Corsair Carbide 300R case with Sapphire Vapor X R9 290

[Joseph99]

Hey guys. I am planning on purchasing a new GPU along with a PSU. To start off, here are my current specs:

-ASUS Z87-A Motherboard
-i7 4770(non-k)
-Corsair H80i Water cooler
-Corsair Carbide 300r Windowed Case
-Corsair Warrior Vengeance 4GB x2 RAM
-4 HDD's
-Intel 120GB 530 series SSD x2
-Zotac GTX 660
-CM 550W Silent Pro Gold PSU

Now, I know my PSU is too weak, which I am planning on upgrading to a Corsair CX750W. I was told other people can fit the Sapphire Vapor X R9 290 in the Carbide 300R case. So I was wondering what you guys think? I did some measurements and looks like there is just enough room. Thanks guys!

 

[Archaic59]

Should fit easily. The CX750 is not that great. You should get a better PSU. EVGA 750 B2 or G2 are good.

 

[Joseph99]

"Should fit easily. The CX750 is not that great. You should get a better PSU. EVGA 750 B2 or G2 are good."

Great thanks for the clarification. I just checked once again to see if the card would fit using a measuring tape and ya it looks like there is enough room. I might just need to find anther place to move the power cable for the DVD Drive and the front USB ports and that's probably it.

Thanks for your opinion on the CX750. I've heard a lot of people say its bad. Since I live in Canada, they do not sell the Vapor X R9 290 here, so I will be purchasing it on the american amazon. So I noticed the CX750 and checked the reviews and they seemed okay. Can you please tell me what is wrong with the PSU? I am just really tight right now with the budget and I do not wanna pass $550 for both the PSU and GPU. If you have any other PSU recommendations, please let me know.Thanks

 

[Archaic59]

CX is not a bad PSU, it's a budget PSU. Using it with a power hungry card like 290 will be working it hard. If you can get something better in the future it would be better for your pc.

 

[Joseph99]

Thanks a lot. I am on Amazon.com right now and I am looking at the EVGA SuperNOVA 750B1 750W . Whats your intake on this one? For the future most likely I am not going SLI or CF so I think a high end 750W PSU should be fine for me. I've been running off this CM 550W for almost 2 years and haven't had any issues so far and I am not looking forward to any.

 

[Archaic59]

Thanks a lot. I am on Amazon.com right now and I am looking at the EVGA SuperNOVA 750B1 750W . Whats your intake on this one? For the future most likely I am not going SLI or CF so I think a high end 750W PSU should be fine for me. I've been running off this CM 550W for almost 2 years and haven't had any issues so far and I am not looking forward to any.

No. You want the B2. It's made by Superflower...the best.

 

[Joseph99]

Great. I will make sure to look into it. Just to make sure I am on the same page as you. Is this the PSU you are referring to?

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-SuperNOVA-80PLUS-Certified-110-B2-0750-VR/dp/B00KFAFRW6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1432909878&sr=8-1&keywords=EVGA+750+B2

 

[Archaic59]

Great. I will make sure to look into it. Just to make sure I am on the same page as you. Is this the PSU you are referring to?

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-SuperNOVA-80PLUS-Certified-110-B2-0750-VR/dp/B00KFAFRW6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1432909878&sr=8-1&keywords=EVGA+750+B2

That's the one.

 

[Joseph99]

Great! For a couple of dollars more, should I just purchase the 850W version?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KYK1CC6/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

[Archaic59]

Hell yes that's a great deal.

 

[Joseph99]

Hahaha great! Thanks Archaic! I honestly really do appreciate this!

Also, this R9 290 is my first AMD GPU. This might be a stupid question.So is it the same installation process as an NVIDIA. Like install the GPU into the PCI-E slot and slide in the CD and turn the computer on?

 

[Archaic59]

Don't forget to connect the other power leads. It uses 2 PCIe power connectors. You'll see them on the back of the card. These are important as the PCIe slot only supplies a percentage of the power the 290 requires. You'll want to uninstall the Nvidia drivers too.

Download the latest drivers from the AMD website.
- Uninstall all Nvidia drivers using the Add/remove programs function in the Windows Control Panel.
- Shut off the PC and swap out the cards.
- Turn on the PC and install the latest drivers downloaded from the AMD website. Do not use the drivers from the CD disk.

 

[Joseph99]

Great. Yes, I see the 2 PCIe power connectors slots. Are those 8pin? And I know the 290 takes up one PCIe slot but I am assuming it overlaps neighboring ones correct?

 

[Archaic59]

It should use two 8-pin connectors. Actually, they are 6+2-pin because some cards use only 6-pin connectors and the unused 2-pin will just dangle there next to it.. Yes it will cover the area of 2 slots. I updated my last post. be sure to check it again.

 

[Joseph99]

Great I just saw it. So I download the AMD and remove the NVIDIA Drivers etc...
So once I swap in the 290, it will automatically detect the AMD drivers I install before?

And I Was wondering, if I install the AMD drivers and then uninstall the NVIDIA drivers, this wont give me problems correct?

 

[Archaic59]

To avoid problems you need to follow this:

Download the latest drivers from the AMD website.
- Uninstall all Nvidia drivers using the Add/remove programs function in the Windows Control Panel.
- Shut off the PC and swap out the cards.
- Turn on the PC and install the latest drivers downloaded from the AMD website. Do not use the drivers from the CD disk.

 

[Joseph99]

Great. I am looking at the uninstall a program menu, and I see 6 NVIDIA drivers on there. So I am assuming I remove all those? Even when I uninstall them, would my screen go black? As you can tell, I am more knowledgeable in the Hardware category than software, I'm sorry If I keep asking somewhat the same quetions

 

[Archaic59]

Do you already have the new card?

 

[Joseph99]

No I do not, I just want to make sure and check everything before I make any purchases. I am planning on ordering it in the coming weeks

 

[Archaic59]

Don't uninstall anything until you have the new video card. You can download the new AMD drivers and store them in a temp folder or downloads folder for now. Bookmark this page to reference it later. I'm logging off for now....good luck !

 

[madmatt30]

When you uninstall the nvidia drivers the card will run on the generic windows VGA drivers.
As a secondary precaution once you've uninstalled ,powered off,fitted new card & rebooted.

Run this program before you install the amd drivers to ensure ALL nvidia stuff is removed.
http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

Choose the remove nvidia graphics drivers option with reboot once done option.

 

[Joseph99]

Great.So first uninstall all NVIDIA Drivers, run that program and then install the AMD Drivers? Can I just uninstall all the NVIDIA drivers with that software you provided?

May I ask what is the exact link for the download?

 

[madmatt30]

http://www.guru3d.com/files-get/display-driver-uninstaller-download,20.html

^ direct link - & yes you can just use this program to remove all drivers mate - you may have to uninstall the geforce experience program manually though from add/remove programs.

 

[Joseph99]

Thanks, I appreciate it.
So is this the order I should install the 290 Card?

1st: Uninstall NVIDIA drivers > Shut down PC
2nd: Remove the old card
3rd: Install new AMD card.
4th: Restart
5th: Install AMD drivers

 

[madmatt30]

^ exactly that mate yes