A quick look at the Sapphire Tri-X Vapor-X (R9 280x)

TaintedSquirrel

TaintedSquirrel

[H]F Junkie
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Product page on Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202095

GPU-Z
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10 minutes of Unigine Heaven:
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Yeah, no VRM temps from what I can tell. Is there a way to see these somewhere besides GPU-Z? Would Trixxx show them?
Minimum fan speed ~20%, 1400 RPM. Disappointing.
 
Everything is running as admin.
GPU-Z worked fine on my last card, all I did was swap the two cards and reinstall drivers. :/
 
Your BIOS version stands out. I'm trying to inquire with XFX if there's a BIOS fix for the idle 2D occasional screen jump like for the XFX 270X. Running BIOS 15.41 so knowing 15.43 exists gives me hope there's a fix.
 
The people at Sapphire might be retarded.

The VRM pads on the regular 290/290x Tri-X go into a full cover plate:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2014/03/11/sapphire-radeon-r9-290x-tri-x-oc-review/1

I took apart my 280x today to have a look.

Heatsink (TOP): http://i.imgur.com/oait0a7.jpg
Heatsink (BOTTOM): http://i.imgur.com/6XJpE7l.jpg
PCB: http://i.imgur.com/KS6yl0k.jpg

Please note a few things:
The VRM's are no longer attached to the rest of the cover block and now go into a cheap, fin array; it's the black heatsink you can see on the right-side of the top view.

The heatsink fins are vertically aligned, the VRM heatsink is horizontally aligned.
Great job Sapphire. lol

No wonder they won't let me see VRM temps.
 
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FML. I cancelled my backorder on this card a few weeks ago and paid top dollar for Sapphire's supposed top of the line 280x in the R9 toxic (100363TXSR).

It came with Elpida memory, which is inferior to the Hynix memory the OP has in his Vapor-X model. Memory is the most important aspect of a video card. This is like buying a Corvette ZR1 and getting it home and realizing it is fucking naturally aspirated. Reviews don't mean A THING with these R9 cards, who knows if the manufacturer downgrades it in the next batch. Sapphire also changed the memory controller it looks like, because VRM temps read 0c via Sapphire Trixx, HIS iTurbo, and GPU-Z. Using an app called HWiNFO64, I am able to read VRM temps. Ridiculous workaround though, as if I need 3 apps polling temperatures and wasting resources.

In GPU-Z, right click on the top left corner of window and select "Read ASIC Quality". What percent did you get? My toxic got 51%, which is abysmal. Lower than any R9 I've come across. Sapphire downgraded the hell out of the Toxics.

I got fucking bait and switched by SAPPHIRE?! Newegg won't post my review on this card either. I gave it three stars due to strong HSF, and I didn't swear or anything. I wonder how long until the Vapor-X Tri-X cards gets downgraded to elpida? I hope Maxwell fucks up AMD.
 
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http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/sapphire_vapor_x_r9_280x_tri_x_oc/

Few things:
My card is voltage locked, I can ONLY see GPU temps in everything, including HWInfo. I don't think the card itself even monitors VRM temps so I doubt it would even throttle itself if I were hitting 120C on them but I have no way of knowing without a thermal gun.

My ASIC quality is 63%.
Sapphire bins the Toxic chips higher, and afaik your voltage is unlocked to 1.3v so you can at least do something with it. I can't adjust mine at all, it's permanently locked at 1.200v (under load).

Apart from the cooler, the Toxic is better in every way. But they're still closely locked down.
Both cards use the same PCB according to OCC.

Out of curiosity what are your VRM temps? Both cards use similar VRM cooling.

edit // Turns out I had the wrong program, HWINFO64 is reporting both VRM temps. Thanks dude you're a hero.
 
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That was one of the reasons I pulled out of buying this card. I noticed the gap between the input grill and the heatsink was different than the Toxic. It appeared that the HSF on the Vapor-X Tri-x is slightly thinner/different than the normal Toxic Tri-X. Notice the gap in the pic below:

http://i59.tinypic.com/25rdpc8.png

idk about Vapor-X Tri-x although HSF is VERY similar to the Toxic Tri-X, but I will say that the Tri-X Toxic keeps the VRM very cool. It is probably the top card on the market in this category. It keeps my VRM same temp or cooler than GPU core temp.

If you just game and do video and aren't mining, then you have little to worry about. Be glad you have a hynix card, I would probably trade you straight up for my Toxic Tri-X. Basically, with Elpida memory, you lose performance past ~1040 core clock, where with hynix you can overclock memory and then core clock and see gains in hashrate.

I have read on a forum that they nerfed the hell out of the bios on the new Sapphires (locked?). I have not done any bios changes or testing yet.
 
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VRM topped out at 57C and 56C in Unigine Heaven, very good. It's so good I almost don't trust the sensors.
I pulled the heatsink off mine the day I got it, so I needed a way to verify I re-installed it properly. :)

I also pulled off the fan/shroud and replaced them with my own fans.

edit // The heatsink is thinner, but wider.
http://imgur.com/a/GftAu
 
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Lol, what? What fans did you replace it with? Specs on stock fans?

The magic with the VRM cooling is on the back of the PCB. It has individual metal ridged heatsinks on each VRM. Get a fan moving air past those and you have nothing to worry about.

BTW, does your Vapor-X Tri-X have a backplate on it? or is it bare circuitry on the back of the video card? The Toxics have this backplate, which reduces flex and makes the card feel more solid. I think it hurts temps on extended sessions though, but it probably increases the amount of time it takes to heat the card up, so it's a toss up.

edit: good animated gif pic, that last one shows the different design. There are more cooling rails on the Vapor-X Tri-X, but the Tri-X has thicker fins. Srsly though, fuck Sapphire for pulling hynix memory from their flagship cards and putting them into a new lower end card. WTF.
 
