Which flavor of R9 290x?

I

Igg

[H]ard|Gawd
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Oct 4, 2002
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I'm about to pull the trigger on a R9 290x but unsure of which flavor? Planning on getting one today and then 1 more 30 days from now.

Currently the XFX is currently top contender @ $480
There was some rumblings a while back with the XFX DD VRMs getting too hot, has that been rectified yet?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HHIPN5A...TF8&colid=2I4Z1BIL7I0DL&coliid=I23X3CV1UL95CO

I see there's a sapphire tri fan version for the but I can't see why a 3 fan design justify more then $80 increase, heck for that much I can buy a Kraken G10 + H55 which I plan on going on that route later on anyway regardless of which version I get.

So if you were buying a R9 290x today, which would you guys get?
 
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Get the sapphire tri-x, the 3 fan design has a great heatsink behind those fans, and the VRMs stay pretty cool. Also, because it's a pre-oc'ed card you know you're getting higher a binned chip.
 
Zero issue with XFX R9 290X DD. I'd buy again. I'd stay away from factory overclocked cards since they seem to have issues.
 
I'd buy my pair of Sapphire Tri-X OC without thinking it twice.
 
If you want a 290X for some reason, EDIT: (forgot about Sapphire RMA problems) the Gigabyte cards are probably best. The other AIB stink for AMD cards :(.
 
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And, if the Tri-X goes on sale again on Tigerdirect or Amazon again for $369, I'd say go for it. It's gone back up to $439 last time I checked on TD, but keep an eye on it.
 
Why would anyone buy from Sapphire who outsources their RMA to a 3rd party, have been known for shipping bad replacements and when you attempt to RMA again they smash it upon receiving it to invalidate the warranty and report to the courier that the packaging was undamaged so you can't file an insurance claim?

http://www.overclock.net/t/1444881/sapphire-after-market-coolers-and-warranty/120#post_22266118

LL
 
mi7chy said:
Why would anyone buy from Sapphire who outsources their RMA to a 3rd party, have been known for shipping bad replacements and when you attempt to RMA again they smash it upon receiving it to invalidate the warranty and report to the courier that the packaging was undamaged so you can't file an insurance claim?

http://www.overclock.net/t/1444881/sapphire-after-market-coolers-and-warranty/120#post_22266118

LL
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Yuck, I forgot about all the Sapphire RMA woes I'd heard about too... Gigabyte I guess or MSI, but neither is as good as eVGA which doesn't make AMD cards :(.
 
Aside from above average VRM temps (still within spec according to XFX) the DD is a good choice imo. It does a good job of cooling the actual GPU so you won't have to worry about throttling. Also from my recent RMA experience with them I have nothing but good things to say on the customer service side.
 
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Thanks all.
I have had positive customer experience with XFX also. Going to pull the trigger on the DD
 
Honestly I wouldn't get a 290x, I'd get a 290, something like 5% slower clock for clock and a whole lot cheaper. Some great models going for only 400 bucks right now.
 
Hey Goomz,

We're glad you chose XFX. if you have any questions, you can pm us here at Hardforum, or simply visit at xfxsupport.com.

Don't forget to register for your lifetime warranty (within 30 days of purchase).

Thanks

edit- typo
 
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Powercolor pcs+ or sapphire tri-x.

Newegg is currently selling the pcs+ 290x, for 468.19 after rebate and promo code. Great deal imo.
 
Wasn't there some pretty good reviews for the Windforce 290s? Quiet and cool iirc. Was eyeing one the other day but I don't think I could go back to a card that dumps the hot air back into the case right now.
 
Bluesun311 said:
Wasn't there some pretty good reviews for the Windforce 290s? Quiet and cool iirc. Was eyeing one the other day but I don't think I could go back to a card that dumps the hot air back into the case right now.
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No, the opposite.
Gigabyte blames bad review samples. But the user reviews from retailers isn't great either.

Some reviews show it breaking 90C, and others are pretty close to the Tri-X.
I think HardwareCanucks liked it.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...3-gigabyte-r9-290x-windforce-oc-review-6.html

Still better than the piece of SHIT ACX cooler.
 
