R9 290.....im scared

[jokudolo]

Hello all,

 

So im building a pc for gaming mainly bf4 ultra detail 60 fps 1080p.

 

I was about to start buying parts as its almost finalized but i decided to read some reviews on my GPU and there were ALOT of bad reviews for it. It seems liek gigabyte had some issues when they first released their R9 290 card but i have it in my build!

 

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/RCTYf7

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($249.79 @ DirectCanada) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($31.92 @ DirectCanada) 

Motherboard: MSI Z97M Gaming Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($159.98 @ Newegg Canada) 

Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory  ($89.99 @ Memory Express) 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($134.79 @ DirectCanada) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($57.99 @ Canada Computers) 

Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card  ($424.98 @ Newegg Canada) 

Case: Corsair 350D MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($89.99 @ Canada Computers) 

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($74.99 @ NCIX) 

Monitor: Asus VH238H 23.0" Monitor  ($159.99 @ NCIX) 

Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  ($36.99 @ NCIX) 

Total: $1511.40

 

Does any1 know if these issues have been resolved and I can run this card without any fear of overheating and/or crashing?

This build is microatx so without a lot of space heating is an issue for me!

If these issues are still there then what other R9 290 cards are out there that will work better for me?

 

-jokudolo

 

[Trik'Stari]

lol wrong thread, ignore this post

[Jerakl]

Should be fine, the R9 290 is an oft-recommended part. If you have any problems, you can RMA it. For the value, the R9 290 is probably one of the best you can get. IMO.

[Manny Calavera]

XFX has good cooler, buy another 140mm fan and put in infront

[Dude]

First, get rid of that wireless card because this is a DESKTOP. If you have to, use homeplugs.

Second, that's the first release. Gigabyte probably re-released it at some point and in any case I haven't heard anything bad from the Gigabyte version of the R9 290.

[AlwaysFSX]

Get either an XFX 290 or Sapphire Tri-X or Vapor-X 290 instead, those coolers are the ones that actually work.

[silberdrachi]

So long as your case has some good ventilation, youre just fine.

 

Make sure your fans have a lot of breathing room and just monitor your temps for the first week. Tweak the set up if needed.

[SkilledRebuilds]

My GB 290-OC is fine. Not been over 76*c yet @ stock, no throttling as temps are great, not even loud.

TBH - I think they would have fixed those initial cooling issues straight away.

[Mateyyy]

If I were you, I would get the Sapphire Tri-X or Vapor-X edition 290, or MSI's Twin Frozr edition R9 290. I've never owned a Gigabyte AMD video card, but from what I've read on the internet, some people have problems with AMD cards, like overheating and VRM actually burning. Now, I can't say anything from my own experience, but I would still just get one of the ones I outlined above.

[jokudolo]

Should be fine, the R9 290 is an oft-recommended part. If you have any problems, you can RMA it. For the value, the R9 290 is probably one of the best you can get. IMO.

@Jerakl actually i was more referring to the GB version of their R9 290, the reviews I read all mentioned that it is quite difficult to RMA because they have bad customer service

 

First, get rid of that wireless card because this is a DESKTOP. If you have to, use homeplugs.

Second, that's the first release. Gigabyte probably re-released it at some point and in any case I haven't heard anything bad from the Gigabyte version of the R9 290.

@Dude, Im still a college student so I will be moving this rig around a lot as i move rooms and homes, cant guarantee there will be data ports in all of them, heck my current room doesnt have 1, hence the wifi card

These reviews on newegg even as recent as the 8th of september are still bad though.. i mean im not sure if newegg is the most reputable place for reviews but yeh this is where I was reading from, heck the top most ciritcal review was posted on the 22nd of august!

 

My GB 290-OC is fine. Not been over 76*c yet @ stock, no throttling as temps are great, not even loud.

TBH - I think they would have fixed those initial cooling issues straight away.

Yea it seems they fixed the cooling issues, but more people are complaining about crashing problems now

[CreamyPotatoBruh]

Look around for some other brand R9 290s. My Gigabyte R9 290 has trouble with VRM temps and lately i've been reaching upwards to the 95c limit and throttling. From what i've read, Sapphire's Tri-X r9 290 has much better VRM and Core cooling than Gigabyte's Windforce 3 cooler.

[Kryptyx]

While I don't own a 290, I do read a lot of posts on the forums and see Sapphire's Tri-X and Vapor-X models recommended a lot. Just a suggestion.

[Briggsy]

the GB isn't the worst pick for a 290. 

 

MSI and XFX don't have the quiet mode bios that lets you set tempurature limits (the rest of the 290's do iirc).

Asus DCU2 on the hawaii gpu is akin to a bare hand resting on a hot burner.

the stock cooler is like your face resting on a hot burner.

 

the GB wind force is decent, and doesn't have any weird surprises.

[jokudolo]

Ok thanks for your input, i'm going to change to sapphires Tri-X edition, its a bit more expensive but i don't mind paying for stability, thank you!

[LOST TALE]

You can just run Hardware monitor to see temps.

 

You'll be able to see it long befor eit gets out of hand, unless the card is faulty.

[PhilBoisvert]

@Jerakl actually i was more referring to the GB version of their R9 290, the reviews I read all mentioned that it is quite difficult to RMA because they have bad customer service

@Dude, Im still a college student so I will be moving this rig around a lot as i move rooms and homes, cant guarantee there will be data ports in all of them, heck my current room doesnt have 1, hence the wifi card

These reviews on newegg even as recent as the 8th of september are still bad though.. i mean im not sure if newegg is the most reputable place for reviews but yeh this is where I was reading from, heck the top most ciritcal review was posted on the 22nd of august!

Yea it seems they fixed the cooling issues, but more people are complaining about crashing problems now

The thing is, not a lot of people write a review just to say "yep, it works fine". Thats is why the proportion of "bad" vs "good" review is far from the reality on the retailers website

Don't bother with those review. Go on forum for advice instead, LTT or others.

This why brand like Razer have A LOT of bad review, because they sell A LOT. (well I had 2 blackwidow fail on me hhaha, but my mouse is still going strong after 3 years, razer Lachesis btw)

Cheers

[maizenblue]

One thing to keep in mind. When the 290 first came out, the reference cooler for the 290 was horrible. The cards would hit 95C and stay there, yet you had people mining with the cards for months at a time. What this proved was that the 290 could withstand high temps for prolonged periods and still work fine. I don't think a 780 or 780 TI would tolerate such high temps for such a long time, which is why I would be more concerned about having a quality cooler on a 780/ti than I would a 290/x Now you have non reference 290 cards that keep the 290 cooler than almost every mid to high performance card out there.

 

Gigabyte isn't one of the better cooling 290 cards out there to be sure, but its still a hell of a lot better than the reference cooler, which means you probably have nothing to worry about. If the 290 can tolerate 95C for months, I'm sure it can tolerate temps in the high 70s to low 80s or whatever the Gigabyte cards tend to run at.

 

Having said that I see no reason to get a gigabyte 290 if you can find a PCS+ or sapphire card for around the same price. The Sapphire and PCS+ cooling systems are so efficient they take what used to be the 290s biggest weaknesses and turn it into one of its biggest strengths.