New driver released, 14.8

http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/P...t-software.aspx
What is your VRM temperature?

no its not. and its way below dangerous point - 115C or so.
i even can reach 90+ for VRM on previous 7970 which is common.
everygame also like this? try underclock your core/memory clock a little bit.

I think memory is overheating. Screen go blank or black screen usually related to memory overheating or if you're overclocking, unstable memory overclock. You probably need to re-seat the cooler.

bro i have same problem with u before.. so many things ive tried to solve the problems such as reinstall driver and windows, trying different version of drivers/ccc, reseat the coolers.. but the black screen problems still happened.. then a friend told me that many r9 290 cards have problems in voltage stability at stock especially with the reference one.. so he advised me to try overvolt and overclock a bit.. i oced my cards to 1100core and 1350mem with +50mv volt and the problem solved.. no more black screen..  now im comfortably gaming with 1170core and 1400mem with +100mv volt.. i did wanted to try flash the card but it seems not needed..

That is good decision. Good luck!

My Elpida card can keep up with my Hynix card. Both can do 1200/1600 no problem.

All 290's run hot. You either use custom fan profile or use aftermarket cooler. Mine when still using referenced cooler have no problem playing games at stock clock. Either with stock fan profile (temp max at 94C) or custom fan profile (temp max at 70s to 80s Celsius), not once I experiencing any problem. Too bad you got dud card. Dud card is dud card, whether it have Elpida or Hynix memory. When overclocking with 290's, you definitely need better cooling system. You can't compare 290 with previous gen ATI/AMD GPU. There are two cheapest ways I can think of to cool overclocked 290's; 1) referenced cooler/aftermarket cooler + aircond, 2) watercool + aircond. When overclocked, one thing you need to take care is VRMs, specifically VRM1. Overheating VRM1 can affect stability. If you can keep VRM1 below 80C (seems like sweet spot for max temp), then you can easily get the card to run stable when overclocked. Did you monitor VRM1 temp after changing the cooler? Even with watercooling most of the time I play games at stock clock (stock Tri-X OC clock 1000/1300). Only when aircond ON, I'll run my 290's overclocked.

I never experience any stability issues for my card out of the box. I can game when I overclocked it too without issues.

Yours is bad luck already got a lemon unit.

i agree, it will be a nightmare if we lose some good company in pc world especially AMD.
but amd looking good for me right now, it just their CPU team aint having enough juice for R&D.
i thinks its better for u to test it first before rambling about something u not sure of. 

  have you tested the GPU return from RMA ?  and if you asking ppl opinion that what "hitman47 " done he give you his opinion on open threads  and more detail on your Black Screen" also help (what Driver you using/Mobo type/what window using/ Bios mobo/ win give any error msg?)

Black screen like how? No boot up screen when turn on? If like that then its a DOA card. Mine happened to be the hdmi port is not working while the dvi is working ok  . That happens on the powercolor 280X model.

If you swap the card for a new one then it should be ok. 

i do can wait,
but my 270x performance sucks on GTA: ELFC 
40fps is my highest achievement. mostly 20-32fps

My 290 always blackscreen randomly, now i reverted back to Catalyst 14.4, no blackscreen yet.

Very annoying la have to restart computer when in dota2 game

Just installed new driver, the virtual super resolution is really nice.... until when i done tried it on the witcher 2 game and I exit to desktop, straight blackscreen.... 

How long did you took to RMA?

Farcry 4 outdoor when driving vechicle still stuttering and crossfire still not supported yet

here's the guide

http://www.overclock.net/t/1353325/tutoria...-your-ati-cards

it is possible to improve performance.

for example, when I was doing mining, there were some cards with newer BIOS that doesn't mine good enough. I had to flash it to older BIOS to make it work as what it ought to, and in some cases flash to modified BIOS to make it run even better.

I don't think one should flash firmware unless necessary. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Cari pasal only.