Reference R9 290/X Owners! How hot does the card really run when gaming?

[Dive5885]

Just want to know if the card really does run in the upper 80c - 95c when gaming.

I'm planning on picking up a pair of R9 290/X Gpu's and before I make my purchase I'm curious on the temperatures during gaming!

Let me know!

Thanks!

[SkilledRebuilds]

I have not got one myself, but have heard of 4 mates with them, 3 of those 4, don't throttle that much at all, but have to hear a bit of noise to counter the heat.

They still say it's gets into the High 80's and into the 90's...

 

If your buying a pair of these, PLEASE be watercooling them, if not, there are many better options out there!

/FTR - My Windforce 290x easily hits 80*c and tops out at 88*c, which is slightly abnormal for these aftermarket ones... (tried pasting and such, did nothing)

 

If you can keep the fanspeed down and manage to not throttle with reference cards, your good... but I don't know how easy that is to do in some parts of the world,.. where it's warmer.

[Maheshvara]

Just want to know if the card really does run in the upper 80c - 95c when gaming.

I'm planning on picking up a pair of R9 290/X Gpu's and before I make my purchase I'm curious on the temperatures during gaming!

Let me know!

Thanks!

I don't own it, but from a lot of sources online, i can say it runs horribly hot... 

 

Also, why don't you save some money and get another 7950 (280/x) and CF them? It's a cheaper option, and you still get a very noticeable boost in performance

[Dive5885]

I have not got one myself, but have heard of 4 mates with them, 3 of those 4, don't throttle that much at all, but have to hear a bit of noise to counter the heat.

They still say it's gets into the High 80's and into the 90's...

 

If your buying a pair of these, PLEASE be watercooling them, if not, there are many better options out there!

Noise won't be a issue neither should the heat. I'm just a fan of the reference look and I'm aware that there is better aftermarket Gpu's but I'm

Just curious to see what people experience when gaming with a reference card.

[Dive5885]

I don't own it, but from a lot of sources online, i can say it runs horribly hot... 

 

Also, why don't you save some money and get another 7950 (280/x) and CF them? It's a cheaper option, and you still get a very noticeable boost in performance

My initial plan was to get another 7950 and just crossfire but I'm not sure if that's worth doing at this point in time.

New cards are coming out soon and there is good prices on R9 290/X cards at the moment.

Should I crossfire my 7950? Is it worth doing at this point In time?

[SkilledRebuilds]

My initial plan was to get another 7950 and just crossfire but I'm not sure if that's worth doing at this point in time.

New cards are coming out soon and there is good prices on R9 290/X cards at the moment.

Should I crossfire my 7950? Is it worth doing at this point In time?

I would give it a shot in your position... another 7950 I mean...

Then in 6+ months, if drivers don't enable crossfire on games fast enough and it's annoying you, sell both 7950's & grab another fast single-gpu.

If crossfire plays nice with most titles, then you'd be pretty happy with how it runs.

[Dive5885]

I would give it a shot in your position... another 7950 I mean...

Then in 6+ months, if drivers don't enable crossfire on games fast enough and it's annoying you, sell both 7950's & grab another fast single-gpu.

If crossfire plays nice with most titles, then you'd be pretty happy with how it runs.

I have to see if I can find another reference 7950 and if I can't I might just go with the R9 290/X.

[Razzaa]

Noise won't be a issue neither should the heat. I'm just a fan of the reference look and I'm aware that there is better aftermarket Gpu's but I'm

Just curious to see what people experience when gaming with a reference card.

Do not buy a reference model please. They run extremely hot and loud. You will most likely experience throttling and/or black screen issues. One of the worst reference cards I ever experienced.

[Dive5885]

Do not buy a reference model please. They run extremely hot and loud. You will most likely experience throttling and/or black screen issues. One of the worst reference cards I ever experienced.

Wow its that bad?

[D3MON]

Dont have one either.
msi gaming i top  out around 77*c at 40% fan speed at 1050mhz 1.75v
 

reference problem isnt so much the card or even the cooler, its the fan.
raising fan speeds (and noise) on a poorly designed fan wont do nothing to help cooling.

as the speed goes up the volumetric efficiency goes down so even if it ran at 15000-50000rpm how much air do you think it'll move?
also the reference voltages are stupid high but because the software thottles it at 95*c there isnt much benefit from overclocking.
best way to tune a reference card (guessing a little) would be to set fan speed as high as bearable so probably around 50-55% between 85-100*c so it doenst ramp up and down annoyingly and then set the default fan speed slow/silent set it to 1000mhz and then undervolt, mine is currently 25mv under the 1.2v stock while overclocked.

i ran my card at the 25% minimum afterburner to see at what point it throttles and how much, after a while (5 mins?) in heaven it hit 95*c and progressibly throttled down to 950mhz and eventually 900mhz, would maybe of gone more????? but i didnt want to burn my card up for the sake of people on the forum who will most likely never listen and continue with childish volcano jokes while reference 780's are hotter than my card.

the gtx480 was a great card it just had a poorly made heatsink & fan, heatsink had no airflow and fan was too small to create any, might aswell of been passive.

