Need help choosing graphics card

[Resire Lee]

Hey guys

I need some help about the R9 290 cards. On gumtree (im an aussie) they are going for $250 for a reference and $260 for non reference. Is it worth to get a non reference or are references ok?

Cheers

 

[JackNaylorPE]

yes, the non reference generally have better coolers, additional thermal pads, stronger VRMs, etc.... but which is still the question to be answered. The MSI Gaming and the Saphire Tri-Xseem to be the most well liked but the latter only has a 2 year warranty

 

[Resire Lee]

yes, the non reference generally have better coolers, additional thermal pads, stronger VRMs, etc.... but which is still the question to be answered. The MSI Gaming and the Saphire Tri-Xseem to be the most well liked but the latter only has a 2 year warranty

What of the gigabyte cooler? That seems to be the only non-reference atm

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I must say I haven't done a lot of looking of late into the various 290 / 290x offerings as get very few requests for them....and most of those are for the 290x... Given that the 780, 780 Ti, 970 and 980 were / are all faster than the 290 / 290x when all are overclocked just don't get asked for them as much..... I do know the MSI 290x and 290 are non-reference. I had air cooled 780s match my personal water cooled 780s which made me look at MSI for the 290 / 290x builds .... after reading the tear-down reviews

I haven't been looking at Gigabyte because until the 9xx series, they weren't as competitive on the noise front. The other problem was, I saw many reviews regurgitating press release info and adding benchmarks but no tear-downs.

http://www.overclockers.com/msi-r290-gaming-4g-video-card-review

MSI has also put its own flavor to the card with its Military class components, such as the Solid Caps, Hi-C Cap and and Solid State Chokes. This leads to lower temperatures, better energy efficiency and a longer lifespan.

Now comes the part where we break the card down and see what’s doing under the hood. When we take off the Twin Frozr IV cooler and flip it over, we can see the exposed heatpipes that snake from under the contact point throughout the fin array. We can see a couple of additional contact points for the power section and vRAM that is not covered by the plate covering most of the ICs. We can see a couple of additional contact points for the power section and vRAM that is not covered by the plate covering most of the ICs. We can see different caps and such used when compared with the reference model, though the power delivery still appears to be the same. So, there are better parts, but not a more robust power delivery area by number of phases.

A closeup of a vRAM IC shows us that it’s using the overclockers preferred, Hynix memory. Specifically, the H5GQ2H24AFR-ROC, which at a meager 1.35 V is rated for 1250 MHz (stock for our card).

 

[Resire Lee]

I must say I haven't done a lot of looking of late into the various 290 / 290x offerings as get very few requests for them....and most of those are for the 290x... Given that the 780, 780 Ti, 970 and 980 were / are all faster than the 290 / 290x when all are overclocked just don't get asked for them as much..... I do know the MSI 290x and 290 are non-reference. I had air cooled 780s match my personal water cooled 780s which made me look at MSI for the 290 / 290x builds .... after reading the tear-down reviews

I haven't been looking at Gigabyte because until the 9xx series, they weren't as competitive on the noise front. The other problem was, I saw many reviews regurgitating press release info and adding benchmarks but no tear-downs.

http://www.overclockers.com/msi-r290-gaming-4g-video-card-review

MSI has also put its own flavor to the card with its Military class components, such as the Solid Caps, Hi-C Cap and and Solid State Chokes. This leads to lower temperatures, better energy efficiency and a longer lifespan.

Now comes the part where we break the card down and see what’s doing under the hood. When we take off the Twin Frozr IV cooler and flip it over, we can see the exposed heatpipes that snake from under the contact point throughout the fin array. We can see a couple of additional contact points for the power section and vRAM that is not covered by the plate covering most of the ICs. We can see a couple of additional contact points for the power section and vRAM that is not covered by the plate covering most of the ICs. We can see different caps and such used when compared with the reference model, though the power delivery still appears to be the same. So, there are better parts, but not a more robust power delivery area by number of phases.

A closeup of a vRAM IC shows us that it’s using the overclockers preferred, Hynix memory. Specifically, the H5GQ2H24AFR-ROC, which at a meager 1.35 V is rated for 1250 MHz (stock for our card).

I see. Thanks for the answer though, I'll probably either wait it out until a MSI comes available or see if i can snag a really nice deal. And the main reason i wanna get a 290 is because its in my budget and (ofc id like a 970) it just looks much much better than a 770 (which btw costs the same here)!

 

[aflrunner]

I see. Thanks for the answer though, I'll probably either wait it out until a MSI comes available or see if i can snag a really nice deal. And the main reason i wanna get a 290 is because its in my budget and (ofc id like a 970) it just looks much much better than a 770 (which btw costs the same here)!

I was planning on getting a R9 290 from OCAU for around $250 used, but the sheer power usage is crazy and overheating problems could kill it quicker than you can say CrIkEy! I'd suggest investing in a GTX 970 used or wait till the R9 380x & 390x are released sometime this year. Keep an eye on MSY's clearance lists.

 

[Resire Lee]

I see. Thanks for the answer though, I'll probably either wait it out until a MSI comes available or see if i can snag a really nice deal. And the main reason i wanna get a 290 is because its in my budget and (ofc id like a 970) it just looks much much better than a 770 (which btw costs the same here)!

I was planning on getting a R9 290 from OCAU for around $250 used, but the sheer power usage is crazy and overheating problems could kill it quicker than you can say CrIkEy! I'd suggest investing in a GTX 970 used or wait till the R9 380x & 390x are released sometime this year. Keep an eye on MSY's clearance lists.

I see. Cheers for the suggestion mate!

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Newegg and most other sites have in US ... where are yu


Scan.uk has em
http://www.scan.co.uk/search.aspx?q=MSI+290

Canada
http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/parts/video-card/

Germany
http://de.pcpartpicker.com/parts/video-card/

Spain
http://es.pcpartpicker.com/parts/video-card/

Australia
http://au.pcpartpicker.com/parts/video-card/