Observations: Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X OC

[guskline]

I was lucky enough to recently purchase a used Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X OC and thought I would post some observations about it.

Due to signature space limits, I only have my 3930k rig listed below. I also have 2 other computer setups.

The first is a 3770k @ 4.5Ghz, 2 GTX 670FTWs in SLI a and 16G DDR3 1866 and the second had a FX8350 @ 4.6Ghz, GTX 680 and 16G DDR3 1600.

I was able to sell the GTX 680 and pick up the Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X OC.

It is a BIG card. I had room in my CM HAF 922 case to fit it but I moved my dvd drive higher in the 5.25 drive bays so there was plenty of clearance.

The default fan speed for the Tri-X is 20% so it is VERY quiet. When all 3 fans are at 100% it is clearly audible but not annoying like the single fan reference cards are.

The Sapphire OC software is very nice and informative. Easy to OC the card.

The FX 8350 is cooled by a Corsair H100 cooler and since the Sapphire dumps the heat into the case, I made sure the rear exhaust fan was set to std speed in the BIOS (have it running off the mb). I also installed a 200mm CM fan on the side panel to draw in air along with the front 200mm fan.

I have been using Nvidia video cards for the past 1 to 2 years almost exclusively (GTX460, GTX660, GTX 670, GTX 680 and GTX 780 Classified (my favorite). The last fast AMD card I owned was a AMD 6790. I had skipped over the 7000 series and was sold on Nvidia cards.

I must say this Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X OC has changed my mind. It's solid, powerful and runs faily cool for a air-cooled card with the Hawaii chip.

I've done some mild OCing (1050 core, 1375mem) but don't really need to.

I'm running the 14.6beta catalyst software with Windows 8.1 64 with no problems. Game play is GREAT.

My GTX780 Classified is watercooled and OC'd to 1306 core, 1697 memory so I expect it to beat the R9 290 in Firestrike 3D mark. I don't want to switch cards into my 3930k rig because I would have to drain my loop etc PLUS the air cooler on the Sapphire is so good that water cooling it would not give a big enough jump in performance.

Keeping the R9 290 with the 8350 gives me a true "ALL AMD" rig to compare to the Intel/Nvidia rigs.

I would like to hear from others who have BOTH a GTX 780/780TI and a R9 290/290X rig to give their impressions.

Bottom line? Solid video card that runs cooler (68-70C) MAX and gives the 8350 the "shot in the arm" it needs to stay near the Intel big boys.

 

[Piotrsama]

Good to hear you like it.
I'm about to buy the same card, but the vapor-x flavor.

 

[spinejam]

Enjoy your new card --- I really like mine. (def. one of the top 3 cards I've ever purchased)

 

[guskline]

Enjoy your new card --- I really like mine. (def. one of the top 3 cards I've ever purchased)

The more I use this the more I like it. AMD stepped up their game with this video card.

 

[Termie]

guskline - glad that you are enjoying your all AMD rig. You are right, the Tri-X is incredibly quiet and a great performer. The fact that Sapphire was able to reduce both GPU temps and cooler noise tremendously versus the reference design is just going way beyond the call of duty. One would have been enough.

Other vendors have done something similar, but it appears the Tri-X cooler is more effective overall because it was custom-designed for the 290.

But it is VERY large - I personally would have preferred a 10.5" cooler so that I could the card in more of my cases, but only the MSI model is that short, and it has some reliability issues.

 

[_UP_]

I no longer have my 780Ti classified, sold it yesterday and got 2 290x's TRI-X for the same price (opened but not used). I had only a few minutes to play around with them but I have to admit I was impressed. Together they are a bit louder than the Classified. I thought the Classified was an amazing card (it really feels high end and expensive, more so than any other card I've ever owned) but the ACX cooler was not brilliant. The TRI-X one seems to be. And both cards are huge (the Classy and the TRI-X) but in different ways. The Classy is broader whereas the TRI-X is longer.
This is my first dual card setup but I think I'll like it...
On the downside, my computer got stuck with about 10 minutes of BF4. Not sure if its the driver (14.6 beta) or something else (though didn't had this issue for a very long time)

EDIT: just saw my cards are the 290X TRI-X OC. An Even better deal

 

[guskline]

I no longer have my 780Ti classified, sold it yesterday and got 2 290x's TRI-X for the same price (opened but not used). I had only a few minutes to play around with them but I have to admit I was impressed. Together they are a bit louder than the Classified. I thought the Classified was an amazing card (it really feels high end and expensive, more so than any other card I've ever owned) but the ACX cooler was not brilliant. The TRI-X one seems to be. And both cards are huge (the Classy and the TRI-X) but in different ways. The Classy is broader whereas the TRI-X is longer.
This is my first dual card setup but I think I'll like it...
On the downside, my computer got stuck with about 10 minutes of BF4. Not sure if its the driver (14.6 beta) or something else (though didn't had this issue for a very long time)

EDIT: just saw my cards are the 290X TRI-X OC. Even a better deal

Great news UP! BTW with 2 r9 290Xs in CF, is your PSU up to the task?

 

[_UP_]

Great news UP! BTW with 2 r9 290Xs in CF, is your PSU up to the task?

Thanks!
Yeah, I was thinking about it. I have a pretty decent one, but it just might be too much for it. Funny, didn't think I'll ever even need 860W...
Nothing is OC'd (need to change sig, replaced most of the parts).
I calculated and thought I should be fine though. Running 4770K, Maximus VII Hero, 2x 290X TRI-X OC and a few fans and drives. Nothing is OC'd at the moment (the 290X's are factory OC'd). What do you think?

 

[_UP_]

I read on OCN (not sure I can link it here...) that the TRI-X 290X OC has only Hynix memory (which is why its BIOS is not good to flash with if you want to unlock a 290 and it has Elpida memory), which is interesting and quite nice. I can confirm that I have Hynix on one card (GPU-Z doesn't show memory type for the other one for some reason).

 

[guskline]

Per my PSU Calculator pro software the 860W Seasonic should be fine. What psu connectors are you using for the 2 GPU connections per card? Was this "stuck" situation when the GPUs were running max? Sounds like a PSU issue.

 

[_UP_]

Per my PSU Calculator pro software the 860W Seasonic should be fine. What psu connectors are you using for the 2 GPU connections per card? Was this "stuck" situation when the GPUs were running max? Sounds like a PSU issue.

I thought it would just turn off, or restart if it "runs out of power".
It was a hard lockup. Was playing BF4, so the cards were probably working
I'm using the PCI connectors. It has 3 different ones I believe (each having 2 8pin connectors). So each card gets its own PCI line from PSU with an 8pin and a 6pin connector.
I did read this morning that it might be PSU.
Thanks

 

[Termie]

I thought it would just turn off, or restart if it "runs out of power".
It was a hard lockup. Was playing BF4, so the cards were probably working
I'm using the PCI connectors. It has 3 different ones I believe (each having 2 8pin connectors). So each card gets its own PCI line from PSU with an 8pin and a 6pin connector.
I did read this morning that it might be PSU.
Thanks

I'd drop down to Catalyst 14.4 before pointing a finger at that ultra-high-end PSU of yours.

By hard lockup, do you mean it shut off, the screen went blank, or the screen froze with images on it?

 

[_UP_]

I'd drop down to Catalyst 14.4 before pointing a finger at that ultra-high-end PSU of yours.

By hard lockup, do you mean it shut off, the screen went blank, or the screen froze with images on it?

I was going to do that. Didn't have time last night, had to wake up for work at some point
It froze and the only thing that would fix it was the power button...