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Nitron said:
The magic with the VRM cooling is on the back of the PCB. It has individual metal ridged heatsinks on each VRM. Get a fan moving air past those and you have nothing to worry about.

BTW, does your Vapor-X Tri-X have a backplate on it? or is it bare circuitry on the back of the video card? The Toxics have this backplate, which reduces flex and makes the card feel more solid.
Click to expand...
There's no backplate, and there's no heatsinks on the back of the PCB.
I don't see any circuitry there either, just some solder points. The only VRM cooling is on the front-side under the heatsink with a thermal pad.

Lol, what? What fans did you replace it with? Specs on stock fans?
Click to expand...
I strapped a Noctua 120mm to the big side and an 80mm to the other side.
It only cut my temps down by about 2-3C, but I run a silent build and the stock fans at 1400 RPM were too loud. :/
 
TaintedSquirrel said:
There's no backplate, and there's no heatsinks on the back of the PCB.
I don't see any circuitry there either, just some solder points. The only VRM cooling is on the front-side under the heatsink with a thermal pad.
Click to expand...
Yep I meant solder/circuitry/etc. Oh, wow. Then there's two more differences there between the Toxic Tri-X and the Vapor-X Tri-X. Check out the backplate and VRM sinks on the new R9 280x (100363TXSR):

96yt94.png



TaintedSquirrel said:
I strapped a Noctua 120mm to the big side and an 80mm to the other side.
It only cut my temps down by about 2-3C, but I run a silent build and the stock fans at 1400 RPM were too loud. :/
Click to expand...
Ah, nice. Make sure those fans are okay @ 100% fan speed, lol I wonder if it's a % or if it's hardcoded as XXXX RPMs.
 
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Nitron said:
FML. I cancelled my backorder on this card a few weeks ago and paid top dollar for Sapphire's supposed top of the line 280x in the R9 toxic (100363TXSR).

It came with Elpida memory, which is inferior to the Hynix memory the OP has in his Vapor-X model. Memory is the most important aspect of a video card. This is like buying a Corvette ZR1 and getting it home and realizing it is fucking naturally aspirated. Reviews don't mean A THING with these R9 cards, who knows if the manufacturer downgrades it in the next batch. Sapphire also changed the memory controller it looks like, because VRM temps read 0c via Sapphire Trixx, HIS iTurbo, and GPU-Z. Using an app called HWiNFO64, I am able to read VRM temps. Ridiculous workaround though, as if I need 3 apps polling temperatures and wasting resources.

In GPU-Z, right click on the top left corner of window and select "Read ASIC Quality". What percent did you get? My toxic got 51%, which is abysmal. Lower than any R9 I've come across. Sapphire downgraded the hell out of the Toxics.

I got fucking bait and switched by SAPPHIRE?! Newegg won't post my review on this card either. I gave it three stars due to strong HSF, and I didn't swear or anything. I wonder how long until the Vapor-X Tri-X cards gets downgraded to elpida? I hope Maxwell fucks up AMD.
Click to expand...

Nitron I think I actually may have seen your review on Newegg of the Toxic mentioning the memory issue. I asked a question on the store page trying to get someone to verify what you were saying, but given the poorly typed responses I received, I'm more inclined to believe you than the people who answered me.

So then you'd say steer clear of the Toxic 280x? If so, I'm thinking I best grab a Vapor-X Tri-X soon or a 290 Tri-X soon before the memory on those cards also gets downgraded.
 
xNinSegaSoft said:
So then you'd say steer clear of the Toxic 280x? If so, I'm thinking I best grab a Vapor-X Tri-X soon or a 290 Tri-X soon before the memory on those cards also gets downgraded.
Click to expand...
The Toxic has artifacting problems like a few other 280x's (ASUS).
Either due to Elpida or the fact that they have the vram at 1600 MHz which seems to be a common factor.
https://www.sapphireforum.com/showt...-Sapphire-Toxic-Problem!-Artifacts!-New-VBios

The good news is, if you get a bad one Sapphire might replace it with a 290.

Also after rma'ing my r9 280x sapphire emailed me telling me that i would be getting a r9 290 tri X as a replacement instead!
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if Sapphire is just giving up on the product line at this point or ran out of Toxics to RMA.
ASUS on the other hand is redirecting people to a new vbios.
 
can the bios be opened with vbe7, thus modified?

can you confirm plz?

tnx
 
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tnx i would probably lower the voltage, because 1.2 is too high for mining, atiflash should work with any card, as long as you flash the same bios i don't see any problem

can you do me another favor? but maybe i'm asking too much here lol

i need to know the hashrate with mining scrypt, just mine litecoin for 1 min
 
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Amph said:
tnx i would probably lower the voltage, because 1.2 is too high for mining, atiflash should work with any card, as long as you flash the same bios i don't see any problem

can you do me another favor? but maybe i'm asking too much here lol

i need to know the hashrate with mining scrypt, just mine litecoin for 1 min
Click to expand...
I don't know how to test that, I see the cgminer setup process is a bit lengthy.
If there's a quick and easy way to test hash rates I'll give it a try.
 
--scrypt -o stratum+tcp://pool.emoticoin.org:3333 -u anonymous.1 -p x.1 -g 2 --thread-concurrency 8193 -I 13

just copy past this into your cgminer shortcut in the desktop
 
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