Calling all ASUS R9 280X TOP owners, need input.

[ghost_z]

Hi all,
I recently bought ASUS R9 280X TOP edition, and it had issues right out of the box.

I started getting Checker pattern artifacts and texture corruption in almost all the games.

Even browsers seemed to be messed up , i could see horizontal vertical lines on webpages which would go away and come back while scrolling or refreshing the page.

Seeing all this i went on to search Google regarding all this and noticed there are a lot of people in the same boat as me having the exact same gpu from ASUS,

So i researched more and some people seemed to suggest the issues are due to the Hynix ram modules which are running @1600mhx at 1.6v rather than their rated specification of 1500mhz at 1.5v, in turn this would cause VRM overheating and along with this some people even went on to suggest that the VRMs are not isolated from the main radiator and hence overheating causing all sorts of issue.


So finally i went and gave my GPU for RMA as DOA.
Still am too skeptical at the moment on whether i would get a working card or not.

If anyone here has the same card can you guys comment about your experiences, basically i wanna know how many people actually have a working ASUS R9 280X TOP which does not have any issues.

P.S if this makes any diff, my card came updated with the recent bios update 15.041 , while 2 other users i have talked to seemed to have 15.039 and there cards are working fine as per them.

Thanks in advance  , all feedback will be highly appreciated.

[TheNinjaNextDor]

You should probably just RMA.

[ghost_z]

I have already RMA'ed, what i wanted to know is whether there are some people who are enjoying this same model of GPU without any issues and which bios version they are using.

[WyvernAbstracts]

should go with sapphire for amd cards, but can you give us full specs of your pc. 

[goldfries]

I have 4 units of R9 280X DCU2 Top (this model http://www.goldfries.com/hardware-reviews/asus-radeon-r9-280x-directcu-ii-3gb-gddr5-graphic-card-review/ ) and I love them, 24/7 mining and no breakdowns whatsoever. It's solid as ever and could run pretty well even with voltages lowered.

 

Sapphire cards? It depends on model. My Vapor-X worked great but my Dual-X cards fail pretty quickly. One sent for RMA, another got short circuit after I clean the heatsink / fan (user problem haha..... but that's because the power connector came loose). and 2 more had fans break down and rattle, hence they're now on 3rd party coolers.

 

If you are going for Sapphire cards, get the Toxic of Vapor-X models if possible. They're of better build. 

[ghost_z]

 

I have 4 units of R9 280X DCU2 Top (this model http://www.goldfries.com/hardware-reviews/asus-radeon-r9-280x-directcu-ii-3gb-gddr5-graphic-card-review/ ) and I love them, 24/7 mining and no breakdowns whatsoever. It's solid as ever and could run pretty well even with voltages lowered.

 

Sapphire cards? It depends on model. My Vapor-X worked great but my Dual-X cards fail pretty quickly. One sent for RMA, another got short circuit after I clean the heatsink / fan (user problem haha..... but that's because the power connector came loose). and 2 more had fans break down and rattle, hence they're now on 3rd party coolers.

 

If you are going for Sapphire cards, get the Toxic of Vapor-X models if possible. They're of better build. 

 

Yes thanks for the reply, i too have the same dual slot HSF model, could you also tell e which bios version are you using and what is the max temp your card reaches while "gaming" ?

[A/C]

I have the card with no issues related to it. I have an issue where rare desktop and browser (2d) flicker occurs when idle but that's an issue that all of the R9 cards currently have. And AFAIK It's driver-related.

 

Other than that no other problems with the card, max temp is 66C at 100% load, stock clock at 1070MHz. Have no idea what bios off the top of my head it is (I'm at work currently) but the GPU tweak says no update available when asked 2 months ago.

[ghost_z]

I have the card with no issues related to it. I have an issue where rare desktop and browser (2d) flicker occurs when idle but that's an issue that all of the R9 cards currently have.

 

Other than that no other problems with the card, max temp is 66C at 100% load, stock clock at 1070MHz. Have no idea what bios off the top of my head it is (I'm at work currently) but the GPU tweak says no update available when asked 2 months ago.

Could you please verify and post back once you are home ?

[A/C]

I'll try, It'll be at least 7 more hours before I'm home...

[A/C]

My VBIOS: 15.39

 

Sry I didn't get to answer your question before.

 

I'll update the VBIOS now and tell you what's up.

[A/C]

Ok the bios update seems to have lowered the max temp by a bit. Other than that I don't see any other changes (the 2d flicker that I mentioned above comes very rarely and it will require some time before I can report on that). Will investigate further and report back.

[schwat]

I had to return an ASUS DCUII 7970 and an ASUS Matrix Platinum r9 280x both for artifacting. Both would artifact even when downclocked to reference levels, and one would artifact no matter how low I downclocked it.

 

I originally bought the 7970 at frys and had it for a good week before giving up & returning it. Figured I'd try my luck with ASUS's supposedly top of the line hand-picked flagship product, their Matrix Platinum 280x. Exact same problem. Sent it right back to newegg.

 

Finally went and bought an EVGA GTX 770 ACX & never looked back. Hell I liked it so much I bought a second one

 

This is a video showing what the 7970 was doing. Didn't bother recording one for the 280x since it was the same exact crap.

 

[A/C]

It seems I was wrong, the temps stayed the same, I don't notice any changes with the card so far... Still no problems.

[ghost_z]

Ah thanks for the input guys, my card came with 15.041 bios itself, will be getting a replacement card today from RMA , will report back, hopefully everything will work fine, else i gotta break my head for getting a refund.
Consumer protection laws aint that good here in India, so getting a refund is also going to be a pain in the ass, else second option is i will prolly sell it after getting a new pack sealed.

[A/C]

Good luck m8.

[ghost_z]

Ok got the new card, working fine in games till now, tested,

Tomb Raider 
BF4
DOTA 2
Tried each for half an hour at least
But still i got a lil issue while using browsers.

Things looking good so far, as browser issue can be ignored but games should run fine

Gonna test
Bioshock Infinite
Crysis 3
And a few others, will keep you guys posted, and thanks again all of you

Of all the forums i had posted this query in , this has been the most prompt and active.
 

[A/C]

Of all the forums i had posted this query in , this has been the most prompt and active.

 

I'm glad to hear that.

 

Could you answer some questionf for me now:

 

What's your:

 

-CPU?

-RAM speed and size?

-max GPU temp?

-bf4 framerate with everything on (accept vsync ofc)?

[ghost_z]

Well my rig is pretty old now, but am holding on till ddr4 makes it into the market, if thats too late then probably switch to haswell refresh.

CPU - Core i7 870 @3.3Ghz Lynfield
RAM - GSkill Ripjaws X 2x4GB @1600Mhz CL9
Max GPU Temp touches 78c if i leave the fans on Auto(Too hot here in India ATM) and no more than 70c if i control fan speed through custom graph in MSI Afterburner.
BF4 Framerate, well you wanna know about DX11 or Mantle, also do note am Using 14.3 Drivers ATM.

[ghost_z]

I think i spoke a little too soon, the issue which i was facing earlier is still there but the only difference i have found with this card is that the frequency of the artifacts have reduced by a huge margin.

So most of times i dont see em, but still they do come once in a while, so really i don't know what to do, either live with this or try rma again which at this point i dont think is gonna do much good, as the whole batch of these cards seems to be affected :\