Upgrading my GPU what board partner should I go with

[GhostMirror]

Well since I had my other thread running last week and sorry to bring up a similar topic but it seems you guys convinced me to get a R9 390/390X over the GTX 970 The only other question that I have is what 3rd Party board partner should I go with in the past I have always bought ASUS cards is there any other brand I should be aware of that has say better thermals & noise ratio 

 

Also another quick question is a Corsair RM650 good enough PSU for a 390/390X as I know there power consumption is still rather high on full load 

[manikyath]

before the fanboys roll in: RM series isnt crap, they're actually fairly decent. if you insist on saying otherwise, provide solid proof about said specific power supply.

 

EDIT: on topic: asus is more of an nvidia sided company, but i've heard good stuff about MSI, gigabyte and sapphire.

[Guest]

Sapphire or EVGA.

They are both the most reliable board partners for team green and red.

[GhostMirror]

before the fanboys roll in: RM series isnt crap, they're actually fairly decent. if you insist on saying otherwise, provide solid proof about said specific power supply.

I am not trying to be bias fanboy towards it I know the PSU is rather decent I have it was just a question I had that was all whether I would need to get a high PSU for the power consumption the higher end R9 cards have  

[Pooherino ツ]

Well since I had my other thread running last week and sorry to bring up a similar topic but it seems you guys convinced me to get a R9 390/390X over the GTX 970 The only other question that I have is what 3rd Party board partner should I go with in the past I have always bought ASUS cards is there any other brand I should be aware of that has say better thermals & noise ratio 

 

Also another quick question is a Corsair RM650 good enough PSU for a 390/390X as I know there power consumption is still rather high on full load 

just pick the cheapest one from these 4 brands: MSI, Asus, EVGA, Gigabytes, or even Zotac and buy it. Cant really go wrong with these

[Shoob]

You'll have no issues with that power supply if it's functioning correctly. For a board partner, I'd suggest Sapphire or MSI. Sapphire runs quieter and a bit cooler while MSI has higher core clock.

 

 

 

XFX= Full cover waterblock available. Good clockers usually, and cooling is sufficient for core, but not stellar, and VRM's tend to get hot

Sapphire= No water block available, but has excellent air cooling. Require 8+8 pin connectors versus 8+6. Some would prefer that, in hopes of obtaining higher OC results, but unfortunately OC results so far on the Nitro and Tri-X are only mediocre-good

Gigabyte= No waterblocks. Well built card, decent cooling, but the voltage is hard locked, so expect clock ceiling to be very limited... most likely 1100 or less.

PowerColor= Offers full cover waterblocks, and also has excellent air cooling, but so far there have only been weak-mediocre-ish overclocking results. 1150 or less on the core seems to be the norm, with most landing between 1130-1140, even despite it's excellent cooling.

MSI= No full cover waterblocks available. Stock air cooling is good but not great with regards to the core temps, but seems to be very good for the VRM temps. So far, these seem to have the best overclocking results. Most poeople hitting 1160-1200

Asus= (DCU2) Full cover block available. Not much info on these, but theyappears to use the same cooler as the 290 series, which was a poor performing cooler. I have seen very few purchasing the Asus card. Overclock results seem to be average so far, but have very little data to make a general claim.

Asus= (Strix) Unsure on waterblocks with these... stock cooling is good. Very little OC information, but from what I have seen, they are average. Probably in line with Sapphire when it comes to binning.

[themaniac]

@manikyath no its not crap, but for its price no dont get it, you can get better for less

[AresKrieger]

It's okay http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=363, performance is good, build quality is eh.

[themaniac]

I am not trying to be bias fanboy towards it I know the PSU is rather decent I have it was just a question I had that was all whether I would need to get a high PSU for the power consumption the higher end R9 cards have  

you'll be fine with anyone, but i recommend to get one from gigabyte, sapphire, or msi

[GhostMirror]

You'll have no issues with that power supply if it's functioning correctly. For a board partner, I'd suggest Sapphire or MSI. Sapphire runs quieter and a bit cooler while MSI has higher core clock.

