ménage à trois 290x

[Gloomy]

So the Lightning is a binned card? I need to know :awe:

 

[Zanovar]

So the Lightning is a binned card? I need to know :awe:

Im not to sure about the 290x,they are selling the L.E card in the UK(780s) so i dont think that is binned.as they both seem to have the same low clocking mem,the 780s that is, im dubious if there is any actual binning going on at all.:hmm:

 

[Zardnok]

Not what I expected when I opened the thread; I was going to commend you on your accomplishment. When I got my Tri-X 290s, I brought them into the bedroom to show my girlfriend how sexy they were and she got rather upset and forbid me from bringing them to bed.

 

[rtsurfer]

So the Lightning is a binned card? I need to know :awe:

I'll answer it for you.

It is as binned that all the cards can do 1200/1500-1650.
Anything above that is silicon lottery.

Also the higher ASIC is better, theory is true for the lightning.

Source: I own one.
&

http://www.overclock.net/t/1472341/msi-r9-290x-lightning-thread

 

[Zanovar]

Not what I expected when I opened the thread; I was going to commend you on your accomplishment. When I got my Tri-X 290s, I brought them into the bedroom to show my girlfriend how sexy they were and she got rather upset and forbid me from bringing them to bed.

haha

 

[Z15CAM]

You might say a 290X is binned compared to a 290 Hawaii GPU or say the SB i7 2700K is a binned i7 2600k: BUT in reference, to the Card itself over 80% of the Hawaii cards come with Crappy Elpida vRam that requies lots of voltage ending up as heat just to get the Ram to run at 1500Mhz's compared to either Samsung or Hynix that can do 1600+ Mhz with less voltage.

And it's crap shoot whether you get the preferred vRam when buying one. OC'g a Hawaii Card beyond 1230x1500 Mhz's without throttling requires it be under water with emphasis on cooling the VRM's.

I wish Hawaii Card Mfgr's would post Lot Run Serial#'s exposing the type of vRam they use. I would not care if they charged more for the Samsung or Hynix cards - Just as long as the consumer knows what he or she is buying.

 

[rtsurfer]

You might say a 290X is binned compared to a 290 Hawaii GPU or say the SB i7 2700K is a binned i7 2600k: BUT in reference, to the Card itself over 80% of the Hawaii cards come with Crappy Elpida vRam that requies lots of voltage ending up as heat just to get the Ram to run at 1500Mhz's compared to either Samsung or Hynix that can do 1600+ Mhz with less voltage.

And it's crap shoot whether you get the preferred vRam when buying one. OC'g a Hawaii Card beyond 1230x1500 Mhz's without throttling requires it be under water with emphasis on cooling the VRM's.

I wish Hawaii Card Mfgr's would post Lot Run Serial#'s exposing the type of vRam they use. I would not care if they charged more for the Samsung or Hynix cards - Just as long as the consumer knows what he or she is buying.

In context of the lightning, I have yet to hear of a 290X lightning coming with Elpida, ilit is either Samsung or Hynix.

Mine is Samsung & goes till 1650.

There are people who have benched over 1700.

 

[Zanovar]

You might say a 290X is binned compared to a 290 Hawaii GPU or say the SB i7 2700K is a binned i7 2600k: BUT in reference, to the Card itself over 80% of the Hawaii cards come with Crappy Elpida vRam that requies lots of voltage ending up as heat just to get the Ram to run at 1500Mhz's compared to either Samsung or Hynix that can do 1600+ Mhz with less voltage.

And it's crap shoot whether you get the preferred vRam when buying one. OC'g a Hawaii Card beyond 1230x1500 Mhz's without throttling requires it be under water with emphasis on cooling the VRM's.

I wish Hawaii Card Mfgr's would post Lot Run Serial#'s exposing the type of vRam they use. I would not care if they charged more for the Samsung or Hynix cards - Just as long as the consumer knows what he or she is buying.

I agree they should mention what mem they are using.probably not going to happen though.

 

[Z15CAM]

Mine is Samsung & goes till 1650.

You're fortunate. I've bought 3 290X's. 2 of them are Sapphire R9 290X's BF4 editions and all of them have Elpida crap which barely hits 1500Mhz's requiring at least a +0.156mV VDDC off-set = Too much Heat on the VRM's an consequently affects the most you can get out of the GPU.

