacuum cleaner (and I have heard vacuum cleaners which are quieter than that. lol).


Note that I am using the Fractal Design Define XL R2 casing.
Next up is some benchies, and Furmark test for noise and temp. Do bear with me.


ADD: Btw, my card's a locked Sapphire. lol

This post has been edited by Enigmatic: Nov 27 2013, 09:51 AM

Manually.

To clarify: If you set the fan speed to auto, it'll start at around 20% by default. And that is being very silent, I can hear my stock CPU cooler (at max) over my GPU cooler. With recent bios/driver releases, one can expect their R9 290 fan to max out at about 47%, which then you can refer to my impression test with 50%.


The 100% fan test was damn awesome though. Everyone should hear this at least once in their life. lol

lol. Should try to aim for 1440p since you have the 290x. I think some games will have better visuals with higher pixel count.
Not too decided on what I want yet at this point of time though - Probably some Korean panels, or just stay safe and get the U2713HM. Decisions, decisions.



Sorry, I'll plan some benchies this weekend, too occupied during weekends to properly sit down and use my new rig. Haha.

NOTE: Furmark does not reflect a real life scenario of what gaming does to your GPU, its' loads are fairly unrealistic, calls for full power draw hence the temperature you're going to see below.

Currently running Furmark, with 50% fan speed, temperature shot up to 95C easily and rising. The back of my PC was blazing hot, probably can use it to heat up marshmallows.
With 70% fan speed heat is more manageable, but noise is unbearable.

(click image to view)


PS: See the GPU core clock section. The slight dips at the front indicates the GPU throttling when it reaches 95C, with fan speed at 50%. Not too sure why my GPU marks around 860mhz though; might get better with additional cooling. Will need to experiment.

Still, will be going to the custom cooling route for my R9 290. lol. Tempted by the Prolimatech MK-26, just need to find a pair of silent fans with good static pressure. Worried bout board flex though. Ideas ideas.
OK, this should wrap up the noise and temp section for the R9 290. Will post more updates over time as I set up and work on my PC, am expecting more free time this weekend.

This post has been edited by Enigmatic: Nov 27 2013, 10:52 PM

ADD: The GPU running around 860+mhz has something to do with heat it seems. Running MSI Kombuster's stress tests at fan speed 70%, with the temperature steady about 60C, I'm getting a full 947mhz.

This post has been edited by Enigmatic: Nov 27 2013, 11:03 PM

Not too sure why but I find this a bit amusing. lol.
At least they're responsive enough with their beta driver updates, an improvement from years back.

This post has been edited by Enigmatic: Dec 4 2013, 11:49 AM

I have one reaching within this week I reckon. With the optional fan brackets for third party 92mm fans, as I suspect might need something with higher static pressure for air to reach those VRMs.

Actually, I am rather worried of board flex, considering the heatsink + quality 92mm fans can reach about 700g (heatsink itself is around 450g, 92mm fans can weight anywhere from 100g to 150g each), plus 92mm fans' dBA/CFM efficiency is not as good as what 120mm fans offer. Coming up with alternative ideas, though, rather, costly. Urgh.

I'll try to work on a review of the Gelid in stock form when it reaches. But no promises though, as I was planning to stretch things out until I sort out my other parts (x2 Corsair AF140, x2 SP120, x2 AF120, x2 packs of Enzotech mosfet heatsinks, Fujipoly thermalpads/Akasa thermaltape).

I think I am overspending.