[D3MON]

Wow its that bad?

id suggest reading reviews from well known publishers over 1 person on a forum, yes they hit 95*c no matter what it seems (poor fan) which means while the reviewers procliam "the fan was quite loud at 55% etc etc" they miss the point of maybe adjusting the fan speed, allot of people also run the fan at 100%......then complain its loud[sigh]

msi/gigabyte/tri-x cards in the uk atleast are nearly 2/3rd the price (£220 vs £300) of a 970 for the same performance but unless watercooling go aftermarket.

[Dive5885]

Dont have one either.

msi gaming i top  out around 77*c at 40% fan speed at 1050mhz 1.75v

 

 

reference problem isnt so much the card or even the cooler, its the fan.

raising fan speeds (and noise) on a poorly designed fan wont do nothing to help cooling.

as the speed goes up the volumetric efficiency goes down so even if it ran at 15000-50000rpm how much air do you think it'll move?

also the reference voltages are stupid high but because the software thottles it at 95*c there isnt much benefit from overclocking.

best way to tune a reference card (guessing a little) would be to set fan speed as high as bearable so probably around 50-55% between 85-100*c so it doenst ramp up and down annoyingly and then set the default fan speed slow/silent set it to 1000mhz and then undervolt, mine is currently 25mv under the 1.2v stock while overclocked.

i ran my card at the 25% minimum afterburner to see at what point it throttles and how much, after a while (5 mins?) in heaven it hit 95*c and progressibly throttled down to 950mhz and eventually 900mhz, would maybe of gone more????? but i didnt want to burn my card up for the sake of people on the forum who will most likely never listen and continue with childish volcano jokes while reference 780's are hotter than my card.

the gtx480 was a great card it just had a poorly made heatsink & fan, heatsink had no airflow and fan was too small to create any, might aswell of been passive.

No need to mess up you're card just for a post.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong here but isn't this the same fan that was in the 7000 Series reference cards?

 

It looks like they just slapped a new outer cover on the R9 290/X.

 

Like I mentioned to a member earlier, sound isn't a issue to me and I feel like the amount of cooling I have in my case I might be able to keep the temps under 95c but that's just what I think.

[Dive5885]

id suggest reading reviews from well known publishers over 1 person on a forum, yes they hit 95*c no matter what it seems (poor fan) which means while the reviewers procliam "the fan was quite loud at 55% etc etc" they miss the point of maybe adjusting the fan speed, allot of people also run the fan at 100%......then complain its loud[sigh]

msi/gigabyte/tri-x cards in the uk atleast are nearly 2/3rd the price (£220 vs £300) of a 970 for the same performance but unless watercooling go aftermarket.

I did read reviews on the card but I wanted to know what actual owners are experiencing when gaming.

 

The prices aren't bad at the moment in the US but I would like to stay away from Asus and Gigabyte due to all the negative reviews I have read.

[Megahurt]

I have to see if I can find another reference 7950 and if I can't I might just go with the R9 290/X.

I believe the 7950 can be crossfired with a R9 280, since they are a rebrand, those  would be easier to find.

[wng_kingsley7]

Just want to know if the card really does run in the upper 80c - 95c when gaming.

I'm planning on picking up a pair of R9 290/X Gpu's and before I make my purchase I'm curious on the temperatures during gaming!

Let me know!

Thanks!

Yo I actually bought one for my elder sibling & now I really wished I bought the GTX 770 vs a reference R9 290. TRUST ME!

The graphics card did run quite toasty none-the-less for some reason the gpu underclocked itself by half in most game scenarios for some reason (maybe I'm just super unlucky) 

[Dive5885]

I believe the 7950 can be crossfired with a R9 280, since they are a rebrand, those  would be easier to find.

Yeah but good luck finding a reference R9 280, its hard enough to find a reference 7950 for a decent price.

[D3MON]

No need to mess up you're card just for a post.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong here but isn't this the same fan that was in the 7000 Series reference cards?

 

It looks like they just slapped a new outer cover on the R9 290/X.

 

Like I mentioned to a member earlier, sound isn't a issue to me and I feel like the amount of cooling I have in my case I might be able to keep the temps under 95c but that's just what I think.

