yeah yeah 970 this and that... considering 290X

T

toddw

[H]ard|Gawd
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Sep 9, 2004
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EDIT:
Snagged an Asus R9 290X for $252 shipped.

Assuming it works, Done. Sell my 7950 upgraded for $150 and call it a day.




I had an eVGA SC 970GTX ACX 1.0 but it was unstable out of the box.

Now I'm reading all the coil whine issues...

Actually thinking about a 290X for the following reasons:
1) Sell my 7950 *thinking I should get around $100 for it"
2) No coil whine lottery
3) I've seen 290X go right and left on ebay for under $250 shipped.

Realistically the 970 is $350 shipped and possibly more (I'd go Asus) and that's if/when you find one in stock. Once I sell my 7950 I'm looking at somewhere around $125-$150 for the upgrade. (alternatively I could grab another 7950 boost but it seems to works out about the same cost)

Yeah I know it's subjective and up to me but posting for thoughts....
 
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I still use my 7950. It does1200/1400
Anyway, I've read all the evga 970 issues. If you are not satisfied return it, I would.
I would love a 290x, but I have a house to take care of. So yes get a 290x so I can live through you. hah
 
I would definitely go the one card route in general if possible......was your 970 new? bummer it had issues.....i actually very much like the amd cards but those 970/980 nvidia cards are so dam nice....i think a reference asus 970 card be cool to have but i still think evga would be my first choice even with what happened to you...maybe there reference model be a better bet. Edit scratch that i thought they came with titan coolers....guess i would have to spring for the 980 if i went that route

If you live in a very cold location at least the amd 290s help heat your room lol;)
 
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I would try a different brand such as asus 970 strix

The 970 strix is superior in everyway compared to a 290x unless you are bitcoining from what i understand amd is best used for that purpose.

btw i am returning a g1 gamming 980 card and purchasing 2x asus strix now after considering price per performance ratio is not worth getting the 980 for me since i only game at 2560x1440 . Also when you consider energy efficiency on the new maxwell cards 0db idle etc. You will appreciate it in the long run when going SLI.
AMD has alot to do to catch up with Nvidia . Mantle turned out to be somewhat of a flop like i knew it would.
 
my 290x's are overclocked to 1200mhz core on water. There's no way a 970 is faster especially at 1440p. You can get new 290x on newegg for like 350 after rebate which is about the same price at a 970 anyway. Yeah it uses more power but so what.
 
toddw said:
I had an eVGA SC 970GTX ACX 1.0 but it was unstable out of the box.

Now I'm reading all the coil whine issues...

Actually thinking about a 290X for the following reasons:
1) Sell my 7950 *thinking I should get around $100 for it"
2) No coil whine lottery
3) I've seen 290X go right and left on ebay for under $250 shipped.

Realistically the 970 is $350 shipped and possibly more (I'd go Asus) and that's if/when you find one in stock. Once I sell my 7950 I'm looking at somewhere around $125-$150 for the upgrade. (alternatively I could grab another 7950 boost but it seems to works out about the same cost)

Yeah I know it's subjective and up to me but posting for thoughts....
Click to expand...

sell it and grab a Gigabyte G1 GTX970.. those seems to be the less troubled GTX 970s.... Or the Asus Strix 970 and disable that crappy 0db fan feature that make it idle at 40+ degrees..

UnrealCpu said:
The 970 strix is superior in everyway compared to a 290x unless you are bitcoining from what i understand amd is best used for that purpose.
Click to expand...

Not anymore.. compute performance of 970 and 980 are in worse case scenarios equal to what a 290 and 290X can offer:eek:.. but also the mining market its practically dead for the average user unless you have tens of cards

Nirad9er said:
my 290x's are overclocked to 1200mhz core on water. There's no way a 970 is faster especially at 1440p.
Click to expand...

in the best case scenario you will be on pair with a 1450-1500mhz GTX 970.... and do not require a water loop to reach that... :D
 
Nirad9er said:
my 290x's are overclocked to 1200mhz core on water. There's no way a 970 is faster especially at 1440p. You can get new 290x on newegg for like 350 after rebate which is about the same price at a 970 anyway. Yeah it uses more power but so what.
Click to expand...

