Flash 290 to 290X Possible?

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Lord_Exodia

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If anyone has any info on this please post in this thread, I loved my 6950/s flashed and overclocked way beond 6970s before. the 290s look like an enticing upgrade to what I have especially if this is possible.

Does anyone know if the pcb is the same, it seems to look that way but I haven't seen anything concrete on this.
 
Damn, I'm thinking a pair of 290s with aftermarket coolers may be the way to go. Either that or hold out for the new gen cards from Nvidia.
 
I've already written AMD and told them I would go absolutely CRAZY if they allowed this. I didn't spend $550+ so some 17 year old with dad's credit card could come along and turn his 290 into a 290x.

The reply was it would not now or ever be possible to flash the 290 into a 290x

/case closed
 
I've already written AMD and told them I would go absolutely CRAZY if they allowed this. I didn't spend $550+ so some 17 year old with dad's credit card could come along and turn his 290 into a 290x.

The reply was it would not now or ever be possible to flash the 290 into a 290x

/case closed

And I'm sure the answer they wrote back was that they didn't give a rats ass. Also, wtf are you talking about with this dad's credit card shit. I currently have 1 290x and 2 290s. Stop acting like a dickhole.
 
I've already written AMD and told them I would go absolutely CRAZY if they allowed this. I didn't spend $550+ so some 17 year old with dad's credit card could come along and turn his 290 into a 290x.

The reply was it would not now or ever be possible to flash the 290 into a 290x

/case closed

/caseNOTclosed :) See here http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1791547

For those TLDR people, he successfully flashed his 2 asus R290 cards to 2R290X successfully.

hmm. The plot thickens.
 
It seems to be a roll of the dice as to whether the flash works in unlocking the extra units or not. Personally I'm gonna hold off and see how many of these flashed cards end up dying over the next month or so before I attempt it.
 
It seems to be a roll of the dice as to whether the flash works in unlocking the extra units or not. Personally I'm gonna hold off and see how many of these flashed cards end up dying over the next month or so before I attempt it.

Why would they die? That makes no sense...
 
I've already written AMD and told them I would go absolutely CRAZY if they allowed this. I didn't spend $550+ so some 17 year old with dad's credit card could come along and turn his 290 into a 290x.

The reply was it would not now or ever be possible to flash the 290 into a 290x

/case closed

Thanks for making me LMFAO...I was having a shitty day, but boy did this make it better!:p:p:p
 
It seems to be a roll of the dice as to whether the flash works in unlocking the extra units or not. Personally I'm gonna hold off and see how many of these flashed cards end up dying over the next month or so before I attempt it.

Your right, however unlike the 6950 to 6970 which was also a roll of the dice, back then there were 5 sides of the dice that if it landed on you were good to go this time there is probably one side of the die that will get you a successfully flashed card. It seems very very rare(in other words). I'll have to wait and see how many others report success, what brands are best etc....

I don't think the cards will die, just like the 6950s you could just switch the switch back over to the fail safe bios, boot with that bios, then switch back and re-flash a safe R290 bios back on the card.
 
Both of my XFX cards unlocked last night.
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So far it's looking to be the -very- early batches of cards that came out.
 
My XFX unlocked also. My core ends in 2000 which is a 290X core from my understanding. Cores ending in 2020 are 290 cores. I installed the accelero extreme III and my max temps are 58c on the core and 65c on VRM 1 and 47c on VRM 2. So I have a 290X that runs cool and quiet for about $70 less than a hot and loud stock 290X. :D

















Sooooooooooooooo SixFootDuo eat your heart out brother.
 
My XFX unlocked also. My core ends in 2000 which is a 290X core from my understanding. Cores ending in 2020 are 290 cores. I installed the accelero extreme III and my max temps are 58c on the core and 65c on VRM 1 and 47c on VRM 2. So I have a 290X that runs cool and quiet for about $70 less than a hot and loud stock 290X. :D
Haha that sure is a mirror finish on the core!

I'm doing exactly the same as you with a Powercolor 290 OC.
It will be interesting to compare results.

Did you have to use thermal glue or is it feasible to get a good result with thermal tape?
I have some Akasa here.

SixFootDuo is seeing green lol.
 
Both of my XFX cards unlocked last night.


So far it's looking to be the -very- early batches of cards that came out.

Maybe this is part of the reason for the 290 delay when it was released. Possibly a review site reported to AMD that they unlocked the card and then AMD decided to hold off on the release.

May just be a limited amount of these cards that can be flashed.
 
I've already written AMD and told them I would go absolutely CRAZY if they allowed this. I didn't spend $550+ so some 17 year old with dad's credit card could come along and turn his 290 into a 290x.

The reply was it would not now or ever be possible to flash the 290 into a 290x

/case closed


It doesn't bother me. I still got a good deal on my 290X the day it was released and I have had weeks of fun with it.

Had 290 and 290X released the same day I would have gotten the 290 and tried flashing it to 290x.


Not everyone is into flashing cards and it does require some skill and know how to do it.

I hope AMD continues to allow this little hidden treat for the 290 series.

The 290 by itself is still extremely close to 290x performance level. This little bios flash trick doesn't bother me.
 
I've already written AMD and told them I would go absolutely CRAZY if they allowed this. I didn't spend $550+ so some 17 year old with dad's credit card could come along and turn his 290 into a 290x.

The reply was it would not now or ever be possible to flash the 290 into a 290x

/case closed

This made me laugh out loud. Seriously. Haha

Time to go CRAZY!
 
I'm going to close this thread to start a new thread useful to the community. Thanks to all that posted.
 
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