Pictures of Asus' 290x DCII card

[Imouto]

Sapphire TOXIC R9 280X cooler follows this approach and it demolishes the already excellent temperatures of the Asus DCUII cooler when having to dissipate a similar amount of power.

A shame that it looks hideous.

 

[Borealis7]

A shame that it looks hideous.

The only time i see a video card is when i take it out of the box to install it, or take it out of my case to replace it. the card can look like Susan Boyle for all i care - as long as it runs cool and performs as i need it to.

 

[bigi]

The only time i see a video card is when i take it out of the box to install it, or take it out of my case to replace it. the card can look like Susan Boyle for all i care - as long as it runs cool and performs as i need it to.

Amen. Who cares how it looks, unless you run a burdello.

 

[Slomo4shO]

That would be nice. But those days might be over. Got a new sapphire 290 yesterday cannot unlock :|

I got 4 on Tuesday(orderd on BF) and they all unlocked...

Before:

After:

BTW, they were Sapphire 290 BF editions ordered from Newegg Business.

 

[Termie]

Hey cmdrdredd,

How do your 670FTW cards in SLI work on your Maximus V Gene?

The reason I ask is that you mentioned using the 290x DC2 in CFX on a small motherboard. Based on my experience with two open air 7870s in CFX on a Maximus V Gene, I can almost guarantee you it won't work. Even the 7870s had trouble staying cool in a back-to-back arrangement, so dual 290x cards would probably be the kiss of death set up like that.

I assume that externally-exhausting cards like the 670FTW work better in SLI back-to-back, although I haven't tried it.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Hey cmdrdredd,

How do your 670FTW cards in SLI work on your Maximus V Gene?

The reason I ask is that you mentioned using the 290x DC2 in CFX on a small motherboard. Based on my experience with two open air 7870s in CFX on a Maximus V Gene, I can almost guarantee you it won't work. Even the 7870s had trouble staying cool in a back-to-back arrangement, so dual 290x cards would probably be the kiss of death set up like that.

I assume that externally-exhausting cards like the 670FTW work better in SLI back-to-back, although I haven't tried it.

They work fine and I have built a system using this motherboard and a pair of MSI 670s with their twin frozer cooler. They also work fine. There is enough gap to pull air through. It also helps that I have a 240mm intake fan on the side of the case. The case we used for the MSI cards did as well. There was no heat issues. I dont know if the 290x will have any with the dc2 or other cooling system installed. I will have to see what reviewers say about that.

 

[Termie]

They work fine and I have built a system using this motherboard and a pair of MSI 670s with their twin frozer cooler. They also work fine. There is enough gap to pull air through. It also helps that I have a 240mm intake fan on the side of the case. The case we used for the MSI cards did as well. There was no heat issues. I dont know if the 290x will have any with the dc2 or other cooling system installed. I will have to see what reviewers say about that.

Thanks for the feedback!

I run my Maximus in a compact mATX case (Silverstone Temjin TJ08), and my cooling options are limited (one 180mm front, one 120mm rear), so perhaps that's the big difference between your setup and mine. Frankly it didn't even work that well with the case open - not enough airflow. First card always went to 85C (and this was with a cool HD7870).

 

[RaulF]

I got 4 on Tuesday(orderd on BF) and they all unlocked...

Before:

After:

BTW, they were Sapphire 290 BF editions ordered from Newegg Business.

Dang I got sort of screwed. Mine is also a bf4 edition from newegg. Order on sunday and I got it yesterday.

It has the iron egg guaranty so I'll just return it and get a non ref one before that expires. And roll the dice on maybe getting lucky with an unlockable one.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Thanks for the feedback!

I run my Maximus in a compact mATX case (Silverstone Temjin TJ08), and my cooling options are limited (one 180mm front, one 120mm rear), so perhaps that's the big difference between your setup and mine. Frankly it didn't even work that well with the case open - not enough airflow. First card always went to 85C (and this was with a cool HD7870).

