This is my first post here at Tomshardware.com, although I have been lurking for quite some time and have found this forum to be an invaluable source of info. I am an IT professional of 15 years..... With that said, on to my issue
I just finished up my new gaming PC build. I have included the specs below. I installed an XFX R9 290 DD OC Black edition. I previously had an Sapphire R9-280 Dual-X OC that overclocked pretty good in my AMD FX-6300 machine that I recently sold. I went with the XFX model because of its visual appearance as my new build was focused on not only raw performance, but cosmetic appearance as well (see pics below). The issue I am having is any overclocking I throw at it (using msi afterburner and/or Sapphire Trixx) results in an immediate decrease in fps using Furmark. Even adding something as little as 4 Mhz nets me 2-4 fps loss and the higher I go on the OC, the less fps I get. I realize some GPUs will overclock better than others and I only use this system for iRacing with a single 1080p display (and I am getting 200+ fps with all settings on high).. I guess I am just frustrated because (even though I don't need it) I can't get this card to OC even the slightest... I have had excellent success with the Intel 4690k as I was able to get it up to 4.8Ghz with no heat issues at all, but decided to just run at 4.5Ghz. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Maybe I am missing something basic. And I did check, mine is not one of the unlocked 290s so kicking it up to a 290x Bios won't work (unless there was a trick to unlocking the later versions).
System Spec:
Intel i5 4690k 3.5 Ghz (Running at 4.5 Ghz)
Corsair H60 CPU Cooler (I am running mild overclock and went H60 because it had better eye appeal)
Gigabyte GA-Z97 Gaming 7
G Skill Sniper 8GB (2x4GB) 1833 Mhz DDR3 Ram
EVGA 850 B2 Power Supply
XFX R9-290 OC DD Black Edition
Crucial M4 512GB SSD
NZXT H440 Case
Custom Sleeved Cables (I know they don't have an impact on performance.. But they look damn cool and took me 11hrs so I am mentioning them anyways..)
I haven't received an email to confirm my account yet, so I wasn't able to post the pics, so I put the links to them below:
http://i817.photobucket.com/albums/zz96/Brad_Lynn/IMG_25411_zpsrlpjzvmv.jpg
http://i817.photobucket.com/albums/zz96/Brad_Lynn/IMG_25361_zpsfptjoavk.jpg
http://i817.photobucket.com/albums/zz96/Brad_Lynn/IMG_25441_zpskuwzdsfh.jpg
I just finished up my new gaming PC build. I have included the specs below. I installed an XFX R9 290 DD OC Black edition. I previously had an Sapphire R9-280 Dual-X OC that overclocked pretty good in my AMD FX-6300 machine that I recently sold. I went with the XFX model because of its visual appearance as my new build was focused on not only raw performance, but cosmetic appearance as well (see pics below). The issue I am having is any overclocking I throw at it (using msi afterburner and/or Sapphire Trixx) results in an immediate decrease in fps using Furmark. Even adding something as little as 4 Mhz nets me 2-4 fps loss and the higher I go on the OC, the less fps I get. I realize some GPUs will overclock better than others and I only use this system for iRacing with a single 1080p display (and I am getting 200+ fps with all settings on high).. I guess I am just frustrated because (even though I don't need it) I can't get this card to OC even the slightest... I have had excellent success with the Intel 4690k as I was able to get it up to 4.8Ghz with no heat issues at all, but decided to just run at 4.5Ghz. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Maybe I am missing something basic. And I did check, mine is not one of the unlocked 290s so kicking it up to a 290x Bios won't work (unless there was a trick to unlocking the later versions).
System Spec:
Intel i5 4690k 3.5 Ghz (Running at 4.5 Ghz)
Corsair H60 CPU Cooler (I am running mild overclock and went H60 because it had better eye appeal)
Gigabyte GA-Z97 Gaming 7
G Skill Sniper 8GB (2x4GB) 1833 Mhz DDR3 Ram
EVGA 850 B2 Power Supply
XFX R9-290 OC DD Black Edition
Crucial M4 512GB SSD
NZXT H440 Case
Custom Sleeved Cables (I know they don't have an impact on performance.. But they look damn cool and took me 11hrs so I am mentioning them anyways..)
I haven't received an email to confirm my account yet, so I wasn't able to post the pics, so I put the links to them below:
http://i817.photobucket.com/albums/zz96/Brad_Lynn/IMG_25411_zpsrlpjzvmv.jpg
http://i817.photobucket.com/albums/zz96/Brad_Lynn/IMG_25361_zpsfptjoavk.jpg
http://i817.photobucket.com/albums/zz96/Brad_Lynn/IMG_25441_zpskuwzdsfh.jpg