R9 290X Overclock

[Bloodkil933]

The max I seem to be able to push out of my Sapphire R9 290X is 1110/1250 with +69mV and +50% Power Limit, If I go any higher than that I just get artifacts (Unigine Valley Extreme HD).

 

I've tried raising the voltage to +100 and have had no such luck with anything higher, I've even tried using Trixx for higher voltages and still get artifacts, could I have got a dud card or am I doing something wrong?

 

Thanks!

[ErikoTheGuy]

If it's a reference card it's probably because of the heat of the card if its a tri-x i have no idea what it is.

[aidenrelkoff]

not really sure, every card is different, even if there the same card model. Well it looks like u have maxed out your card overclock, i would leave it there.

[TheMissxu]

What type of temps are you getting?

[Face2Face]

I wouldn't say it's a dud card at all. Most air cooled 290x's aren't hitting 1200Mhz+    What are your temps? if you are still getting artifacts with +100mv, then your card may require more of a voltage hump to hurdle over. Which would probably require water and wouldn't be worth the time IMO.

[Bloodkil933]

What type of temps are you getting?

 

I wouldn't say it's a dud card at all. Most air cooled 290x's aren't hitting 1200Mhz+    What are your temps? if you are still getting artifacts with +100mv, then your card may require more of a voltage hump to hurdle over. Which would probably require water and wouldn't be worth the time IMO.

 

It's hitting about 86 Degrees on the GPU and hitting about 76 Degrees at the highest on the VRM'S

[Face2Face]

It's hitting about 86 Degrees on the GPU and hitting about 76 Degrees at the highest

Does not compute.....

[Alex780]

From what I've seen on the Internet, 1100mhz is a normal overclock for a reference 290x

[Bloodkil933]

From what I've seen on the Internet, 1100mhz is a normal overclock for a reference 290x

Is that their absolute limit, or would they go higher under water?

 

Does not compute.....

My bad, I meant 76 degrees on VRM's and 86 on GPU

[Alex780]

Is that their absolute limit, or would they go higher under water?

My bad, I meant 76 degrees on VRM's and 86 on GPU

If you are very lucky you can hit 1200mhz. Before watercooling your gpu, I would advise you to check if your card can go any higher by increasing the voltage a little more and of course don't forget to manully set your fan speed to 100%. Be very careful not to burn your card though.

[Face2Face]

Is that their absolute limit, or would they go higher under water?

 

My bad, I meant 76 degrees on VRM's and 86 on GPU

It's closer to an average. I have seen some air cooler cards hit 1200Mhz or more, but it's not that common. Like another poster stated, every card is different. If you card is not seeing any artifacts clear up with another 100mv then you would need to push her with +150 or 200mv to get over the hump. Even then, you would need better cooling, probably water to keep the GPU & vrms cool enough. Maybe a G10 bracket with some nice heatsinks on the vrms would do it, but even then - potentially another 5-10% performance gain worth the cost?  I don't think so.. Plus you really need to see if you card is truly stable at those clocks. Try a combination of synthetic benchmarks and games (Crysis 3 and Metro LL are good) You may need that extra 100mv just to keep the clock you have. Valley is not a great test for OC stability.

[Bloodkil933]

If you are very lucky you can hit 1200mhz. Before watercooling your gpu, I would advise you to check if your card can go any higher by increasing the voltage a little more and of course don't forget to manully set your fan speed to 100%. Be very careful not to burn your card though.

Ok, i'll try that.

 

Also, this is a bit of a dumb question, but am curious to know, will temps like that cause artifacting?

[Bloodkil933]

It's closer to an average. I have seen some air cooler cards hit 1200Mhz or more, but it's not that common. Like another poster stated, every card is different. If you card is not seeing any artifacts clear up with another 100mv then you would need to push her with +150 or 200mv to get over the hump. Even then, you would need better cooling, probably water to keep the GPU & vrms cool enough. Maybe a G10 bracket with some nice heatsinks on the vrms would do it, but even then - potentially another 5-10% performance gain worth the cost?  I don't think so.. Plus you really need to see if you card is truly stable at those clocks. Try a combination of synthetic benchmarks and games (Crysis 3 and Metro LL are good) You may need that extra 100mv just to keep the clock you have. Valley is not a great test for OC stability.

