MSI Gaming 290 4G - First Impressions

[IEC]

I've had the chance to use and abuse these cards for about 24 hours now. Here are my first impressions (I posted this exact review elsewhere as well):

The Good:
Stock gaming and OC profiles (977 Mhz and 1007 MHz versus the reference 947 MHz core)
Seemingly sturdy and beefy cooler - overhangs the side of the card by a little bit to accommodate the 10cm PWM fans. VRM plate connected to main heatsink!
Backplate! Not only does this help keep the card from sagging under the weight of the cooler, it looks nice too! Black in color to fit with the red + black theme. Gives protection to the card components and some cooling as well.
Quiet - max fan speed is around 2700 rpm and with 10cm PWM fans the card stays quiet
Packaging is nice, and protected the card well despite a certain parcel service's propensity to dropkick the box down flights of stairs.
VRMs stayed under 90C even under extreme load (scrypt mining) as shown by GPU-Z.
Hynix RAM on both my cards. Hynix being preferred vs Elpida for overclocking, most of the time.

The Bad:
With two cards in crossfire, the top card overheats and throttles. Ugh. This isn't a case airflow issue as my 2x Sapphire Tri-X 290s do NOT throttle.
Does not unlock to 290X, not unlockable per Hawaiiinfo12.

The Ugly:
Using more than one card guarantees every card but the bottom one will have heat issues. MSI's first priority was making a quiet card and it shows - the card struggles with extreme loads such as scrypt mining. My bottom card was hovering around 82C core, 85C/67C VRM1/VRM2 which is acceptable. However, my top card (5 slot gap between the two) was at 94C core and throttling, with VRMs up to 98C/75C. A little bit toasty...
MSI also cheaped out on components, using Magic inductors versus Coiltronic inductors. They are rated to lower amperage; overclockers and card abusers look elsewhere.

Conclusion:
This card will serve well in SINGLE card configurations where the primary purpose is GAMING. It is quiet and with a mild overclock from the factory will be better than a reference 290. However, I wouldn't pay much more than MSRP of a 290 Reference card ($399) for one of these as it is essentially a reference 290 under the hood, downgraded with cheaper components.

Other thoughts:
I also have 2x Sapphire Tri-X 290s. They are just as quiet if not quieter under comparable loads and run much, much cooler. If your case can fit them and you can obtain them around MSRP ($449) then the Sapphires are the current best value (IMO) for non-reference 290 cards.

 

[Silverforce11]

Great info, thanks a lot IEC.

Looks like I'm gonna wait longer for Tri-X to get in stock to get 4 of them for another mining rig.

So in summary for single configs, the MSI Gaming makes a fine card, cool and quiet and keeping VRM under control. 82C VRM 1 is extremely good under mining load considering people on custom cards get that in gaming loads.

1. Sapphire Tri-X
2. MSI Gaming
3. XFX DD

About right?

 

[IEC]

I have no personal experience with the XFX DD, but bad experiences with a 7970 DD makes me wary.

The Sapphire Tri-X has been the best of my 290s bar none and I would continue to favor that card until a "Lightning" or a "Toxic" 290 are released *IF* you can find one at MSRP or below ($449 USD).

 

[nwo]

This card will serve well in SINGLE card configurations where the primary purpose is GAMING.

Well... at least the card stayed true to its name...

I have no personal experience with the XFX DD, but bad experiences with a 7970 DD makes me wary.

I have personal experience with the XFX 7870 DD. It runs hotter than both my Sapphire and MSI 7870s. Way hotter. I'm talking more than 20*C hotter under full mining load. Not to mention that the XFX 7870 is also by far the longest card of the bunch. I think the major flaw was that they only use 2 heatpipes for the entire card or 1 per each half which simply cannot keep up with the heat transfer. I'm certainly not an expert though.

However, I have heard that XFX did improve with the R9 series, but I would definitely be wary and not willing to pay a premium for their cards anymore.

 

[Silverforce11]

Well to be fair, single config mining with those temps I would say is incredible.. if not for the Tri-X making everything else look worse.

 

[Fastx]

Thanks IEC!

 

[nwo]

They really should have cranked up the fan speeds, 2700 RPM is quite low. I understand they are trying to make the card quiet, but I'd rather have a slightly noisier card than one that overheats.

 

[alawadhi3000]

They really should have cranked up the fan speeds, 2700 RPM is quite low. I understand they are trying to make the card quiet, but I'd rather have a slightly noisier card than one that overheats.

