Can I overclock my monitor with the 290's?

[Mr. Stryker]

I got a 780 on launch for its ability to overclock monitors (I have a Catleap running at 117Hz) without the need of using patched drivers from the user ToastyX on 120hz.net forums.

Does the new AMD cards, especially the 290, have the ability to overclock monitors through the control panel without the need of third party software?

Two more questions:

Can you crossfire a 290 with a 290X? Dumb question, I know...

Is the 290X worth the $150 premium over the 290? I game at 2560x1440 and play a lot of BF4.

 

[collegeboy69us]

overclocking your monitors is more to do with your system than your video card.

ToastyX's CRU is what I use, it auto patches the drivers for you, and lets you define your resolution and refresh rate it's the only way I know to do it. (and it's super simple)

You can xfire the 290s but I would guess the speed of the 290x would be dropped down to match the 290 so they are perfectly synced.

IMO the 290x is not worth an extra 150. I Just got in my MSI R9 290 from tigerdirect... loving the card, will probably get another soon as I'm coming from an xfire 7970.

I also game at 1440p and one 290 is more than enough for your run of the mill PC gamer, running everything on ultra and getting ~45 to 60fps.

 

[dr.stevil]

AFAIK, you NEED patched drivers to OC your monitor as the drivers impose a bandwidth limit that needs to be removed for the GPU to send higher resolutions/refresh rates to the display. Unless you're only going for something like 75hz at a lower res. I do recall reading that nVidia had a higher bandwidth set in their drivers than AMD did... but not sure if it was a fluke or what

As far as setting the display modes, with AMD atleast, you need to use CRU to do it. I'm pretty sure with nVidia, you can do it through the driver itself (or CRU)

 

[Mr. Stryker]

@collegeboy69us, I'm assuming you have the Catleap right now with your 290? If we still have to use the patched drivers, then I guess AMD isn't there yet. I don't mind using the ToastyX stuff again if I had to. Thanks.

@dr.stevil, yes I know why this has to be done. Its nust that I wanted to know if the new AMD cards could do hardware based Hz overclocking that the 780 has.