Great but after you consider purchasing those water blocks the price over performance the new nvidia maxwell cards win
 
Araxie said:
sell it and grab a Gigabyte G1 GTX970.. those seems to be the less troubled GTX 970s.... Or the Asus Strix 970 and disable that crappy 0db fan feature that make it idle at 40+ degrees..

There is reports of people idling at or below 40c with good case fans. I agree

Not anymore.. compute performance of 970 and 980 are in worse case scenarios equal to what a 290 and 290X can offer:eek:.. but also the mining market its practically dead for the average user unless you have tens of cards

Cool learned something new , sounds like AMD needs to release a new card here soon to compete


in the best case scenario you will be on pair with a 1450-1500mhz GTX 970.... and do not require a water loop to reach that... :D
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From what i am hearing people are getting around 15-16k in firestrike going sli. For 664.00 "Discover 5% cash back" no tax from amazon i am going with 2 Asus Strix 970s and returning my GTX 980 G1 gaming 629.00 retail. I got about 13200 with a single GTX 980 and could care less for another 629 bucks would net me only 16-17k in firestrike. Next 12 months i believe the 970s will suit me just fine with cost saving in electricity and nice and quiet case when on the desktop at 0db. The 970 strix or MSI 970 is the way to go for me. Unless you are at 4k or gaming with 3 monitors then just stay away from the 980 unless you have money to burn. I will resell and upgrade to the new maxwells with 6-8gb vram in 12 months and we will probably see something for around 349.00 being released with more performance.
 
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Nirad9er said:
my 290x's are overclocked to 1200mhz core on water. There's no way a 970 is faster especially at 1440p. You can get new 290x on newegg for like 350 after rebate which is about the same price at a 970 anyway. Yeah it uses more power but so what.
Click to expand...

Did you even read this before posting? You are comparing a water cooled high overclock to an air cooled 970's?
 
both my unlocked 290 and ref 290x whined noticeably under load... most cards do, especially power hungry beasts like these. the 970 uproar is mostly overly picky consumers
 
toddw said:
I had an eVGA SC 970GTX ACX 1.0 but it was unstable out of the box.

Now I'm reading all the coil whine issues...
Click to expand...

The warnings to stay away from EVGA's 970 were all over the forum since day one.
 
fdiaz78 said:
Did you even read this before posting? You are comparing a water cooled high overclock to an air cooled 970's?
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he is trying to justify is obsolete purchase . Next he will talk about mantle.
Lets see 350.00 after rebate , no thanks.
water blocks and rad probably in the 300 range. no thanks

Heat and loud noise when at stock cooling no thanks....

Just my personal opinion but i am with you
 
Hamateer said:
both my unlocked 290 and ref 290x whined noticeably under load... most cards do, especially power hungry beasts like these. the 970 uproar is mostly overly picky consumers
Click to expand...

it could possibly be the power source feeding the video card. Like the PSU for example. I should have my 970s strix in 2-3 weeks hopefully i am on a preorder with amazon. Also i am running a cyberpower 1500 UPS, and a 1200 watt seasonic psu. I am not a electric guru but this could help with the power delivery to the rig. I will let you know if i hear anything from my 760T case with 120mm cougar case fans and my H110. I believe what you are saying though since my 980 G1 seems to hum when my ear is 2inches from the video card. with fans running at about 1k rpm, No way it can be heard though when case is sealed and fans moving.

The CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD PFC Sinewave UPS System with pure sine wave output and multifunction LCD safeguards mid- to high-end computer systems, servers and networking hardware that use conventional and Active Power Factor Correction (PFC) power supplies. Its Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR) technology delivers clean and consistent AC power, protecting connected equipment and preventing costly business interruptions. This UPS system is ENERGY STAR® qualified with patented GreenPower UPS™ Bypass circuitry to save on energy costs by reducing energy consumption and heat buildup.
 
Hamateer said:
both my unlocked 290 and ref 290x whined noticeably under load... most cards do, especially power hungry beasts like these. the 970 uproar is mostly overly picky consumers
Click to expand...

