New GPU needed, please assist.

[CeePeeBee]

Hi all,

Brief background here...I've been running an HD7850 for a year or so with no problems. I've just grabbed 2 new monitors to use with a desk mount and thought I'd treat myself to a new GPU.

In the black Friday deals I managed to get hold of a Powercolor R9 290x for just £200. However as the more savvy of you will no doubt have guessed already, I'm not happy with it at all. Idle temps of 70 and a fan noise that is frankly akin to a Boeing taking off means I'm sending it back and in the lookout for something else.

Budget is £300 at most and my requirements are low noise and low temps. I'm happy to accept that at the cost of performance, as long as the card recommended gives a decent improvement over the HD7850 I have.

I've got a Seasonic 650w 80+ Gold PSU which seemed to deal with the 290x well enough for all of the 20mins I used it so I'm not expecting that to be an issue.

Many thanks in advance.

[Archangel1994]

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-gtx970gaming4g - Has a 0dB feature

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvn970wf3oc4gd - Doesn't have 0dB feature but is still very quiet and is the best cooler out there.

[the jolly roger]

Hi all,

Brief background here...I've been running an HD7850 for a year or so with no problems. I've just grabbed 2 new monitors to use with a desk mount and thought I'd treat myself to a new GPU.

In the black Friday deals I managed to get hold of a Powercolor R9 290x for just £200. However as the more savvy of you will no doubt have guessed already, I'm not happy with it at all. Idle temps of 70 and a fan noise that is frankly akin to a Boeing taking off means I'm sending it back and in the lookout for something else.

Budget is £300 at most and my requirements are low noise and low temps. I'm happy to accept that at the cost of performance, as long as the card recommended gives a decent improvement over the HD7850 I have.

I've got a Seasonic 650w 80+ Gold PSU which seemed to deal with the 290x well enough for all of the 20mins I used it so I'm not expecting that to be an issue.

Many thanks in advance.

70 at idle??? you should RMA it

[othertomperson]

GTX 970. Asus Strix and MSI Twin Frozr versions are semi-passive. The fans turn off when they're less than 60 Celsius.

[kwljunky]

Hi all,

Brief background here...I've been running an HD7850 for a year or so with no problems. I've just grabbed 2 new monitors to use with a desk mount and thought I'd treat myself to a new GPU.

In the black Friday deals I managed to get hold of a Powercolor R9 290x for just £200. However as the more savvy of you will no doubt have guessed already, I'm not happy with it at all. Idle temps of 70 and a fan noise that is frankly akin to a Boeing taking off means I'm sending it back and in the lookout for something else.

Budget is £300 at most and my requirements are low noise and low temps. I'm happy to accept that at the cost of performance, as long as the card recommended gives a decent improvement over the HD7850 I have.

I've got a Seasonic 650w 80+ Gold PSU which seemed to deal with the 290x well enough for all of the 20mins I used it so I'm not expecting that to be an issue.

Many thanks in advance.

gtx 970 g1 from GIGAbyte: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/4gb-gigabyte-gtx-970-g1-gaming-7010mhz-gddr5-gpu-1178mhz-boost-1329mhz-1664-cores-3x-dp-1x-hdmi-1x-d

 

[Ginge620]

Definitely recommend the ASUS STRIX GTX970, i picked 2 of them up from Ebuyer for £298 each + free games (Far cry 4, AC Unity).

Idle temps for are 39-41C and 70-74 under load aaand still very quite compared to my previous Xfire HD6970's.

Here's a link http://www.ebuyer.com/666705-asus-gtx-970-strix-directcu-ii-oc-4gb-gddr5-dual-dvi-hdmi-strix-gtx970-dc2oc-4gd5

[Doughnutnator]

RMA the 290x. Sell it or return it if its a reference card.

 

I recommend a G1 Gaming 970 if it costs the same as a Strix-MSI card.

 

You wont see too much difference between the G1 970 and the Strix 970, even though the G1 Gaming have higher clocks and more OC potential, it's a 970, and the difference is going to be like 1-2 FPS.

If you can afford it, get it, it's one of the best 970's, the cooler is awesome.

I don't like passively cooled cards, because the Strix and MSI cards aren't cooling VRM's so well, the G1 Gaming heatsink is directly touching VRM's to cool them.

[LmeAde2]

I agree with the GTX 970. I've got the Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 Gaming http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00NQ862GY and highly recommend it. I've also worked with the MSI GTX 980 Gaming and the ASUS GTX 980 STRIX and both of those are excellent coolers/cards as well so I would imagine their 970 counterparts are the same.

[CeePeeBee]

ok, thanks for the recommendations.