Ive got the Gigabyte Windforce 290x, non-ref design, cools great 78-80C VRM's can get a little warm when pouring the voltage to it though but thats at +150mv so I backed off to +125mv. Got it at 1200/6200 stable. Its low profile and quiet with quality components.

The Tri-X has a larger heatsink not as low profile and a full 12 inches long so it may cool better, and the Vapor X has the best heatsink out there with cherry binned chips, gonna keep my eye out for a deal on one.
 
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If the card never has a problem, which a good card wouldn't, the customer service aspect doesn't really matter. Just saying. :)
 
i'm down to getting the XFX Double Dissipation R9-290X or ASUS R9290X-DC2OC

has anyone got a ok from xfx to put a water block on, had my xfx 4890's & 6970's water cooled but that was before they changed the warranty

but then all four of my asus dcii's have been good two 7970's and two 680's , but asus is void if I water cool
 
tonyftw said:
Powercolor pcs+ or sapphire tri-x.

Newegg is currently selling the pcs+ 290x, for 468.19 after rebate and promo code. Great deal imo.
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Darnit... I hope I don't regret this. I was going to shoot for the $400 ASUS 290 (non-x) but after doing some research it looks like people area more satisfied with the powercolor pcs+ card. Then with the rebate + promo discount I just had to go with the 290x... I'm just hoping everything will fit in my new m-ATX rig. With this beast of a card it will be a little more crowded but I did some measurements... I should be fine.... I hope.
 
The ASUS 290x has warranty stickers on the screws.
If you take off the heatsink you'll void your warranty (assuming it applies to your region).
 
Wendig0 said:
Darnit... I hope I don't regret this. I was going to shoot for the $400 ASUS 290 (non-x) but after doing some research it looks like people area more satisfied with the powercolor pcs+ card. Then with the rebate + promo discount I just had to go with the 290x... I'm just hoping everything will fit in my new m-ATX rig. With this beast of a card it will be a little more crowded but I did some measurements... I should be fine.... I hope.
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I was going to say if it was my choice I would do the same as you did.

Powercolor is far from perfect, but when I did an RMA with them last December they came through pretty quickly and totally painless. Also the one time I called them a live person answered the phone after 1 ring.
 
bill_d said:
i'm down to getting the XFX Double Dissipation R9-290X or ASUS R9290X-DC2OC
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From my research and experience, the XFX DD has issues with VRM1 cooling, and the ASUS reused the same cooler from earlier engineering so it's not optimal either.

I'd love to have been able to evaluate some other brands, such as Powercolor.
 
Starrbuck said:
From my research and experience, the XFX DD has issues with VRM1 cooling, and the ASUS reused the same cooler from earlier engineering so it's not optimal either.

I'd love to have been able to evaluate some other brands, such as Powercolor.
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From what I've seen it'a mixed bag. It seems some of the XFX cards have faulty (poor) VRM cooling, others others then have more than acceptable (good) VRM cooling.
 
Starrbuck said:
From my research and experience, the XFX DD has issues with VRM1 cooling, and the ASUS reused the same cooler from earlier engineering so it's not optimal either.

I'd love to have been able to evaluate some other brands, such as Powercolor.
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well if I get the xfx it will end up on water anyway the asus maybe to
my 7970 & 680 dcii's are all the 3 slot ones and cool fine, I don't know about the two slot ones

and I'm just putting two Monsta 560x80mm rads in my case and need to load them up :)


but EK water blocks should fix any VRM cooling problems
 
Gumbi10 said:
From what I've seen it'a mixed bag. It seems some of the XFX cards have faulty (poor) VRM cooling, others others then have more than acceptable (good) VRM cooling.
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Good point. I only tried one personally and read it in a few reviews, but I could see some being just fine.

bill_d said:
well if I get the xfx it will end up on water anyway the asus maybe to
my 7970 & 680 dcii's are all the 3 slot ones and cool fine, I don't know about the two slot ones
and I'm just putting two Monsta 560x80mm rads in my case and need to load them up :)
but EK water blocks should fix any VRM cooling problems
Click to expand...