Technically the R9s will throttle to keep temps in check before they overheat. :whiste:

 

[thilanliyan]

Thanks for the info IEC. Once prices come down, I will pick up a couple of custom 290s so it's good to have this kind of info.

 

[3DVagabond]

Great info, thanks a lot IEC.

Looks like I'm gonna wait longer for Tri-X to get in stock to get 4 of them for another mining rig.

So in summary for single configs, the MSI Gaming makes a fine card, cool and quiet and keeping VRM under control. 82C VRM 1 is extremely good under mining load considering people on custom cards get that in gaming loads.

1. Sapphire Tri-X
2. MSI Gaming
3. XFX DD

About right?

Just curious. Don't reference cards work just fine for mining? I know they are noisy, but isn't it easier to just put the mining rig in the garage, basement, spare room? Seems like a lot of extra expense for something like the tri-X.

 

[3DVagabond]

Well... at least the card stayed true to its name...

I have personal experience with the XFX 7870 DD. It runs hotter than both my Sapphire and MSI 7870s. Way hotter. I'm talking more than 20*C hotter under full mining load. Not to mention that the XFX 7870 is also by far the longest card of the bunch. I think the major flaw was that they only use 2 heatpipes for the entire card or 1 per each half which simply cannot keep up with the heat transfer. I'm certainly not an expert though.

However, I have heard that XFX did improve with the R9 series, but I would definitely be wary and not willing to pay a premium for their cards anymore.

Completely different cooler on the R9's. I'm still wary as well, but the cooler on the 7000's doesn't directly translate to the cooler on the R9's. They do have history against them though, so they don't deserve to get the benefit of the doubt.

 

[thilanliyan]

Just curious. Don't reference cards work just fine for mining? I know they are noisy, but isn't it easier to just put the mining rig in the garage, basement, spare room? Seems like a lot of extra expense for something like the tri-X.

They are difficult to keep cool, especially if multiple cards are run in the same comp. Trust me, I know. :\

The nicest cards I have had the pleasure of mining with are my HIS 7950 IceQ X2 cards. Undervolt like champs (950MHz at 0.975v!!), and stay very cool.

Having experienced both reference and aftermarket cards, I wouldn't hesitate to spend maybe $30-$50 extra for non-reference cards.

 

[Silverforce11]

Just curious. Don't reference cards work just fine for mining? I know they are noisy, but isn't it easier to just put the mining rig in the garage, basement, spare room? Seems like a lot of extra expense for something like the tri-X.

you cannot put 4 of them together on a board, they will choke due to the rear PCB running so hot, air for the blower coming in is warmed up. so you have to put them on risers to give them room to breathe..

i have two cards with space between them and they needed 70% fanspeed to not throttle at stock clocks mining.

But yeah if u use risers, i think reference cards at 70% fan is fine for mining in the garage or basement but its too damn noisy to be in the house.

Also they run too hot so they consume more power due to leakage at those temps. I am seeing people draw 250W through GPUz while mining at 95C on reference boards. I am only drawing 200W on my cards. It's a good difference when electricity is the main cost and barrier for mining.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

I have one too. How high do yours oc?

 

[wand3r3r]

I'd bet they fare better in gaming even in crossfire. Mining is just so intense and hot. My cards throttle mining at 20 x intensity mining (without extra fan on the hotter one), yet in bf4 they are pegged at 100%. Then again in bf4 they are getting 150+ fps so perhaps I need a 4k screen to bog them down a bit.

 

[IEC]

Just curious. Don't reference cards work just fine for mining? I know they are noisy, but isn't it easier to just put the mining rig in the garage, basement, spare room? Seems like a lot of extra expense for something like the tri-X.

I paid less than MSRP for my first (reference) 290 - my only regret is not buying more before the mining craze. By the time I wanted another, reference 290s were $460-$540, *if* they were in stock. I got lucky buying some of the first stock of Sapphire Tri-X for ~$480/ea and MSI Gaming 4G for $465/ea (net cost before mining). If I had known how good the Tri-X was I would have bought all 6 in stock at the time I placed my order.

 

[nwo]

Just curious. Don't reference cards work just fine for mining? I know they are noisy, but isn't it easier to just put the mining rig in the garage, basement, spare room? Seems like a lot of extra expense for something like the tri-X.

As long as you can crank up the fan speed and remain at a safe distance, they will be fine. Otherwise, you will be deaf or you can expect them to overheat.

Reference cards have decent cooling, but the fan is extremely loud once you get past 55-60%.

Completely different cooler on the R9's. I'm still wary as well, but the cooler on the 7000's doesn't directly translate to the cooler on the R9's. They do have history against them though, so they don't deserve to get the benefit of the doubt.