 

One follow up question though.  I've seen a coiuple of people comment that the Windforce / G1 Gaming Gigabyte cards push air to the side which manifests in rising hot air to the CPU if side fans are not mounted on the case.

 

Anyone have experience of that with these cards....primary concerns here are temperatures, and then noise (i.e. if temp is low fans stay quiet...)

[SkilledRebuilds]

ok,

 

Anyone have experience of that with these cards...

 

When you use multimonitors it does not declock as far down in idle mode.

Thats why it's hotter.

 

300/1250 or 500/1250 is usually the new idle clocks for multi-mon.

Single is 300/150

I'm currently at 44*c idle temps with my 290 cos i'm using 2 monitors (300/1250)

 

You'll also see variable clockspeeds even when idle, say 300mhz core can sway between 300-1000Mhz (or whatever is ur max) when doing random stuff, youtube/browsing/anything at all and it can dynamically rise up in corespeed.

 

You can use MSI to setup profiles, declock and saveto profile 1, normal clocks save to profile 2, go to profiles tab in options , set the auto switch to happen when it detects 2d3d load.

May mitigate some idle heat if you declock that memory 1250mhz down to say 500-800mhz (I don't know the lowest point you can go, maybe experiment with under 500mhz)

 

 

I also have an N600 case, no side panel fans, but have a fan on the backpanel which takes most of the GPU heat out (it runs at 40% constant)

My 120MM AIO CPU cooler is on the top panel at the front, so I'm lucky, if it was further back it would also get some more heat from the GPU.

[CeePeeBee]

I'm running dual monitors also.

 

I have an H60 on the backplate as an intake and then a 140 Noctua on the top panel exhausting.

 

I reckon it'll be fine.  When I ran this reference 290x at full whack and hit 90oC it didn't change the temps on the cpu...so air flow and intake/exhaust must be working well.  I'll grab a g1 gaming edition then - cheers guys!

[Spev]

Hi all,

Brief background here...I've been running an HD7850 for a year or so with no problems. I've just grabbed 2 new monitors to use with a desk mount and thought I'd treat myself to a new GPU.

In the black Friday deals I managed to get hold of a Powercolor R9 290x for just £200. However as the more savvy of you will no doubt have guessed already, I'm not happy with it at all. Idle temps of 70 and a fan noise that is frankly akin to a Boeing taking off means I'm sending it back and in the lookout for something else.

Budget is £300 at most and my requirements are low noise and low temps. I'm happy to accept that at the cost of performance, as long as the card recommended gives a decent improvement over the HD7850 I have.

I've got a Seasonic 650w 80+ Gold PSU which seemed to deal with the 290x well enough for all of the 20mins I used it so I'm not expecting that to be an issue.

Many thanks in advance.

Wow, what were your GPU temps when playing games or a benchmark? My GPU is like 70c during max load.

[CeePeeBee]

Yeah, this is the R9 290x I'm sending back....was a reference card.  Sounded like a Boeing 747 taking off when it hit 95oC

[snert98]

first what case do you use maybe you just dont have enough to cool a 290x but i dont think so, just send it back.

 

i would also go with  a 970 it is a great performing card which one i dont know i have a msi gaming 4g, i think the 0db mode is verry nice when playing games that are'nt demanding like LOL it doesnt even turn on and whe it is at 99% load when playing the crew or grid for example it isnt even hearable.

 

@CeePeeBee

[Tim Drake]

The MSI GTX 970 that I have is absolutely amazing! I need better case cooling because idle it's 38c and load it's 70c but it usually idles at 30-31c and loads at 65c. Such an AMAZING card!

[Tim Drake]

Also I am doing benchmarks on my channel so PM me if you want my YouTube.

[vlkn´]

ok, thanks for the recommendations.

 

One follow up question though.  I've seen a coiuple of people comment that the Windforce / G1 Gaming Gigabyte cards push air to the side which manifests in rising hot air to the CPU if side fans are not mounted on the case.

 

Anyone have experience of that with these cards....primary concerns here are temperatures, and then noise (i.e. if temp is low fans stay quiet...)

Yes, it´ll heat up your cpu about 5-10°C (if you don´t have a side fan that blows the heat out)

[nicolas_as]

I just got a gtx 970 from Gigabyte, got 70c running fur stress test, this card doesn't have 0 rpm like msi or Asus but this card is really quiet

[CeePeeBee]

I went and purchased a Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 Gaming as per the recommendations.  If it heats my CPU up I'll just rearrange the fans...by christ I've got like 3 Noctua's and 6 Corsair SPs lying about....I now just wish I could find an optimum mounting position for my H60...

 

Cheers for the help, I'll post about H60 elsewhere - cheers