Just got my new MSI 290x lightning - Wow!

M

Motley

2[H]4U
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Mar 29, 2005
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Holy shit batman, this card is kickass! I just installed it my new X99S build.

First of all, when it was delivered from Amazon, the box was super heavy. I was like what the hell is their a dead body in there? LOL Seriously this thing is at least 8-10lbs. I had to get a forklift to drop it in the chassis.

This is very impressive, huge heat sinks, 3 large fans, a nice solid backplate. Very well made. The packaging stunned me. I thought there was a rolex watch in there. LOL
A really cool wooden type box, and two trays pop out. Very elegant.

And the lights, holy shit the lights are kick friggen sweet as hell. It matches my MSI X99S AC perfectly. Will get some pics of it later and post it here.

For any upset Nividia 970 owners, this would be the perfect card. I can't believe I got this for $349. I can see why it was $700 at launch. Worth every penny of what I paid.

Lets talk drivers. I don't understand why people always still say AMD drivers are crappy. That was an issue several years ago, they rectified the problem with better developers, implementing quality control. The drivers are just fine, so quite making that excuse people.

I still can't believe the Nivia fiasco with the GTX 970. I actually almost got one, when the news broke. Its been a crazy week. Nvidia is, well, not sure what to say, but treating your customers like this is un-forgivable. We remember shit like this. The average Joe user who doesn't care, they buy the low end $100 cards. We buy the expensive cards, the expect the card to perform without issues.

Anyways, if your looking for a new card, then get the MSI 290x Lightning. Just wait until well after the 390x comes out, wait until prices go down some. Don't worry, the 290x will will last you a good while.
 
Ugh that card just seems wonderful. R290X is my choice and the MSI variant you got is amazing. I love the preinstalled backplate and generous cooling.Glad you are enjoying your purchase, pictures would be awesome to see!
 
Newegg drop the price to $329.99 .. if it last til Sunday I may buy one but happy with my 280 for now.
 
Price drops like this tells me something new is coming soon.
 
For the moment it is to steal Nvidia 970 returners and get in while there is some Nvidia negativity.
 
I can't help but wonder whether AMD is selling the 290X at a loss with these ridiculous prices. Don't get me wrong I'm all too happy for AMD to make some more money, but if undercutting nVidia to move cards means losing money on each card they sell, I'd rather they not do that.
 
n=1 said:
I can't help but wonder whether AMD is selling the 290X at a loss with these ridiculous prices. Don't get me wrong I'm all too happy for AMD to make some more money, but if undercutting nVidia to move cards means losing money on each card they sell, I'd rather they not do that.
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Given how long they've been on the market, I'm sure they're not losing anything at these prices. They're more likely just trying to clear the channel before the next release.
 
Holy shit a 290X Lightning for $299.99 :eek:

I would so rip these 970s out of my case had I not spent $350 watercooling them :(
 
Yeah at $299, I almost want to sell my 980, pocket some $$ (since I got it for $450) and just roll a 290x until the new 3xx series comes out.
 
Don't forget about the ridiculous inflated prices when mining was at the peak. They sold record cards at inflated prices.
 
Sure, but the impression I got was that it was the AIB partners that pocketed all the change, since AMD didn't charge them more for the chips. At least that's what I heard. I'm inclined to believe it since AMD doesn't strike as the money-grubbing penny-pinching consumer-screwing corporation that nVidia is.
 
Yeah after I had a GTX 680 Lightning, I don't think I could ever buy another stock card. It's gotta be a Lightning, or nothing.
 
Ok here you guys go, some pics for ya....

It matches beautifully with the X99S XPower. Its got these lightening bolt lights where the "Audio Boost" logo is, right under the video card. It makes it look even better.

P1000982.jpg


P1000983.jpg


P1000984.jpg
 
I guess not, which is great because I was not keen on using it. I am not a big Overclocker.
 
Yes the 6-pin PCI is indeed NOT needed. Its only needed for extreme super-overclocking on water cooling situations.
 
Damn you, Now I want one. I have a 7970 Lightning that was a beast.

I have been wanting a second 290x... the Lightning yellow doesn't match my rig.... I'd have to paint it red.
 
finrep said:
I mean, the card currently costs $299. That is crazy good value.
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Ouch, there are like 4 people in the first page of reviews with the black screen lockup issue. Is everyone just waiting for a driver fix for this or are there large batches of bad cards?
 
Tanquen said:
Ouch, there are like 4 people in the first page of reviews with the black screen lockup issue. Is everyone just waiting for a driver fix for this or are there large batches of bad cards?
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Keep in mind that the majority of people who write reviews are those who have bad experiences.

