XFX R9 290 Slower than expected?

[MissFangs]

Hi!

 

I recently built a gaming pc, the crown jewel of which I thought would be the R9 290. I'd seen many benchmarks displaying some amazing frame rates, so I had no doubt that the card would rock any game that I put to the test.

 

While I did get decent frame rates on BF4 (1080p, Ultra), there were quite a few frame drops which caused me to drop down the graphics to high. Not to mention this card gets as hot as 90c with 100% fan speeds, which really concerns me.

 

Moving onto Tomb Raider (1080p, Ultra), I got an average of about 30-40fps, max of 60fps, and a low of about 20fps when in cutscenes with fire. That low was EXTREMELY disappointing for me, considering the amount I paid for the card.

 

I did a test on Unigine Heaven Benchmark... Here were the results.

 FPS: 30.7

Score: 772

Min FPS: 14.0

Max FPS: 60.6

System

 

Platform:

Windows 7 (build 7601, Service Pack 1) 64bit

CPU model:

AMD FX-6350 Six-Core Processor (3917MHz) x3

GPU model:

AMD Radeon R9 200 Series 15.200.1062.0 (4095MB) x1

Settings

 

Render: Direct3D11

Mode: 1920x1080 8xAA fullscreen

Preset Custom

Quality Ultra

Tessellation: Extreme

 

When they say a max of 60, they mean it was 60 for about 3 seconds on one scene. I was expecting better scores. 

 

Is this just the result of the card, or is it a flaw in my system? Does anyone else experience FPS/heat issues with this card? 

 

Any input would be appreciated!

 

[Vivilacqua1]

Mine used to hit 94c till I shoved a kraken on it. It's at a cool 70c at full load.

 

And that score for unigene.... doesn't seem right.

 

Mine is always really close to my clock speed.  (A little over 1k)

 

It could be your cpu slowing you down a bit, but I'm no expert.

[don_svetlio]

VRM temps - those are the reason.

[LLOYD-AF]

 

Hi!

 

I recently built a gaming pc, the crown jewel of which I thought would be the R9 290. I'd seen many benchmarks displaying some amazing frame rates, so I had no doubt that the card would rock any game that I put to the test.

 

While I did get decent frame rates on BF4 (1080p, Ultra), there were quite a few frame drops which caused me to drop down the graphics to high. Not to mention this card gets as hot as 90c with 100% fan speeds, which really concerns me.

 

Moving onto Tomb Raider (1080p, Ultra), I got an average of about 30-40fps, max of 60fps, and a low of about 20fps when in cutscenes with fire. That low was EXTREMELY disappointing for me, considering the amount I paid for the card.

 

I did a test on Unigine Heaven Benchmark... Here were the results.

 FPS: 30.7

Score: 772

Min FPS: 14.0

Max FPS: 60.6

System

 

Platform:

Windows 7 (build 7601, Service Pack 1) 64bit

CPU model:

AMD FX-6350 Six-Core Processor (3917MHz) x3

GPU model:

AMD Radeon R9 200 Series 15.200.1062.0 (4095MB) x1

Settings

 

Render: Direct3D11

Mode: 1920x1080 8xAA fullscreen

Preset Custom

Quality Ultra

Tessellation: Extreme

 

When they say a max of 60, they mean it was 60 for about 3 seconds on one scene. I was expecting better scores. 

 

Is this just the result of the card, or is it a flaw in my system? Does anyone else experience FPS/heat issues with this card? 

 

Any input would be appreciated!

 

 

Sounds like your GPU is thermal throttling, or PSU does not have enough power?

 

Use MSI Afterburner and see what it says.

[The Official Czex]

 

Hi!

 

I recently built a gaming pc, the crown jewel of which I thought would be the R9 290. I'd seen many benchmarks displaying some amazing frame rates, so I had no doubt that the card would rock any game that I put to the test.

 

While I did get decent frame rates on BF4 (1080p, Ultra), there were quite a few frame drops which caused me to drop down the graphics to high. Not to mention this card gets as hot as 90c with 100% fan speeds, which really concerns me.

 

Moving onto Tomb Raider (1080p, Ultra), I got an average of about 30-40fps, max of 60fps, and a low of about 20fps when in cutscenes with fire. That low was EXTREMELY disappointing for me, considering the amount I paid for the card.

 

I did a test on Unigine Heaven Benchmark... Here were the results.

