Non Reference R9 cards

[Expo]

Do you guys think any companies will make a non reference design for the r9 290x that has a blue theme to it. Normally it seems like all AMD cards are black/white/red. I want to do a build with the define r4 and have blue leds in there but the new r9 290x with the red will look ugly in there. 

Also how long does it take for companies to normally make there own designs after the card has been released. 

[DirkaFat]

Maybe MSI will have their Hawk editions, which are black and blue.

[Samdb]

Of course there will, XFX have a history of making no reference cards and it's really annoying.

[Expo]

Of course there will, XFX have a history of making no reference cards and it's really annoying.

Doesnt XFX make silver and red cards though?

[Youbetternot]

Gigabyte windforce Edition all yea

[Expo]

Maybe MSI will have their Hawk editions, which are black and blue.

I forgot about those cards. I liked those cards but it seems that were replaced by the twin frozr gaming cards which is another black and red design.

[Samdb]

Doesnt XFX make silver and red cards though?

 

You can take off the little red part and paint it.

[Expo]

You can take off the little red part and paint it.

Do they just have screws holding it on or is it soldered on

[Expo]

Chances are Sapphire will make a blue PCB card. Also MSi's Twin Frozr cards are likely to be red, (look at nVidia's GTX 7xx MSi cards). I think your best bet for a non-reference card with a blue theme is likely to be Sapphire. Or HIS too (forgot about them).

I should of worded it better, i meant the shroud has a blue theme. I 100% hate sapphire's blue pcb, it looks so ugly. I wish all companies would just do a black pcb and would also sell backplates for their cards. But yes HIS normally has blue and silver themed cards, I forgot about them aswell. 

[Samdb]

Do they just have screws holding it on or is it soldered on

 

Just small screws.

[Expo]

Just small screws.

Do you know if it voids the warranty?

[bennyino]

Gigabyte windforce Edition all yea

the latest one's (780) looks soooo good

[Expo]

Gigabyte windforce Edition all yea

This is off topic but i clicked on your PC Specs and saw you had gelid silent fans and was wandering if they were any good. 

[Expo]

Oh alright. Well dude your going to have to wait. It seems like companies always slightly vary their design including the color of the heat sink. Otherwise HIS would be a good bet. I know that you want a blue heat sink, but MSi has been consistent with having blue LEDs on their cards. Like my two R7970 MSi Lightning Editions have a black and yellow shroud with blue LEDs. They look extremely sexy... just saying.

Does the 7970 have the little blue LED orb on the top of the card like  the gtx 700 series does?

[Expo]

Yes the GPU reactor. Sounds stupid, but it's actually really cool. It's a way to regulate the power being delivered to your GPU. This is supposed to help you achieve higher OC's and not kill your video card. I have mine taken off because I can't fit them when my system is like this.

Yea that would be nice, since you cant really see the yellow on the car unless you look from the bottom of the card. 

[Samdb]

Do you know if it voids the warranty?

 

You could always pasti dip it as it just pulls off if you need to RMA.

[rentaspoon]

You could always pasti dip it as it just pulls off if you need to RMA.

or vinyl dye it to white then blue.

[Expo]

It has blue LEDs though. Anyway I don't think there is a way to know until the cards come out. I planning on buying a R9 290X MSi Lightning Edition when those come out.

Does msi normally release there lightning edition cards right away. I know with the the gtx 780 it took a while, but for the gtx 770 didnt they come out with it right away.

[Youbetternot]

This is off topic but i clicked on your PC Specs and saw you had gelid silent fans and was wandering if they were any good. 

They are pretty good quiet and performance fans