Water cooled: 290 vs 290x vs 780 classified

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Nirad9er

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With either card water cooled and voltage unlocked (290x can be flashed with an asus bios to unlock voltage), which card would be the better performer? Can the 290 be flashed to unlock voltage as well?

For those water cooling your 290 or 290x, what kind of over clock are you getting with unlocked voltage?

Fyi, Im trying to decide sli 780 classified vs crossfire 290/290x.

Help me decide

Thanks
 
I would say 290X. With the right cooling I see it over taking the TI.
But until results come in take my opinion with a grain of salt.
 
I would be curious as well how high the 290x could go with proper (water) cooling and if the cards overclocking is limited by heat from the stock crappy cooler. Also how a 290x and 780 classified would compare both overclocked to max both on water.
 
Dutt1113 said:
I would be curious as well how high the 290x could go with proper (water) cooling and if the cards overclocking is limited by heat from the stock crappy cooler. Also how a 290x and 780 classified would compare both overclocked to max both on water.
Click to expand...

I think that this is still up in the air; price is in the AMD card's favor, as is stock memory and high-res performance, but we still have no idea if/when/how AMD will be supporting G-Sync monitors.
 
as far as price goes both the 780 classified and 290x are $579 at most places that have them in stock. So price within 20-30 at most isn't a deal breaker. At least with the classified you get a cherry picked card and with the 290x you play the silicon lottery as well as the mystery of how well the 290x's overclock under water since there's not a lot of data/people that have watercooled them yet
 
there is a thread at overclockers that shows watercooled 290x ranging from 1200-1300

I'd vote 290x with water if you want absolute speed.
 
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I would say the 780ti Classy is what you want. Put that under water and you will have a blast. If you want more price performance then the high end isn't where you want to play in, just buy a 290 and call it a day.
 
El_Capitan said:
Some comparisons with my two on water at 2560 x 1600 (i7 3930K's at 4.6GHz) with Unigine 2.1 at max settings:

ASUS GTX 780 (No Vdroop Voltage Unlock) 1293MHz Core Clock | 1597MHz Memory Clock @ 1300mV:
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/3056/jxt1.png

MSI R9 290X (ASUS BIOS) 1200MHz Core Clock | 5560MHz Memory Clock @ 1350mV (close to 1300mV with Vdroop):
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/663/xvbj.png

Hope that helps some.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting this. Been wanting to know how a oc 290x vs a oc 780 scale.
 
El_Capitan said:
Some comparisons with my two on water at 2560 x 1600 (i7 3930K's at 4.6GHz) with Unigine 2.1 at max settings:

ASUS GTX 780 (No Vdroop Voltage Unlock) 1293MHz Core Clock | 1597MHz Memory Clock @ 1300mV:
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/3056/jxt1.png

MSI R9 290X (ASUS BIOS) 1200MHz Core Clock | 5560MHz Memory Clock @ 1350mV (close to 1300mV with Vdroop):
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/663/xvbj.png

Hope that helps some.
Click to expand...

Oh wow, didn't expect that big of a difference!!! :eek:

That's some scaling!
 
El_Capitan said:
Some comparisons with my two on water at 2560 x 1600 (i7 3930K's at 4.6GHz) with Unigine 2.1 at max settings:

ASUS GTX 780 (No Vdroop Voltage Unlock) 1293MHz Core Clock | 1597MHz Memory Clock @ 1300mV:
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/3056/jxt1.png

MSI R9 290X (ASUS BIOS) 1200MHz Core Clock | 5560MHz Memory Clock @ 1350mV (close to 1300mV with Vdroop):
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/663/xvbj.png

Hope that helps some.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this. Just what I expected.

Clock for clock, 290 wins.
 
Is that really clock for clock? Not sure and not trolling but just seems more like what those pairs of cards would do at a comfortable top end in that chassis. I'm guessing SLI 780s will have some advantage on air at least til new cooling comes for the 290 series.

I'm not leaning one way or the other here I mean, the 780 is actually clocked higher and loses, which is impressive, but on air the picture might change a bit no?

It's fantastic how much of an edge XF has on SLI for the Hawaiis but I'm so used to the bridges I'm almost going to miss the way they look.
 
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From a price point, you'll end up spending $100 more on an R9 290X with waterblock over a slightly used GTX 780 with a waterblock (I've seen GTX 780's sell for $450 or less used). The GTX 780 Ti, you're spending over $250 more.

When you go water, the disadvantages of the R9 290X's become less (noise and heat). What's interesting is that I mine Bitcoins (which is useless now, but it's Winter, and provides enough heat for now), that the R9 290X overclocked with voltages has less Mhash/s than if at stock (910Mhash/s).

While the R9 290X provides more raw performance, it doesn't provide PhysX or TXAA. However, the R9 290X only has beta drivers available, performance might increase some more when they become more optimized.

Both are going to give you more than enough performance with just a single card gaming at 2560x1600 with max graphics settings. If you prefer the visual experience, then the GTX 780 / 780 Ti is the way to go. If you're a FPS aficionado and want 120Hz at whatever resolution and don't care about the visual experience as much, the R9 290X's in Crossfire will get you there no problem.
 
Does any1 know of any 780 TI water cooled benchmarks.

I simply want the fastest single GPU in the world for in my M1 case.
 
jadatmag said:
Does any1 know of any 780 TI water cooled benchmarks.

I simply want the fastest single GPU in the world for in my M1 case.
Click to expand...

I'm also looking at 290x vs. 780TI under water. I don't think the 780TI waterblocks have been shipped out yet, so it'll probably be a couple weeks before we see more than 1 set of benchmarks for them.
 
What program are you using that allows you to adjust voltage on the 290? Supposedly my xfx 290s are voltage unlocked. I'll be installing my 2nd card on water today.
 
I would go (2) 290 and put the extra money into something else. I don't think the performance difference is going to be all that significant between the 290 and 290X when both are OC.
 
I would think it depends upon what you're going to use them for.

For benching the newer card will outshine the 780's, hence the 780 Ti launch to counter the R9 series.

If you're playing games, 780's in SLI are quite smooth in my experience, I'm seeing 90-120 FPS at 2560x1600 in BF4 MP. 4960X at 4.6GHz and 2x watercooled 780 Classifieds at stock clocks.
 
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