I've been messing with RAM long enough to know you can't beat Samsung, Hynix or Mosel Ram modules.

nVida Card Mfgr's are just as bad for pulling off this Elpida Crap and charging top dollar for cards that will not OC nearly as well as cards that have better ram.

 

[rtsurfer]

You're fortunate. I've bought 3 290X's. 2 of them are Sapphire R9 290X's BF4 editions and all of them have Elpida crap which barely hits 1500Mhz's requiring at least a +0.156mV VDDC off-set = Too much Heat on the VRM's an consequently affects the most you can get out of the GPU.

I've been messing with RAM long enough to know you can't beat Samsung, Hynix or Mosel Ram modules.

nVida Card Mfgr's are just as bad for pulling off this Elpida Crap and charging top dollar for cards that will not OC nearly as well as cards that have better ram.

Thanks man.

It wasn't really luck for me as I just paid more for a card that was guaranteed to have good memory.
The core is still a lottery though.

And yes it is good that these cards are not like the 780s where you pay more for the card & still end up with crappy memory. 780 lightning anyone. .?

 

[Zanovar]

Thanks man.

It wasn't really luck for me as I just paid more for a card that was guaranteed to have good memory.
The core is still a lottery though.

And yes it is good that these cards are not like the 780s where you pay more for the card & still end up with crappy memory. 780 lightning anyone. .?

Make your mind up,1200 earlier*scratches head*

 

[rtsurfer]

Make your mind up,1200 earlier*scratches head*

I don't get your question.
1200 was core & 1650 is for memory.

I can actually bench everything at 1250/1650 except I get really minor artifacts in Heaven unless I go over the official allowed Voltage in AfterBurner.

 

[Zanovar]

I don't get your question.
1200 was core & 1650 is for memory.

I can actually bench everything at 1250/1650 except I get really minor artifacts in Heaven unless I go over the official allowed Voltage in AfterBurner.

Nvm

 

[lavaheadache]

Mine too has Samsung memory

 

[tolis626]

I think I've seen some cases of 290x Lightnings going over 1.3GHz, closer to 1.4GHz. I really can't remember where, but if I find it I'll post it here.

I for one can't wait until EK release their water block for this card. For me, it's the only 290x worth getting right now. Either go NV, or buy a 290. I just want to see how fast Hawaii is at 1.4GHz.

 

[KaRLiToS]

Awsome Thread

________________

I think I've seen some cases of 290x Lightnings going over 1.3GHz, closer to 1.4GHz. I really can't remember where, but if I find it I'll post it here.

I for one can't wait until EK release their water block for this card. For me, it's the only 290x worth getting right now. Either go NV, or buy a 290. I just want to see how fast Hawaii is at 1.4GHz.

Prepare to inject 1.55v in that card for 1.4Ghz.

 

[lehtv]

________________

faaaake.. this is more like it:

__________________
Hello, I am a fake signature with the correct amount of underscores separating the actual post!

 

[tolis626]

Prepare to inject 1.55v in that card for 1.4Ghz.

Sweet Jesus... If I'm to run my GPU at 1.55V, I must inject myself with some sedatives. That's too much even for water. Damn AMD, what were you thinking?

 

[KaRLiToS]

faaaake.. this is more like it:

__________________
Hello, I am a fake signature with the correct amount of underscores separating the actual post!

I don't understand your post AT ALL.

________________________________

Sweet Jesus... If I'm to run my GPU at 1.55V, I must inject myself with some sedatives. That's too much even for water. Damn AMD, what were you thinking?

And also, I think Hawaii would need even more than 1.55v for 1.4ghz.

I could only reach 1295mhz - 1315mhz with 1.56v (under load) with PT1 BIOS. Each of my R9 290x (4) needed that voltage to run those unstable frequencies (stable for bench only)

 

[tolis626]

And also, I think Hawaii would need even more than 1.55v for 1.4ghz.

I could only reach 1295mhz - 1315mhz with 1.56v (under load) with PT1 BIOS. Each of my R9 290x (4) needed that voltage to run those unstable frequencies (stable for bench only)

Sigh... And I really wanted to find a reason to buy a Hawaii card. But I've missed overclocking (proper overclocking, I've been overclocking my smartphones for the last few years but meh) and it seems NVidia is my best bet right now. I just hate NVidia...