Take user reviews with a grain of salt.

I'd wager that most of those issues are people trying to run such a power hungry card on a subpar power supply. (or another configuration issue)
 
TheGamerZ said:
Keep in mind that the majority of people who write reviews are those who have bad experiences.

Take user reviews with a grain of salt.

I'd wager that most of those issues are people trying to run such a power hungry card on a subpar power supply. (or another configuration issue)
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That’s true but just the number of them and others around the net having the same issue. Some say it’s the driver some say it’s the power supply or you need to over volt the card and so on. What, you did not reformat your drive and reinstall Windows? I’ve installed different drivers and I just got a new Corsair 1500i. I didn’t need more watts but wanted a quite power supply at load. Still got the same issue. Some guy online was even making a big deal about people not knowing what they are doing because they used a single PCI-E cable with two connections on it and if they used one cable for each socket (like AMD says???) the 290 will work just fine. Nope.
 
Tanquen said:
That’s true but just the number of them and others around the net having the same issue. Some say it’s the driver some say it’s the power supply or you need to over volt the card and so on. What, you did not reformat your drive and reinstall Windows? I’ve installed different drivers and I just got a new Corsair 1500i. I didn’t need more watts but wanted a quite power supply at load. Still got the same issue. Some guy online was even making a big deal about people not knowing what they are doing because they used a single PCI-E cable with two connections on it and if they used one cable for each socket (like AMD says???) the 290 will work just fine. Nope.
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It's quite possible they they all have legit faulty cards. Every model has duds. I'm just saying, I doubt that the Lightnings are more prone to failure than any other model. In fact, it should be the opposite since they are binned higher and all individually tested. All lightnings come with a certificate stating that they've been thorougly tested at their settings.
 
Welcome to the club! I got mine back in December and absolutely love it. Was a very nice upgrade over my EVGA GTX 670 FTW. As for the black screen deal, I had mine do it one time a couple weeks ago. I assumed it was maybe an unstable over clock (I was at 1125 at the tine) so I dropped it down to 1120 and so far it's been fine.
 
For those who want to hop on the 290X Lightning bus Newegg has it at $299.99 MIR but only until Thursday 2/5 - Damn good card for anyone who wants a well built and engineered AMD card or 290X. I have loved mine since last spring :) - If you want to murder someone with a GPU this thing is a brick... Just something for you to keep in mind lol
 
1.5 years after release and the price has dropped 50%??...will Amazon price match Newegg?
 
Sexy. I'm going to be returning my 970s and getting one of these to hold me over until the 390x is available.

I'm going to bite the bullet and get it from Amazon though. They were awesome enough to let me return my 970s after four months, so I feel like they deserve my business.
 
Damn, $300 for this card is even more hard to resist than GTX970s when they came out. Very, very tempting...

Enjoy your new toy.
 
kinda wish the "lighting" letters on the backplate were yellow. With a waterblock it'd still match my Mpower board nicely.
 
if not for the heat/power then this would be nearly perfect...1 6-pin and 2 8-pin power connectors required?...wow...I didn't even realize the 290x had DX12 support
 
Only 2 8pins are required. The extra 6 pin is there for those that want to do extreme overclocking, which this card IS designed for.
 
polonyc2 said:
if not for the heat/power then this would be nearly perfect...1 6-pin and 2 8-pin power connectors required?...wow...I didn't even realize the 290x had DX12 support
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Well the truth is just about any DX11 video card from Nvidia or AMD has basic DX12 support. The reality is that they don't necessarily have FULL DX12 support. Meaning there will be new features exclusive to DX12 that isn't support by the current hardware. So while you will be able to play the new DX12 games, it may be missing some cool graphical features.

I would assume it would be in the same manner in which that AMD cards can play games that have PhysX in them, but you can't see all of the features.
 
polonyc2 said:
if not for the heat/power then this would be nearly perfect...1 6-pin and 2 8-pin power connectors required?...wow...I didn't even realize the 290x had DX12 support
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I came from a EVGA GTX 670 FTW and the heat output is no worse with my 290x. Can't vouch for power since I've only had it 2 months but my power bill hasn't gone up any. I know they're hotter and hungrier than the GTX 900's but I do think their heat output is exaggerated at least that's been my experience.
 
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I think part of that might be because nVidia's TDP refers to the "average" TDP, while AMD specifies the "peak" TDP.

At least that's what I read somewhere.
 
Yeah that much is true n=1.
Although I do not think anyone denies AMD cards run hotter, the reality is that when either GPU is dumping 80c or so into your room its going to get hot.
 
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