Yeah I have been thinking of considering other Board partners over ASUS (there not a bad partner I do like there cards) ill take a look on some online retailers for the best prices 

[manikyath]

@manikyath no its not crap, but for its price no dont get it, you can get better for less

well, thats true, but theres people around the forum that claim the RM series spontainiously combusts when a butterfly flaps its wings in rural china.

[themaniac]

I am not trying to be bias fanboy towards it I know the PSU is rather decent I have it was just a question I had that was all whether I would need to get a high PSU for the power consumption the higher end R9 cards have  

you'll be fine with anyone, but i recommend to get one from gigabyte, sapphire, or msi

[manikyath]

It's okay http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=363, performance is good, build quality is eh.

THANKS! finally someone that talks sense here...

 

still wouldnt consider that to be all too bad (i was beyond happy when i got a 7/10 in school )

[GhostMirror]

So from my understanding you guys are mainly recommending me get MSI, Sapphire or a Gigabyte card they all seem reasonable thanks for the info guys ill look around a bit further online retailers to see what I like 

[DarkBlade2117]

For AMD I suggest Sapphire.

If you see a MSI one significantly cheaper those are other good. I can't reccodmend anything else.

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

you'll be fine with anyone, but i recommend to get one from gigabyte, sapphire, or msi

 

 

So from my understanding you guys are mainly recommending me get MSI, Sapphire or a Gigabyte card they all seem reasonable thanks for the info guys ill look around a bit further online retailers to see what I like 

 

 

I wouldn't really recommend the volt locked 390/x Gigabyte cards. 

[GhostMirror]

going from what I have now the R9 270X it will be a rather large performance jump regardless of what board partner I go with the MSI ones look nice that has also sparked another question are Back plates really necessary as I have herd it does help with some heat dissipation or are they mainly for show   

[CapricaBuccaneers]

From what I understand, this time around with the Direct CU 3 cooler Asus did a much better job (on both sides but especially AMD). Just be aware the default fan profile is set too low for cooling at the upper end of the running temperatures (too much of a priority given over to silence). This is very quickly and easily fixed in Afterburner - although I do this for every card, it's not down to any one specific model manufacturer.

That being said its a bit more difficult to find in stock in the UK - Amazon and Ebuyer have the Sapphire 390X Nitro model in stock atm for £319.98 which is a good price.

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

going from what I have now the R9 270X it will be a rather large performance jump regardless of what board partner I go with the MSI ones look nice that has also sparked another question are Back plates really necessary as I have herd it does help with some heat dissipation or are they mainly for show   

 

Back plates with thermal pads pads on them will help dissipate heat on the back of the board. 

[GhostMirror]

From what I understand, this time around with the Direct CU 3 cooler Asus did a much better job (on both sides but especially AMD). Just be aware the default fan profile is set too low for cooling at the upper end of the running temperatures (too much of a priority given over to silence). This is very quickly and easily fixed in Afterburner - although I do this for every card, it's not down to any one specific model manufacturer.

That being said its a bit more difficult to find in stock in the UK - Amazon and Ebuyer have the Sapphire 390X Nitro model in stock atm for £319.98 which is a good price.

seems rather decent price I have also been looking on Scan as well there is a few there in-stock but with the Sapphire Tri-X cooler and not the Nitro  

[Giggidy25]

Sapphire and msi are the two best cards on the amd atm.

[IP man]

Gainward? i really like my phantom 970, very quiet idle around 31c.

[GhostMirror]

Back plates with thermal pads pads on them will help dissipate heat on the back of the board. 

So would you recommend a card with a back plate instead of bear PCB if it helps with cooling of course 

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

So would you recommend a card with a back plate instead of bear PCB if it helps with cooling of course

It depends... Though backplates don't really affect the temps drastically. If you're deciding between the Sapphire and msi 390 then you don't have to worry about the backplate since msi's backplate is just for show and sapphire doesn't have one.

[GhostMirror]

It depends... Though backplates don't really affect the temps drastically. If you're deciding between the Sapphire and msi 390 then you don't have to worry about the backplate since msi's backplate is just for show and sapphire doesn't have one.

Okay then thanks for the info I am leaning towards the MSI ones