 FPS: 30.7

Score: 772

Min FPS: 14.0

Max FPS: 60.6

System

 

Platform:

Windows 7 (build 7601, Service Pack 1) 64bit

CPU model:

AMD FX-6350 Six-Core Processor (3917MHz) x3

GPU model:

AMD Radeon R9 200 Series 15.200.1062.0 (4095MB) x1

Settings

 

Render: Direct3D11

Mode: 1920x1080 8xAA fullscreen

Preset Custom

Quality Ultra

Tessellation: Extreme

 

When they say a max of 60, they mean it was 60 for about 3 seconds on one scene. I was expecting better scores. 

 

Is this just the result of the card, or is it a flaw in my system? Does anyone else experience FPS/heat issues with this card? 

 

Any input would be appreciated!

 

 

It might be the crap ton of anti-aliasing in your settings?

[Vivilacqua1]

VRM temps - those are the reason.

Yah, before I switched, my vrm's went over 100c.

 

I wouldn't think that's the reason though. After i went from air to water, all I could do was up the clock speed a bit and the vrm's hit max near 65c.

[thekeemo]

Is your GPU hitting 100% load it could be your cpu

[Raudi_]

Something is for sure wrong cause this was just with an underclocked 290x 

[don_svetlio]

Something is for sure wrong cause this was just with an underclocked 290x 

I get 1650

[Raudi_]

I get 1650

Screenshot or lies  

Only doable way is doing driver tweaks or not maxxing out the AA and Tessilation 

[MissFangs]

Mine used to hit 94c till I shoved a kraken on it. It's at a cool 70c at full load.

 

And that score for unigene.... doesn't seem right.

 

Mine is always really close to my clock speed.  (A little over 1k)

 

It could be your cpu slowing you down a bit, but I'm no expert.

You put a kraken on your gpu? Is there such a thing? I really would like to look into better cooling options, so if you have something in mind I'd appreciate the help.

[MissFangs]

Is your GPU hitting 100% load it could be your cpu

Yes, it is. In Tomb Raider I know it is for sure. Haven't tested it on the other games...

[MissFangs]

Sounds like your GPU is thermal throttling, or PSU does not have enough power?

 

Use MSI Afterburner and see what it says.

I highly doubt that. For all I know, it could be, but I still have low fps near the beginning of the benchmark when my gpu is about 50c. My PSU definitely has enough power. Use MSI afterburner to do what?

[Sintezza]

Sounds to me, that your gpu is throttling at 90°C

Change the fan profile, and ramp the fans up to 90% or something similar.

Chck if that brings the temps down, and result in better frames.

 

If not, that you have probably have a bad card, or bad cooler mounting.

RMA would be the next step.

 

I personaly dont have much experiance with XFX cards,

but there have been over heating issues with them

[UnbendingNose]

CPU bottleneck. I had the same issues you are having with my R9 290 when I had an FX-8320. I switched to an i5 4670k and a z87 board and performance shot up. I can now get 63fps avg. in valley benchmark at the extremeHD preset 1080p where I used to get around 51fps with the FX-8320. BF4 was unplayable unless I enabled mantle. Again, showing a CPU bottleneck. My GPU usage is now at 99% like it should be when v-sync is off. Before, with the the fx-8320 it would run at about 70% to 90% usage with v-sync off. Get an i5 and your R9 290 will run like it should. AMD's dx11 drivers have horrible CPU overhead and you need a good intel quad core to overcome this. Just google r9 290 bottlenecks or FX8350 bottle necking r9 290 and you'll see this is a common problem. So I can assure you your fx6300 is bottle necking here.

[don_svetlio]

Screenshot or lies  

Only doable way is doing driver tweaks or not maxxing out the AA and Tessilation 

Extreme HD preset on Valley . .. I just noticed this is Heaven

[Sintezza]

CPU bottleneck. I had the same issues you are having with my R9 290 when I had an FX-8320. I switched to an i5 4670k and a z87 board and performance shot up. I can now get 63fps avg. in valley benchmark at the extremeHD preset 1080p where I used to get around 51fps with the FX-8320. BF4 was unplayable unless I enabled mantle. Again, showing a CPU bottleneck. My GPU usage is now at 99% like it should be when v-sync is off. Before, with the the fx-8320 it would run at about 70% to 90% usage with v-sync off. Get an i5 and your R9 290 will run like it should. AMD's dx11 drivers have horrible CPU overhead and you need a good intel quad core to overcome this. Just google r9 290 bottlenecks or FX8350 bottle necking r9 290 and you'll see this is a common problem. So I can assure you your fx6300 is bottle necking here.

 

well BF4 unplayable is something that i disagree with exaly.

Even if the fact is right that the FX will bottleneck that gpu in certain cpu demending games.

Still in BF4 it shouldnt be a big issue, since that particular game scales pretty well.

