Thinking of Returning This

[Zauski]

Hi all,

 

So I bought my Sapphire R9 290 a week ago, the model I have is the 4GB Vapor X. I had originally had my heart set on an nvidia card (I do not hate AMD - I just prefer low temps), but from what I could afford and with many things out of stock, I had to play my hand before I ended up wasting my money on something else.

 

So after installing and playing around for a few days, I've begun to highly dislike the low temps - 42 degrees on idle, I have good airflow in my case and there is no dust. I know the 290 series are built to be hot, but I'm kinda wary.

 

Secondly, I've been unlucky enough to get one of the 290's with the disastrous crashing issue. I've had to resort to using a 'fix' that Tom's Hardware recommended - which involved having my fans over 50% all the time and modifying my core voltage. After I applied these and added in a fan curve, I haven't had a crash since. But the fans are pretty bloody loud.

 

I've been playing Assassin's Creed: Revelations at 1366 x 768 (Waiting on my 1080p monitor to arrive), everything on ultra, getting around 55 degrees.

 

I know the GTX 960 and others are coming out soon. Is it worth sending this back and getting one of the new releases? I'm only going to be playing at 1080p.

 

Is paranoia getting the better of me?

 

Opinions?

[Interfectorem]

55 degrees is absolutely not bad at all. Also, I would not replace your card for a GTX 960, the 960 will most likely be a weaker card.

[Megahurt]

I would rma it for the crashes at stock, not for the temps, temps are more than fine, they're great, you'd have to move to water cooling to see lower temps. Even my 750 Ti would go up to 55°C.

[AlwaysFSX]

Is paranoia getting the better of me?

Actually it's ignorance. Aside from your card crashing (contact Sapphire to see if they can replace it) the card is performing admirably. It's much faster than a 960, first of all. Secondly, a 55C load temp is amazing.

[Briggsy]

sounds like you need to RMA the card if its crashing.

[Zauski]

sounds like you need to RMA the card if its crashing.

 

I think I'm going to.

 

Actually it's ignorance. Aside from your card crashing (contact Sapphire to see if they can replace it) the card is performing admirably. It's much faster than a 960, first of all. Secondly, a 55C load temp is amazing.

 

This is only my second graphics card, ever - only had a gaming PC since October.

 

 

 

55 degrees is absolutely not bad at all. Also, I would not replace your card for a GTX 960, the 960 will most likely be a weaker card.

 

I suppose so.

[APrettyCoolWalrus]

Your card would be on par with a 970, no need to replace it with a 960 unless you are in need of extra cash

[Zauski]

Your card would be on par with a 970, no need to replace it with a 960 unless you are in need of extra cash

 

I definitely won't be changing it then

[APrettyCoolWalrus]

I definitely won't be changing it then

Good. Hope you have fun with your rig!

[SteveGrabowski]

Hi all,

 

So I bought my Sapphire R9 290 a week ago, the model I have is the 4GB Vapor X. I had originally had my heart set on an nvidia card (I do not hate AMD - I just prefer low temps), but from what I could afford and with many things out of stock, I had to play my hand before I ended up wasting my money on something else.

 

So after installing and playing around for a few days, I've begun to highly dislike the low temps - 42 degrees on idle, I have good airflow in my case and there is no dust. I know the 290 series are built to be hot, but I'm kinda wary.

 

Secondly, I've been unlucky enough to get one of the 290's with the disastrous crashing issue. I've had to resort to using a 'fix' that Tom's Hardware recommended - which involved having my fans over 50% all the time and modifying my core voltage. After I applied these and added in a fan curve, I haven't had a crash since. But the fans are pretty bloody loud.

 

I've been playing Assassin's Creed: Revelations at 1366 x 768 (Waiting on my 1080p monitor to arrive), everything on ultra, getting around 55 degrees.

 

I know the GTX 960 and others are coming out soon. Is it worth sending this back and getting one of the new releases? I'm only going to be playing at 1080p.

 

Is paranoia getting the better of me?

 

Opinions?

 

If it's crashing you gotta send it back for a refund. I'd personally just ask for another Vapor-X R9 290, as that is the best R9 290 and will likely crush the GTX 960 completely. I know the Tri-X runs ~70C at load with ambient at normal room temperature, and I imagine a working Vapor-X is similar (I know it has a higher out the box overclock than the Tri-X though).

[SteveGrabowski]

I think I'm going to.

 

I wouldn't RMA if you can return to the store you bought it from still. Exchange it for a new Vapor-X R9 290 so you're not getting a refurbished card back.

[SteveGrabowski]

55 degrees is absolutely not bad at all. Also, I would not replace your card for a GTX 960, the 960 will most likely be a weaker card.

 

At a really low resolution though. I imagine the GPU load is always pretty low running at only 1366x768.

[Zauski]

Update, 1 week after issues arose.

 

After the "fix", I've only had a couple of crashes. But,on more than one ocassion, my card has thrown itself up to 100% fan speed, and won't change till I reset my pc. Happened once a day for 2 days running. Because of this, I'm probably going to return it and buy myself an Asus R9 290, it's actually £7 cheaper.

[Carde]

Just RMA this one get a new one and enjoy.

 

If you want something more silent (but higher temps likely) take a step down, from personal experience the top line pure bread OCing cards don't really give much care about being silent it is not their purpose after all

[Dabombinable]

Well considering my GTX 970 runs at 62^oC when playing games (G1 Gaming edition), your R9 290 is doing extremely well. But since the issues are persisting, returning it and getting another card is the way to go. You shouldn't need to fix something that you bought brand new, at least not for 5 years+ by my reckoning.

[Zauski]

Well considering my GTX 970 runs at 62^oC when playing games (G1 Gaming edition), your R9 290 is doing extremely well.

 

Keep in mind I'm currently playing at 720p mate. And from your edit, I completely agree with you. You shouldn't fix something that shouldn't need to be fixed.

 

Just RMA this one get a new one and enjoy.

 

If you want something more silent (but higher temps likely) take a step down, from personal experience the top line pure bread OCing cards don't really give much care about being silent it is not their purpose after all

 

I personally just prefer having a non-reference design simply because they look better. If I do move to the Asus it'll probably be quieter (1 less fan)

[Fate]

I personally just prefer having a non-reference design simply because they look better. If I do move to the Asus it'll probably be quieter (1 less fan)

Less fans doesn't necessarily mean it'll be quieter. 

Remember, if you take 40db + 40db + 40db, you'll still have about 40db of noise. 

[Zauski]

Less fans doesn't necessarily mean it'll be quieter. 

Remember, if you take 40db + 40db + 40db, you'll still have about 40db of noise. 

 

That's true actually ._.

 

My thinking is off, had a long day 

[Zweihander]

Idle temps are going to vary, depending upon monitor setup and refresh rate. As well as a number of other things, including card design.

 

My 970 idles rather high, 60c or so (doesn't go above 70c under 99% load -- stock settings). This is simply because I'm running a monitor @ 144Hz, with a second monitor also being ultized. If I unplug the secondary monitor, and lower my refresh rate back down to 60Hz on my main display, my idle temp runs around 36-40c. 

 

The 290 is sort of an un-tamed beast, and is almost overkill for 1080p IMHO. Otherwise, it's a solid card.

[Dabombinable]

Keep in mind I'm currently playing at 720p mate. And from your edit, I completely agree with you. You shouldn't fix something that shouldn't need to be fixed.

 

 

I personally just prefer having a non-reference design simply because they look better. If I do move to the Asus it'll probably be quieter (1 less fan)

The temps are still very good, they'd probably be close to that of my 970 at 1080p. And non reference coolers are always the better option than the reference blower coolers.