From what I can tell yeah its the same fan, even maybe the same as the 6970/6990

funny how all these cards have been known as noisy?

looking at the bottom line you can see as the nvidia fan would spin clockwise air is pushed outwards due to a "backward inclined blade pitch", this creates a vacuum behind it drawing air in the center.

the amd fan is a "forward curved blade pitch" which is good for low speed airfow but sucks (or blows) at actually pushing air through resistive things like heatsinks and then tends to spend allot of time spinning air round and round in the housing, in fact if it was run in reverse as a "backwards inclinded blade pitch" it might work just as well IMHO. if amd changed this it would be much better, their heatsinks are as good as nvidias, theres not really much room for improvement there they're already often copper based or even vapor chambered(unsure). only other thing would be to make the heatsinks wider with more channels but shorter to reduce heat soak (as the air flows through the fins and gets hotter the airs ability to absorb more heat at the back of the heatsink is reduced).

edit- maybe having something like a compressor as seen on turbochargers would be the way to go, much like centrifugal fans but with the top blade edge curved in like an axial flow fan to help draw air in the first place, MSI's 760 ITX touched on this but didnt get it quite right, axial flow fans are terrible for flow perpendicular to thier axis (looking at you gtx690! etc), but both combined would work well, the axial front edge for drawing air in with the centrifugal blades for blowing air out sideways.

edit-edit- AMD call me, I'm off to the patent office., new "hybrid" fan and 10% more cooling area, now tell me that won't make it run in the 80's or even 70's.

 

[Razzaa]

Wow its that bad?

Worst card i ever owned. It was good when it worked I guess. I eventually ended up putting a kraken on it and water cooling it. Sold it shortly after though. Unfortunately i was part of this club http://www.overclock.net/t/1441349/290-290x-black-screen-poll RMA'd 3 times in 2 months. 

[-CLASSIFIED-]

I believe the 7950 can be crossfired with a R9 280, since they are a rebrand, those  would be easier to find.

you can also crossfire with an r9 280x. i don't recommend it tho , the performance gain is minimal 

[CoolaxGaming]

While not overclocked, bout 67 on an average summer day with fan at 50%

[Dive5885]

While not overclocked, bout 67 on an average summer day with fan at 50%

For a reference R9 290?

[Dive5885]

 

From what I can tell yeah its the same fan, even maybe the same as the 6970/6990

funny how all these cards have been known as noisy?

looking at the bottom line you can see as the nvidia fan would spin clockwise air is pushed outwards due to a "backward inclined blade pitch", this creates a vacuum behind it drawing air in the center.

the amd fan is a "forward curved blade pitch" which is good for low speed airfow but sucks (or blows) at actually pushing air through resistive things like heatsinks and then tends to spend allot of time spinning air round and round in the housing, in fact if it was run in reverse as a "backwards inclinded blade pitch" it might work just as well IMHO. if amd changed this it would be much better, their heatsinks are as good as nvidias, theres not really much room for improvement there they're already often copper based or even vapor chambered(unsure). only other thing would be to make the heatsinks wider with more channels but shorter to reduce heat soak (as the air flows through the fins and gets hotter the airs ability to absorb more heat at the back of the heatsink is reduced).

edit- maybe having something like a compressor as seen on turbochargers would be the way to go, much like centrifugal fans but with the top blade edge curved in like an axial flow fan to help draw air in the first place, MSI's 760 ITX touched on this but didnt get it quite right, axial flow fans are terrible for flow perpendicular to thier axis (looking at you gtx690! etc), but both combined would work well, the axial front edge for drawing air in with the centrifugal blades for blowing air out sideways.

edit-edit- AMD call me, I'm off to the patent office., new "hybrid" fan and 10% more cooling area, now tell me that won't make it run in the 80's or even 70's.

 

 

 

Maybe if they went with a better fan design or a better stock cooling design overall it wont have issues getting so damn hot.

 

The fan or heatsink must not be enough for the Hawaii Gpu Core if its having a hard time keeping it cool.

 

Then again the Tahiti Gpu Core isn't as hot as the Hawaii Gpu core.

[CoolaxGaming]

For a reference R9 290?

Oh sorry. Really sorry, I didnt read the reference . This is with the MSI Lightning.

But if you are in the us, an aftermarket one shouldnt cost that much more

[SteveGrabowski]

Just want to know if the card really does run in the upper 80c - 95c when gaming.

I'm planning on picking up a pair of R9 290/X Gpu's and before I make my purchase I'm curious on the temperatures during gaming!

Let me know!

Thanks!

 

R9 290 and R9 290x are great cards, but god don't buy reference cards. I saw a review on Tom's Hardware where both immediately went to 94C on gaming loads. By immediately I mean within a few seconds. But Sapphire Tri-X's will run in the low 70s at full load in a system at room temperature. MSI Lightning is another with a great cooler. PowerColor PCS+ is yet another really nice 290/290x.

[Dive5885]

R9 290 and R9 290x are great cards, but god don't buy reference cards. I saw a review on Tom's Hardware where both immediately went to 94C on gaming loads. By immediately I mean within a few seconds. But Sapphire Tri-X's will run in the low 70s at full load in a system at room temperature. MSI Lightning is another with a great cooler. PowerColor PCS+ is yet another really nice 290/290x.

I'm going to have to think about it now.