MSI Gaming 290 4G - First Impressions

[Z15CAM]

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

I thought it was obvious. Just slid the Power Limit Bar all the way over such that -50% + +50% = 100%.

Misunderstanding corrected ;o)

Suggest you run fans at a constant 95 to 100% or build a fast ramp Fan Profile hitting 95% at 85C and 100% at 90C. Also run latest GPU-Z in the background and enable Logging so you can review GPU, vRam and VRM Temps & Voltages ...etc during your Bench Run.

 

[SimianR]

Haha sorry I figured it was something like that I just wasn't sure if there was a way to remove that +50% limit, guess not.

Yeah I can run my Tri-X 290 @ 1225/1600 @ +200mv and +50% powertune but I guess for a 24/7 overclock I feel more comfortable with something like 1200/1600 @ +163mv and a lower fan profile.

 

[Z15CAM]

To tell you the truth I find the Power Limit slide to be rather dubious but it is supposed to: "raise the TDP to increase the amount of voltage the card can use when under load. This allows for more headroom when overclocking before the card throttles the core voltage due to hitting a limit."

I'll be under water with a GA-Ref R9 290X next week and see if I can beat my 1190/1500/+.156mV clock scoring 2995 in Unigine Valley and break that 3000 mark. If I do it will be a first for an AMD single GPU Card in this forum - but I'm afraid my Elpida vRam may be an issue; however, I do expect something like a 1240/1500 @ +.156 mV VDDC which should should put me over the 3000 score in Valley with Temps around 45C. I'm not expecting any more then say an 8% increase but it will certainly curtail the heat and noise of these cards.

 

[Abwx]

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.

Or the cards heatspreaders have a slight difference
in thermal coupling with the chips , this can be either
due to thermal past amount , screws torque or even
heatspreaders surface quality , the difference is little, though.

 

[Z15CAM]

VisionTek claims their WB'd CryoVenom R9 290 http://www.visiontekproducts.com/index.php/component/virtuemart/graphics-cards/visiontek-cryovenom-liquidcooled-series-r9-290-detail?Itemid=0 for $550 is "Up to 24% Faster Performance Without Voiding Warranty" and "Faster Than NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti, Yet Costs $150 Less" running at 1175/1450 Mhz's - I can't say how the CryoVenom R9 290 would actually compare in Gaming FPS or Benching but if you're already under water that's a great price.

Here's interesting uTube videos from Tom and Linus which presently sums up how AMD's latest R9 290/X compares to nVidia's GTX 780/Ti:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3oE-5dGTKc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OHKWMgBhvA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqaHh-y51us

It's sounds rather bleak if AMD AIB Partners Air Cooling solutions will live up to expectations and make the card a competitive over-clocker with nVidia Air Cooled Solutions as Hawaii is too HOT of a COOKIE to be effectively cooled under air: That is; keep it under 90C, keep it quiet and keep it from throttling.

I can't complain as I was fortunate to buy my GA- Ref R9 290X for the MSRP price of $549 CDN, that is before the 290 release and prices went insane due to Crypto Mining but I also had to shell out and extra $150 for a Water Block and fittings.

Sure wished I had the insight to have bought 2 Ref 290's at $399 ea when they where available; however, if and when the CryoVenom R9 290 is available again for $550 and available in Canada for that price, I will consider selling this XSPC Razor R9 290X and buying 2 CryoVenoms.

 

[IEC]

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 memory on either card, whereas my Sapphires both have Hynix chips that go over 1600 MHz. Another possibility is the cheaper components on the PCB are holding it back.