 

[KaRLiToS]

Sigh... And I really wanted to find a reason to buy a Hawaii card. But I've missed overclocking (proper overclocking, I've been overclocking my smartphones for the last few years but meh) and it seems NVidia is my best bet right now. I just hate NVidia...

Nvidia will only get you 1.212v with skynet BIOS.

I can reach easily 1200/1500mhz on my cards with stock BIOS and + 150mv

 

[lehtv]

I don't understand your post AT ALL.

Are you quite sure about that?

You're separating parts of your post with horizontal lines that resemble the horizontal line that separates the post from the signature, thus your posts look like attempts to fake signatures. If it's not on purpose, you're risking other people not even reading what you type below the horizontal line, because people typically skip signatures when reading a thread, expecting (rightly so) the signatures to not have any relevance to the actual thread.

 

[KaRLiToS]

Are you quite sure about that?

You're separating parts of your post with horizontal lines that resemble the horizontal line that separates the post from the signature, thus your posts look like attempts to fake signatures. If it's not on purpose, you're risking other people not even reading what you type below the horizontal line, because people typically skip signatures when reading a thread, expecting (rightly so) the signatures to not have any relevance to the actual thread.

It wasn't on purpose.

It was for clarity and ease of reading. Sorry if it disturbed you.

 

[tolis626]

Nvidia will only get you 1.212v with skynet BIOS.

I can reach easily 1200/1500mhz on my cards with stock BIOS and + 150mv

Keep saying this stuff, and you may convince me to go team red once more. I haven't gone with Nvidia since the 6800 Ultra (circa 2004) for my rigs and this is the first time I consider forgetting that I hate their practices as a company.

If I wasn't stuck at 1080p for now, I wouldn't consider NVidia. But as it stands, with me having to use 1080p, it's an option. And one I'm really considering at this point.

One big plus for NVidia is EVGA cards. I love their stuff. I wish there was something like a 290x Classified, that would kick ass. The Lightning is good, but still... 100€ more for a card that I don't know if it will overclock better? Seems like a bad decision to me. And from all the other non-extreme 290(x)s, none really appeal to me. The Tri-X cooler is good, but it's still just a reference card in custom clothing.

Decisions, decisions...

PS : I don't know how good my TV's scaler is. If I knew it could properly scale, say, 1440p to fit the 1080p panel without blurriness, that's probably what I would run, as I sit at a distance of about 2.5m (~8ft, I have a really weird setup at home that I don't bother imrpoving because I'll probably move by September) and wouldn't really notice the huge pixels without trying (It's 1080p spanned on a 40" screen after all). Having a kick-ass eyesight does have its drawbacks...

 

[KaRLiToS]

Keep saying this stuff, and you may convince me to go team red once more. I haven't gone with Nvidia since the 6800 Ultra (circa 2004) for my rigs and this is the first time I consider forgetting that I hate their practices as a company.

If I wasn't stuck at 1080p for now, I wouldn't consider NVidia. But as it stands, with me having to use 1080p, it's an option. And one I'm really considering at this point.

One big plus for NVidia is EVGA cards. I love their stuff. I wish there was something like a 290x Classified, that would kick ass. The Lightning is good, but still... 100€ more for a card that I don't know if it will overclock better? Seems like a bad decision to me. And from all the other non-extreme 290(x)s, none really appeal to me. The Tri-X cooler is good, but it's still just a reference card in custom clothing.

Decisions, decisions...

PS : I don't know how good my TV's scaler is. If I knew it could properly scale, say, 1440p to fit the 1080p panel without blurriness, that's probably what I would run, as I sit at a distance of about 2.5m (~8ft, I have a really weird setup at home that I don't bother imrpoving because I'll probably move by September) and wouldn't really notice the huge pixels without trying (It's 1080p spanned on a 40" screen after all). Having a kick-ass eyesight does have its drawbacks...

I can tell you one thing Tolis, especially if you are going with single card. I owned two GTX 780 (non-ti though) and 4 x R9 290x and I promise, both cards are awsome for single card solution.

Just go with what you want and you won't regret it. But maybe the 4GB and 512bit bus of AMD can help for future proofing. But again, GTX 780 are coming with 6GB Vram

Also... I will always prefer reference PCBs. They've always been the best, unless you want to pay Extra 100$ for custom PCB just for a few FPS in decimal.