No. Coil whine should not be tolerated especially with today's electronics.
 
fdiaz78 said:
No. Coil whine should not be tolerated especially with today's electronics.
Click to expand...

my 6950 whined. my 290x's whined. my evga 970 whined. my msi 970 whines. 5 different power supplies between those. i guess i just have shit luck. :rolleyes:
 
Hamateer said:
both my unlocked 290 and ref 290x whined noticeably under load... most cards do, especially power hungry beasts like these. the 970 uproar is mostly overly picky consumers
Click to expand...

yeah but did they whine like this?

Pretty sure when people complain about coil whine, it means excessively loud coil whine.
 
n=1 said:
yeah but did they whine like this?

Pretty sure when people complain about coil whine, it means excessively loud coil whine.
Click to expand...

my 290xs were louder, not as high pitched, could still be heard with my side panel on. my 6950 was also audible with the case closed. that this nonsense is causing such a stir is laughable. yours is particularly high pitched, but its also right next to the card with the case open. it doesnt seem loud at all. that fdiaz is offering up such tripe tells you that no, indeed we have a decent chunk of people expecting complete silence. i guess theyre all first time pc builders
 
That actually isn't my video, but his card basically sounds exactly like what I had. Now imagine having 2 of those squealing cards. I assure you I hear the whine with both side panels on, in a case with THIRTEEN fans, while gaming with speaker volume at 50% no less. So yeah, I'm entitled to bitch about it.

It's not the loudness/intensity that's the problem, it's the frequency. The more high-pitched it is the harder it is to saturate it out. Fans mainly make low-frequency hums, and contrasts sharply with the high-pitched squeal.
 
Nirad9er said:
my 290x's are overclocked to 1200mhz core on water. There's no way a 970 is faster especially at 1440p. You can get new 290x on newegg for like 350 after rebate which is about the same price at a 970 anyway. Yeah it uses more power but so what.
Click to expand...

Are there any reviews of fully overclocked 970s versus overclocked 290Xs? A 970 at 1500mhz core would be hard to beat.
 
toddw said:
Actually thinking about a 290X for the following reasons:
1) Sell my 7950 *thinking I should get around $100 for it"
2) No coil whine lottery
3) I've seen 290X go right and left on ebay for under $250 shipped.
Click to expand...

Don't forget:
4) It's almost winter. With all the heat it generates, the 290X will help keep your house nice and warm!

;)
 
n=1 said:
yeah but did they whine like this?

Pretty sure when people complain about coil whine, it means excessively loud coil whine.
Click to expand...
I heard a few brief seconds of whine in that video, similar to the sound of a dentist drill. If that's considered excessively loud coil whine, then I'm just not very sensitive to it.
 
Starts 0:02 then fades a bit, comes back full force at 0:18. Definitely not a few brief seconds, but we all have different sensitivities I guess.
 
n=1 said:
Starts 0:02 then fades a bit, comes back full force at 0:18. Definitely not a few brief seconds, but we all have different sensitivities I guess.
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Don't get me wrong. I ain't complaining about my apparent insensitivity to it. ;)

I'll find out firsthand when I get my MSI 970 delivered on Tuesday.
 
I have owned my MSI Gaming 4G 970 since last week and haven't had any of that coil nonsense, although I sit maybe 2.5~3ft away from my case.
 
Hamateer said:
my 290xs were louder, not as high pitched, could still be heard with my side panel on. my 6950 was also audible with the case closed. that this nonsense is causing such a stir is laughable. yours is particularly high pitched, but its also right next to the card with the case open. it doesnt seem loud at all. that fdiaz is offering up such tripe tells you that no, indeed we have a decent chunk of people expecting complete silence. i guess theyre all first time pc builders
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I've built plenty of computers buddy and I guess I'm lucky but I have yet to have a card with coil whine. Coil whine should not be acceptable and not sure why you need to bash people who think they are entitled to a silent pc when they pay good money for equipment.
 
cageymaru said:
If any of my gear sounded like that I would RMA it or return it to the store. That sounded like a dying dog or dolphins to me.
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Now that you mention it, does sound like a dolphin in distress LOL
 
Hamateer said:
my 290xs were louder, not as high pitched, could still be heard with my side panel on. my 6950 was also audible with the case closed. that this nonsense is causing such a stir is laughable. yours is particularly high pitched, but its also right next to the card with the case open. it doesnt seem loud at all. that fdiaz is offering up such tripe tells you that no, indeed we have a decent chunk of people expecting complete silence. i guess theyre all first time pc builders
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You can't be serious. The vast majority of coil whine complaints with the 970s are legit. Some of these cards sound like 747 on take off. Whether or not your old ass ears can hear the high pitched noise is moot. These cards are plagued with this coil whine and it IS a major issue. In fact there are users posting that there complaints about coil whine on newegg and Amazon are being deleted.
 