 

Unless we talk about BF4 heavy multiplayer scenario´s 64 ppl server.

Then you might see some more frame drops compaired to an i5.

But still even multiplayer should be reasonable.

 

I personaly think that the card hitting its thermal limmit is a bigger issue here.

[Raudi_]

Extreme HD preset on Valley . .. I just noticed this is Heaven

Yeah on Valley I have 3289 points as my best stock is around 2600-2700 points

[Dinkleberg]

CPU bottleneck. I had the same issues you are having with my R9 290 when I had an FX-8320. I switched to an i5 4670k and a z87 board and performance shot up. I can now get 63fps avg. in valley benchmark at the extremeHD preset 1080p where I used to get around 51fps with the FX-8320. BF4 was unplayable unless I enabled mantle. Again, showing a CPU bottleneck. My GPU usage is now at 99% like it should be when v-sync is off. Before, with the the fx-8320 it would run at about 70% to 90% usage with v-sync off. Get an i5 and your R9 290 will run like it should. AMD's dx11 drivers have horrible CPU overhead and you need a good intel quad core to overcome this. Just google r9 290 bottlenecks or FX8350 bottle necking r9 290 and you'll see this is a common problem. So I can assure you your fx6300 is bottle necking here.

What he said. You'd get much better minimums and better average framerates if you switch to Intel. As for GPU temps it's because of XFX's DD cooler horrible VRM cooling.

[UnbendingNose]

well BF4 unplayable is something that i disagree with exaly.

Even if the fact is right that the FX will bottleneck that gpu in certain cpu demending games.

Still in BF4 it shouldnt be a big issue, since that particular game scales pretty well.

 

Unless we talk about BF4 heavy multiplayer scenario´s 64 ppl server.

Then you might see some more frame drops compaired to an i5.

But still even multiplayer should be reasonable.

 

I personaly think that the card hitting its thermal limmit is a bigger issue here.

Yep, I have youtube videos showing the bottleneck. The FX cpu with an R9 GPU was a bad combination. Too much driver overhead and not enough single core IPC for dx11. Like I said, these bottlenecks in BF4 only occurred in dx11. When I would use mantle the GPU would run close to 90% like it should and stutters went away. When I switched to the i5, BF4 runs the same in dx11 and manlte because there really isn't any CPU overhead occurring anymore.

 

My r9 290 is water cooled. Thermals never go over 55C.

[dougdangger]

The 290 has been known to throttle down to prevent itself from melting.

Don't tell AMD fans that.  What do I know.

[Sintezza]

The 290 has been known to throttle down to prevent itself from melting.

Don't tell AMD fans that.  What do I know.

 

 

Na its just the cooling unit that sucks, same as with the Asus DCUII and DCUIII cards.

The Sapphire triX and Vapor X dont even get close to its thermal limmit for that matter.

[Vivilacqua1]

I bought a kraken g-10 for $30, and used my olh corsair h-110. But, yes. Really cheap and still looks nice.

You put a kraken on your gpu? Is there such a thing? I really would like to look into better cooling options, so if you have something in mind I'd appreciate the help.

[Manswaggle]

I did a test on Unigine Heaven Benchmark... Here were the results.

 FPS: 30.7

Score: 772

Min FPS: 14.0

Max FPS: 60.6

 

-snip-

IIRC, XFX has a terrible stock cooler and that will cause your temps to rocket, which in turn makes your card throttle. XFX, to me, is one of those companies to stay away from. EDIT: Also, 290 will not play well with others if you don't have good airflow, so maybe try taking the side panel off and away from the case a bit and see if it's a heat problem, after I got my spec-01,going from a 230MM side fan to no side fan, really hurt my temps.

I don't think it's really a processor bottleneck... Do you have any info on the usage while running Heaven?

And your score is about half mine, MSI 290, and I my fans never hit 100% in anything, even while OC'd.

http://i.imgur.com/ZE2wcmB.png

[MissFangs]

Yep, I have youtube videos showing the bottleneck. The FX cpu with an R9 GPU was a bad combination. Too much driver overhead and not enough single core IPC for dx11. Like I said, these bottlenecks in BF4 only occurred in dx11. When I would use mantle the GPU would run close to 90% like it should and stutters went away. When I switched to the i5, BF4 runs the same in dx11 and manlte because there really isn't any CPU overhead occurring anymore.

 

My r9 290 is water cooled. Thermals never go over 55C.

 

I heard great reviews of that CPU, some of which included the R9 as the GPU. I think it's a personal opinoin, but then again, that's my personal opinion. Regardless, how do you water cool your GPU? Is it a custom loop?