GPU VRAM brands do they matter?

[dragoon20005]

Depending on the manufacturer of the GPU take for example the R9 290X which I am planning to buy

 

I seen so far a few brands of VRAM being used on different cards

 

MSI 290X Lighting uses Samsung

Asus 290X DCUII OC uses Elpida

PowerColor 290X PCS+ uses Hynix

Sapphire 290X Vapor X also uses Hynix

 

 

I do hear Elpida VRAM don't really OC that well when compared to Hynix and Samsung and in the Asus 280X DCU II and Top edition have artifacts issues which require RMA

 

does it mean getting a GPU with Hynix or Samsung will be much better in terms of OC ability and other factors like temps generated?

 

 

Thanks

Regards

Dragoon20005

[TheNinjaNextDor]

Hynix is the best in terms of OCing, I don't know for sure about Samsung, but Elipida sucks.

 

Get the Sapphire card.

[91wow]

Hynix is the best in terms of OCing, I don't know for sure about Samsung, but Elipida sucks.

 

Get the Sapphire card.

Samsung is all over the place, from servers to gaming to everything in-between. They may not OC well but they should have reliability behind them. 

[dragoon20005]

Hynix is the best in terms of OCing, I don't know for sure about Samsung, but Elipida sucks.

 

Get the Sapphire card.

in terms of overclock the PowerColor PCS+ and MSI Lighting are pretty close

 

MSI got close to 1.7GHz @ 1690MHz and PowerColor @ 1645MHz while Sapphire Vapor-X got 1575MHz

 

@TheDigitalRealm

 

I hear you got the Lighting how is the OC on that card?

 

 

source from here

 

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/R9_290X_Lightning/27.html

 

they were using the Sapphire Tri-X here but the Vapor X has a slight boost of 20MHz...

[Bluuz]

Would you like a red lottery ticket or a blue lottery ticket?

 

It's a gamble either way, I wouldn't worry about it.

[LukaP]

Ive gotten my hynix 770 to 8ghz and i know people with elpida that cant get any more than the original 7ghz

[SymphonyX7]

Elpida sucks. Get the Hynix ones. However, this can be a lottery sometimes. You're not guaranteed to get the memory you want. Take for instance my Sapphire R9 280X Dual-X. I'm fortunate to have Hynix memory, but some future batches got Elpida memory.

[TheDigitalRealm]

in terms of overclock the PowerColor PCS+ and MSI Lighting are pretty close

 

MSI got close to 1.7GHz @ 1690MHz and PowerColor @ 1645MHz while Sapphire Vapor-X got 1575MHz

 

@TheDigitalRealm

 

I hear you got the Lighting how is the OC on that card?

 

 

source from here

 

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/R9_290X_Lightning/27.html

 

they were using the Sapphire Tri-X here but the Vapor X has a slight boost of 20MHz...

 

All the Lightning GPU's use over-specced Hynix memory modules. I've gotten 1665MHz to pass Fire Strike on air, this is also with a 1270MHz core clock - so with stock core clocks, or even a 1200MHz core clock, I think I'd be able to get 1700MHz

stable. 

 

These are all just initial results though, I haven't done any proper tweaking yet, and the LN2 bios is still pretty limiting unless you get a fully unlocked bios from MSI. I should be able to get 1300MHz core on air. I don't know if I can be bothered until the Water block and second 290X Lightning comes. - Yes I ordered two - No, I don't have any money. 

[dragoon20005]

All the Lightning GPU's use over-specced Hynix memory modules. I've gotten 1665MHz to pass Fire Strike on air, this is also with a 1270MHz core clock - so with stock core clocks, or even a 1200MHz core clock, I think I'd be able to get 1700MHz stable.

 

 

 

I do know Hynix memories are now in short supply due to the fire in the manufacturing plant

 

but the incident only affect the card makers which were previously using Hynix memories

 

I will be planning to get the 290X Lighting in that case since MSI uses Samsung memory

 

Review shows it was using Samsung memory or the recent batch uses Hynix?

[rcarlos243]

I have no experience with other R9 280x brand but avoid Asus R9 280x DirectCU II as half of the VRAM has no heatsink or cooling which leads to massive artifacts even on stock.

 

btw, both of my Asus R9 280x uses Hynx VRAM.

[Sonefiler]

I do know Hynix memories are now in short supply due to the fire in the manufacturing plant

 

but the incident only affect the card makers which were previously using Hynix memories

 

I will be planning to get the 290X Lighting in that case since MSI uses Samsung memory

 

Review shows it was using Samsung memory or the recent batch uses Hynix?

The Hynix factory's fire was a long time ago. Don't worry about that.

 

The PCS+ overclocks very well. I recommend fully.

[DildorTheDecent]

The Hynix factory's fire was a long time ago. Don't worry about that.

 

The PCS+ overclocks very well. I recommend fully.

Well you would recommend the PCS+   

[Sonefiler]

Well you would recommend the PCS+   

Ask the guy who was having problems with his PCS+. It was Afterburner causing the issue, not PowerColor and his OCed to 1500/1100

[The_Strict_Nein]

As far as I know, Samsung and Hyinx are the best brands of VRAM, but because of the Hyinx fire, they're still not up to full capacity load, so card manufacturers went to Samsung, which meant Samsung started running out of VRAM, so Elpida is a much more budget friendly choice for a card manufacturer.

[Humbug]

I have no experience with other R9 280x brand but avoid Asus R9 280x DirectCU II as half of the VRAM has no heatsink or cooling which leads to massive artifacts even on stock.

btw, both of my Asus R9 280x uses Hynx VRAM.

were You able to solve the issue by cooling them?

[Nickolas47]

Elpida in greek means hope

[rcarlos243]

were You able to solve the issue by cooling them?

you could possibly buy an aftermarket vram heatsink but that would void the warranty as those things use permanent thermal adhesive paste to hold the tiny vram heatsink.

 

Mine is currently on RMA

[Socratic]

My powercolor has samsung. 

[Jedicake]

Hynix is the best in terms of OCing, I don't know for sure about Samsung, but Elipida sucks.

 

Get the Sapphire card.

....god damn it... I'm pretty sure I got elpida...

[TheNinjaNextDor]

....god damn it... I'm pretty sure I got elpida...

My MSI card has it, I think. GPU-Z will tell you for sure.

[Jedicake]

My MSI card has it, I think. GPU-Z will tell you for sure.

yup.....

 

That doesn't mean the whole card is bad, does it....? Do you just mean for like.. overclocking..??

[TheNinjaNextDor]

yup.....

That doesn't mean the whole card is bad, does it....? Do you just mean for like.. overclocking..??

Nope, it just means that it won't OC too well. Like let's say if you had Hynix you could get 1450MHz, but Elipida can only do 1300MHz.

[Jedicake]

Nope, it just means that it won't OC too well. Like let's say if you had Hynix you could get 1450MHz, but Elipida can only do 1300MHz.

Ah okay. Thank you!

[nuclear465]

you could possibly buy an aftermarket vram heatsink but that would void the warranty as those things use permanent thermal adhesive paste to hold the tiny vram heatsink.

 

Mine is currently on RMA

Did your card returned from RMA already ? It's working fine ?

 

I also RMA my Asus R9 280X DC2T about a month ago, and ASUS said that they have replaced my card for a new one, and i must recieve it in approximately 2 days... Just wandering if your RMA process went well !

 

thanks

[Face2Face]

Elpida in greek means hope

Elpida in overclocking terms mean S&^T... 

 

SK Hynix and Samsung are where it's at currently.