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Yep I actually suspected he's probably in his 50s and thus less sensitive to coil whine, since it's known that your hearing range decreases as you age.

In any case, if I can hear my cards whine above THIRTEEN fans (yes, 13) in my case, it's a problem period.
 
I have a 290x. I bought mine frankly because it was damn cheap (less than $360). But for my surprise I have seen benchmarks showing a gtx 980 performing only a little faster!
 
n=1 said:
Yep I actually suspected he's probably in his 50s and thus less sensitive to coil whine, since it's known that your hearing range decreases as you age.

In any case, if I can hear my cards whine above THIRTEEN fans (yes, 13) in my case, it's a problem period.
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13 fans? Are you collecting? My god that is overkill.:D
 
Over clocked 290X crossfire at 1150/5.4 got beaten by GTX 970 Sli at 1500 / 7.8 ghz easily. Thats from my experience. gTX 980 Sli is another story though.
 
n=1 said:
yeah but did they whine like this?

Pretty sure when people complain about coil whine, it means excessively loud coil whine.
Click to expand...

That's pretty noticeable and if a card whines like that, it should be RMA'd.

I personally feel lucky to have 2 980s and 2 970s that don't whine at all.

I guess a lot of reviews at newegg don't indicate large scale coil whine issues. Not sure if it's the board partners doing their magic. After all there's no reference 970 in the market therefore hard to compare.
 
naticus said:
13 fans? Are you collecting? My god that is overkill.:D
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Well I didn't realize just how gigantically huge and full of space the Enthoo Primo is so I had to make use of all that void lol. But yeah the case is basically a windbox at this point, although if I ever get the water cooling itch I'm set for fans. :D

madgun said:
That's pretty noticeable and if a card whines like that, it should be RMA'd.

I personally feel lucky to have 2 980s and 2 970s that don't whine at all.

I guess a lot of reviews at newegg don't indicate large scale coil whine issues. Not sure if it's the board partners doing their magic. After all there's no reference 970 in the market therefore hard to compare.
Click to expand...

Yeah seems like the lack of a reference board could certainly be the problem. Most if not all (?) reference 980 users report little to no whine with their cards.
 
naticus said:
You can't be serious. The vast majority of coil whine complaints with the 970s are legit. Some of these cards sound like 747 on take off. Whether or not your old ass ears can hear the high pitched noise is moot. These cards are plagued with this coil whine and it IS a major issue. In fact there are users posting that there complaints about coil whine on newegg and Amazon are being deleted.
Click to expand...

Rethink that. You might catch yourself. I can't fix dumb.
 
people complaining about the 'cool whine'... quit it.. its not a problem its a feature! :D

but really that one video wasn't a cool whine.. it was a drill going into my ear. myself i'm going to try a MSI 970 to upgrade my MSI7950w/boost once the egg gets in some stock
 
Keep in mind that AMD graphics cards do not contain analog DVI output, which means that in order to connect the GPU to a proper computer screen, you must buy an extremely expensive active DVI-D to VGA adapter. Never settle for AMD. When both my 290Xs failed, I decided to not RMA them, but to get a GTX 580 instead, so that I can connect to a CRT. The GTX 580 gives a better experience than my previous 290X CrossFire setup.
 
Starrbuck said:
Don't forget:
4) It's almost winter. With all the heat it generates, the 290X will help keep your house nice and warm!

;)
Click to expand...

Yeah and I hear you can work out a bundle deal with the electric company which will give you 5% off your electric bill with each AMD R9 purchase receipt you can put on file with them. :D

(just being silly)
 
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