I know the cooler is completely different, but I'm just saying they have a really bad history thus far and it's not just the 7000 series.

 

[TheGoat Eater]

You can always expect the top card to be hotter but when mining its going to be even worse. Definitely getting as much airflow in that area as possible is a wise idea. Even if you run it like I see ( with case door off ) you will want to get a fan blowing in there. MSI has really nice coolers which help, but whats better is MSI US allows you to change TIM / cooling under warranty as long as you don't physically damage the card.

 

[IEC]

I have one too. How high do yours oc?

Haven't tried OCing yet, but I plan to this weekend. Will report back good or bad.

 

[IEC]

Some further notes:

One of my MSIs has fans that will go up to 2880 RPM or thereabouts while the other only seems to go to around 2700 RPM. Either the sensor is off or the fans are inconsistent. My guess on the latter, as one of them is audibly (faintly, but I have sensitive hearing) "whiny" at higher RPMs while the other is not. Probably tolerance +/- 5% or something.

For fun I put a Sapphire Tri-X in the top slot and a MSI Gaming in the bottom slot and put them to work scrypt mining at equal clocks (1000/1370) and equal fan speeds ~2900 RPM.

The Sapphire, despite being the top card in a "Crossfire" type setup is running at 81C while the MSI gaming is running at 77C.

Keep in mind that with another MSI gaming in the top slot the MSI was hitting 94C and throttling. This is definitely a card optimized for quietness rather than cooling.

I've got the other MSI Gaming in my main desktop for OC testing so I'll be planning to post some brief thoughts on that by tomorrow or thereabouts. My main use case is gaming though so don't expect anything too technical.

I'll eventually swap out that MSI for the other and run some OC testing on that as well.

 

[IEC]

First card 48 hour stable OC via MSI Afterburner + 20 Power Limit:
1130/1370

I don't seem to be able to clock the memory higher than ~1390 MHz or I get a hard crash when doing 3D applications. Despite it being Hynix. I'll have to test with the other card to determine if I just got a dud or if it's MSI cheaping out on components.

1/22 Update:
Second card stable @ 1120/1380. I should note that these were consecutive serial numbers, so it's possible they got the same "bin" of parts.

I suspect it's either a different P/N of Hynix or just a "bad" bin as I can't exceed 1400 MHz on either card, whereas my Sapphires both have Hynix chips that go over 1600 MHz.

 

[SimianR]

Are you upping the core voltage too? My Tri-X 290 with hynix memory won't do 1500 memory unless I up the core voltage +60mv.

 

[IEC]

Are you upping the core voltage too? My Tri-X 290 with hynix memory won't do 1500 memory unless I up the core voltage +60mv.

MSI Afterburner doesn't let me up the voltage... maybe I need a newer version of the tool?

Edit: Tried with Sapphire Trixx and it really just doesn't seem to like higher than 1400 memory. Guess this sample a dud and I'll have to try the other card and see if it clocks better.

 

[Z15CAM]

MSI will never push AB over +100mV VDDC but you can over-ride it in CMD

Below is a CMD Line Chart I came up with to Over Ride AB's optimum core +100mV Off-Set: (USE at Risk)

Disable CCC \ Performance\Overdrive

MSIAfterburner.exe /wi4,30,8d,20 +200mv offset This gets HOT

MSIAfterburner.exe /wi4,30,8d,19 +156mv offset This seems to work BEST

MSIAfterburner.exe /wi4,30,8d,18 +150mv offset
MSIAfterburner.exe /wi4,30,8d,17 +144mv offset
MSIAfterburner.exe /wi4,30,8d,16 +138mv offset
MSIAfterburner.exe /wi4,30,8d,14 +125mv offset
MSIAfterburner.exe /wi4,30,8d,12 +113mv offset
MSIAfterburner.exe /wi4,30,8d,10 +100mv offset AB's Optimum Setting
MSIAfterburner.exe /wi4,30,8d,0 Return to 0

ROUTE to my MSI Afterburner Directory:

CD C: \ Program Files (x86)\SYSTEM TOOLS\AMD Radeon R9 290X\MSI Afterburner

Either that or use TRIXX enable Overdrive and set Power Limit settings to +50%. TRIXX will do +.200mV VDDC.

You should have no problems hitting 1195/1500 (Elpida) or possibly 1225/1600 (Hynix) with a +.150mV VDDC offset.

 

[SimianR]

Powertune is capped at 50% for me, is it possible to go higher? Trixx won't let me set anything higher than 50%.