Ok, what is the best software/game to test stability?

[Alex780]

Very high temps can cause artifacts, at least that's what I've heard. In my opinion, the best overclocking softwares for amd cards are msi afterburner and gpu tweak (from asus). If you choose afterburner, be careful to download the latest beta

[Face2Face]

Ok, what is the best software/game to test stability?

This is what I use - 

 

Unigine Heaven  - Loop heaven for 5 runs

3Dmark 11 - I just run once

3Dmark  - I just run once

 

Crysis 3

Metro LL

Tomb Raider

 

Crysis 3 will find an unstable OC in usually 30min-45min

[Bloodkil933]

This is what I use - 

 

Unigine Heaven  - Loop heaven for 5 runs

3Dmark 11 - I just run once

3Dmark  - I just run once

 

Crysis 3

Metro LL

Tomb Raider

 

Crysis 3 will find an unstable OC in usually 30min-45min

 

Very high temps can cause artifacts, at least that's what I've heard. In my opinion, the best overclocking softwares for amd cards are msi afterburner and gpu tweak (from asus). If you choose afterburner, be careful to download the latest beta

 

Ok, with fan at 100% ,+175 mV and +50% Power Limit I managed to get 1200/1250 stable on 3 runs of Unigine Valley without any artifacting. So I think it is a thermal issue

[Face2Face]

Ok, with fan at 100% ,+175 mV and +50% Power Limit I managed to get 1200/1250 stable on 3 runs of Unigine Valley without any artifacting. So I think it is a thermal issue

No, looks like it needed more voltage.. AMD rates Hawaii up to 95c. Adding only 100mhz to the core is not going to cause stability issues even @ 94c

 

Try Heaven at those clocks - Are you shooting for benchmarking one offs or game stability? I doubt you are going to want to hear 100% fan while gaming.

[Bloodkil933]

No, looks like it needed more voltage.. AMD rates Hawaii up to 95c. Adding only 100mhz to the core is not going to cause stability issues even @ 94c

 

Try Heaven at those clocks - Are you shooting for benchmarking one offs or game stability? I doubt you are going to want to hear 100% fan while gaming.

I can stand the fans at about 60% but not 100% and i'm more for gaming stability

[Face2Face]

I can stand the fans at about 60% but not 100% and i'm more for gaming stability

I would set your fans at 60% and test for stability there. You probably won't get very high without throttling all of time. But, it's better to have a decent boost clock and not throttle then to have a higher boost clock and throttle often.

[Bloodkil933]

I would set your fans at 60% and test for stability there. You probably won't get very high without throttling all of time. But, it's better to have a decent boost clock and not throttle then to have a higher boost clock and throttle often.

I'm going to get a Kraken G10 for this card and hopefully get some better temperatures and maybe get some better overclocks, as the G10 is only £30 to get.

 

It certaintly seems worth it to me if I can then push the higher clocks

[Alex780]

For error detection, I would recommend using occt's built in gpu test. It's great, it tells you if there are any errors or not.

[Face2Face]

I'm going to get a Kraken G10 for this card and hopefully get some better temperatures and maybe get some better overclocks, as the G10 is only £30 to get.

 

It certaintly seems worth it to me if I can then push the higher clocks

I have one shipping sometime in January. I wanted to try it out on my Lightning.

[Bloodkil933]

I have one shipping sometime in January. I wanted to try it out on my Lightning.

Pardon my ignorance, but doesn't it only fit onto reference PCB's?

[Face2Face]

Pardon my ignorance, but doesn't it only fit onto reference PCB's?

Nope, it will work on most aftermarket cards as well. The bracket itself sits off the card about 1-2 inches. The  screw mount layout is the same be it reference or aftermarket. Just need to make sure there is enough room around the gpu for the AIO cooler -- so be looking for a memory plate that comes to close. The picture of the lightning plate below has enough clearance.

 

 

 

Should work nicely over the memory/vrm plate on the lightning

 

 

Not sure if it would work on an Evga ACX card without cutting off the metal tabbed sections that stick into the gpu area