Dang...my 670s never go above 75. The bottom one usually hovers at 70. The MSI cards in the other system faired better. They stay below 70 pretty much all the time.

Case airflow is as important of not more so than what heatsink you use. This is often overlooked. I dont k ow that I will buy a 290x or even two. I am trying to hold out for 20nm. I just was wanting to see if the issues of throttling etc were rectified with aftermarket solutions with a full warranty.

 

[Imouto]

The only time i see a video card is when i take it out of the box to install it, or take it out of my case to replace it. the card can look like Susan Boyle for all i care - as long as it runs cool and performs as i need it to.

For me it's like having an apache cemetery buried in my backyard.

Nothing rhymes with orange, really. 😀

 

[Face2Face]

Dang I got sort of screwed. Mine is also a bf4 edition from newegg. Order on sunday and I got it yesterday.

It has the iron egg guaranty so I'll just return it and get a non ref one before that expires. And roll the dice on maybe getting lucky with an unlockable one.

umm.. you didn't get screwed.. you got the card you bought :hmm:

 

[RaulF]

umm.. you didn't get screwed.. you got the card you bought :hmm:

That's why I said sort of.

But yeah, it was downcloking a bit but I raised the fan max to 53 and it holds clock in bf4.

 

[Slomo4shO]

umm.. you didn't get screwed.. you got the card you bought :hmm:

Precisely. Unlocking the card is all luck of the draw, just like the overclock potential 😀

 

[Face2Face]

^ This guy here just had god rays shine down on his mouse when he clicked proceed with order. Now it's time to give Karlitos a run for his money with your new setup 😉

 

[skipsneeky2]

Looks like things are heating up for the 290 with upcoming non reference, just have to wonder how far these can overclock or how close they will get to 780 ti performance.

 

[Slomo4shO]

^ This guy here just had god rays shine down on his mouse when he clicked proceed with order. Now it's time to give Karlitos a run for his money with your new setup 😉

Yes, it was a good day 🙂

I picked up a 32GB kit of g.Skills sniper 2400Mhz ram and a ENERMAX Maxrevo 1500W for the system. I also picked up a Lightening 1300W for benchmarking purposes but will likely need an long extension cord to run the PSU from a different circuit :\

Now only if I can obtain an ETA for my GPU waterblocks from frozenCPU...

Also, now I am considering whether I should be going to a 4930K from my 4770K build.

 

[IEC]

My XFX 290 from Newegg ordered 11/29 is locked. Oh well.

 

[gorobei]

100%!

Sapphire TOXIC R9 280X cooler follows this approach and it demolishes the already excellent temperatures of the Asus DCUII cooler when having to dissipate a similar amount of power.

Asus though throws in the Super Alloy components and their fans are of excellent quality. Let's hope that the Asus DCUII card has a small $20-30 premium.

i miss sapphire's vaporX models. i always liked the giant heat chamber they threw on and just let the fans blow across an extruded fin sink on top of it.

the dcii or the toxic 290 will probably be my next card.

 

[Slomo4shO]

i miss sapphire's vaporX models.

There should be a VaporX variation of the 290 and 290X.

 

[Elfear]

Yes, it was a good day 🙂

I picked up a 32GB kit of g.Skills sniper 2400Mhz ram and a ENERMAX Maxrevo 1500W for the system. I also picked up a Lightening 1300W for benchmarking purposes but will likely need an long extension cord to run the PSU from a different circuit :\

Now only if I can obtain an ETA for my GPU waterblocks from frozenCPU...

Also, now I am considering whether I should be going to a 4930K from my 4770K build.

I'm hoping I have your luck with unlocking my cards. I decided on Powercolor because they seem to have a high success rate.

Your GPU blocks should be shipping anytime I would think. I ordered a pair from FrozenCPU last Saturday and they will be here on Wed.