Sorry, I didn't even consider you might be using water. In that case, you can do all kinds of good things to improve their cooling. I am just getting in to some watercooling, but I only have a sealed unit (H100i) on my CPU right now. It performs so much better than air cooling and I'm interested in doing more soon. I may build a new machine this year when Haswell-E comes out and try out some more watercooling, including a custom loop.

Back to the video cards... I love the DCII cards from ASUS, and I was impressed with the XFX DD's build quality. The other 290 I tried was the MSI Gaming and it was not bad as well, although the XFX DD seemed to be the better of the two.
 
Gumbi10 said:
Honestly I wouldn't get a 290x, I'd get a 290, something like 5% slower clock for clock and a whole lot cheaper. Some great models going for only 400 bucks right now.
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+1 save a bunch of money especially if you are gonna xfire.
 
TaintedSquirrel said:
You'd be crazy to spend $400 on 290.

New? $350. Or less. Not a cent more.
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:confused:
isn't the MSRP of the 290 399 most all of them are 399 to 469, unless you like open box ones
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...560 Stream Processors&Order=PRICE&Pagesize=20


anyway I went with two asus 290x dcii
i'll use them 45 to 90 days or air and if they are still ok, i'll switch them to water and void the warranty if they need it

my 7970 & 680 dcii are border line for my on fan noise
 
mi7chy said:
Why would anyone buy from Sapphire who outsources their RMA to a 3rd party, have been known for shipping bad replacements and when you attempt to RMA again they smash it upon receiving it to invalidate the warranty and report to the courier that the packaging was undamaged so you can't file an insurance claim?

http://www.overclock.net/t/1444881/sapphire-after-market-coolers-and-warranty/120#post_22266118

LL
Click to expand...


Might want to follow this up with the fact Sapphire just sent him a new card and resolved this issue.
 
bill_d said:
:confused:
isn't the MSRP of the 290 399 most all of them are 399 to 469, unless you like open box ones
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...560 Stream Processors&Order=PRICE&Pagesize=20


anyway I went with two asus 290x dcii
i'll use them 45 to 90 days or air and if they are still ok, i'll switch them to water and void the warranty if they need it

my 7970 & 680 dcii are border line for my on fan noise
Click to expand...
Both the Tri-X and XFX cards have been $350.
The non-ref PowerColor (yeah, eww) was $330.

And that's only this week.

Windforce spent weeks below $380. I had it as low as $357 last month.
 
bill_d said:
i'm down to getting the XFX Double Dissipation R9-290X or ASUS R9290X-DC2OC

has anyone got a ok from xfx to put a water block on, had my xfx 4890's & 6970's water cooled but that was before they changed the warranty

but then all four of my asus dcii's have been good two 7970's and two 680's , but asus is void if I water cool
Click to expand...

XFXSupport said:
Hey guys,

Here are the current XFX warranty terms in a nutshell for the 7XXX series and R5/R7/R9

North America:

1st owner, with receipt and registration gets a Lifetime Warranty on any card with 2 fans. (dd models).
- registration (within 30 days of purchase), but no receipt and vice-versa still enables a 2 year warranty based on the serial number.
- No receipt, no registration within 30 days? no Warranty. Get a receipt/invoice/something.

2nd owner technically has no warranty, but we will work with customers on a case by case basis for up to 2 years.

Single fan = 2 years, registration or receipt will get you activated, both preferred, not required.
tripple fan = 2 years, registration or receipt will get you activated, both preferred, not required.

Warranty void stickers do not void the warranty

South America:

Warranty void stickers if broken will VOID the 2 year Universal warranty

*2 fans and single fan models have the same 2 year warranty in South America.

2nd owner technically has no warranty, but we will work with customers on a case by case basis for up to 2 years.
Asia, Europe, Africa:

Varies depending, contact your retailer for certainty.

If you buy a card from North America, and have it shipped to South America, or Europe, etc. Your Warranty is only valid in North America, and we will honor warranties if your ticket and return address are in North America.

Need More? PM us here at Hard Forum, or call.

XFX Support North America: 800 880 3225

Play Hard!
Click to expand...

This should be a sticky or something lol.
 
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