Q: compatibility question: DELL-XPS-8300, Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit Intel Core i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 20480MB RAM, DirectX 11, current video card AMD Radeon HD 6570. I want to play Fallout 4 can you recommend some video cards please?

While the HD6570 is a fine card, and will perform admirably, I think it would be cheaper to get another one of those cards and run them in cross fire mode unless your MoBo or PSU won't allow for that. Either that or run a 290/390 as a single card solution with a mild 10% oc to power, mem and gpu. Just don't forget to set fan to 95°C (yes, indeed!) and leave it on auto as those fans can get a little loud in furballs.

Q: Is anyone having an issue with stuttering in crysis 3 and unigine? In crysis 3, I am definitely not getting the fps it is supposed to. Never going above 80 on lowest settings at 1600x900 with i53570k. It destroyed bf3 and ANY other game i threw it, BUT not crysis 3. It is having extreme stuttering issues in that game.

I have the same card, and while I haven't tried Crysis 3 yet, I do know that is a very hard game for any video card. The 290s are set to run as hot as 95C with max fan speed of 47%. If the card exeeds 95C, then it throttles down (reduces the core frequency) which may be causing the stuttering. Try increasing the max fan speed to 50%, 55%, or even 60%. Of course it will mean more noise, but it will keep the card cooler and prevent throttling. Also, with this particular game, you may not want to run with all max settings. Even with this card it may be too much. Try turning down some of the graphics options if needed.

Question 1

Does anyone know why this has been discontinued so soon after its release?

Accepted Answer

This is most likely due to the inefficiency of the stock heatsink & fan design. It's perfectly capable of cooling the card at stock speeds, but for overclocking enthusiasts it quickly becomes obnoxiously loud at the higher RPMs needed to cool when overclocked.

So, Sapphire, like most other vendors, is working on its own R9 290 and 290x boards with custom coolers (heatsink & fan designs) which should provide greater cooling at lower noise levels.

Discontinuing the board does not suggest there is a defect. Just that they've had time to work on their own, improved cooler designs.

Question 2

Need help should i buy this or the R9 380 for fallout 4?

Accepted Answer

Purchase the R9 290 if you have good case cooling, and download and use MSI Afterburner to adjust fan speeds to keep it cool.

I have the R9 290 and have used the above case cooling and MSI Afterburner and it has performed very well for over 2 years for me.

The R9 290 is considerably faster than the R9 380.

Question 3

Does the Sapphire 290 have a warranty sticker on any of the 4 screws on the back of the card that is securing the heatsink?

Accepted Answer

Yes and you void if you up grade the heat sink. Not saying I upgraded but it is cooler and quieter.

Question 4

Maybe an idiot question from a graphics card newbie, but why-oh-why did they build a sexy looking card, and then orient it so that the only view of the pretty side in a tower is from the floor?  All graphics cards seem to be oriented the same way.  What am I missing?

Accepted Answer

No you are obsolotly right! That is way people like to get cards with nice looking backplate. Few motherboards have the orientation of the PSU and PCI slots flipped but they are not too common.

Question 5

is anyone else getting terrible fps on every game i have a amd  8120 and its over clocked to 3.10 ghz?

Accepted Answer

No, get 50-60 fps on fallout 4 Ultra preset and 30 fps on witcher 3 Max settings, which is expected. I also get a stable 60 fps on Battlefield 4 Ultra preset with 4x AA. All  done in 1920x1200p.

My rig is Fx 6300 @ 4.3 / Antec HCG 850m / sapphire 290 ref / Gigabyte GA-970a-ud3p / cryorig h7

Your 8120 @ 3.1 will bottleneck the 290. Push it above 4.0, if possible, to reduce that. That will depend on your mobos VRMs and heatsink, as well as the quality of your PSU and CPU cooler.

Second, make sure your OC is stable to begin with with Prime95 smallFFTs. Run it for a couple of hours and monitor temps. CPU Max temp is 62c core / 70c socket. Overheating CPU will throttle itself and cause low fps. A low quality or non OC mobo can also overheat and decrease performance.

Lastly, since this is a ref card, i would recommend custom set fan speed to avoid self throttle. Make sure to have adequate airflow in your case.

I can't get more specific when I don't know what games you are using and the important specs of your rig.

Question 6

I've seen on reviews people have show the new AMD overdrive feature where you can easily overclock by using a 2 dimensional graph. I've downloaded the lastest drivers and the newest version of AMD overdrive and CCC doesn't give me any options for the graphics card and AMD overdrive doesn't recognize it. Even Sapphire's software Trixx doesn't fully recognize it (0mb memory gddr5?).

Could this be because I'm using windows 7 or and I missing something?

Accepted Answer

I'd say start with a full driver uninstall, swipe, reboots, re-downloading the driver from AMD, and then a reinstall.   Perhaps previous driver remnants are conflicting and causing your errors.

I'm running my Sapphire 290 in my Windows 7 x64 Ult machine, and the driver installed fine; CCC is working well along with the new overdrive features, including the overclocking graph you described.  While I haven't tested the OCing features thoroughly, I did test it briefly with positive results.  (My 290 is also working with MSI AB, full monitorable with the OSD while gaming; haven't tried Trixx)

Question 7

What is the proper PSU for this card? This site states 500w whereas the package I recieved today states 750 watt. Note that the requirment that was on the box was acutally a sticker that was put over the words "500 watt supply was required". I do not want to damage any thing, and purchase was based on what this site says. I have a new supply on the way but want to make sure it is needed.

Accepted Answer

I think that AMD thinks that a HIGH END 500W is enough if you have a minimal system, but since most people don't use those, go AT LEAST 650 Watts, and I would recommend going with what the manufacturer put on the box, 750W.  That way you are covered if there is a problem.  Theoretically, that card peaks at about 300W with the connectors it has, so if you have a VERY minimalist system, then 500W would be OK.  But if you are running a DVD type drive, a sound card, more than one HDD, etc... then you definitely need a lot more than 500W.

Question 8

Common question about specs and performance.

FX-8350
16 GB DDR3 @ 1866
This 290

Will it able to run games like Fallout 4, MGSV, and Black Ops 3 @Ultra, around 60 FPS? And also Witcher 3 with a mix of Ultra-High.

Accepted Answer

This is a very similar system to what I use. Fwiw, the 290 is more oc'able than the 290x, and >can< have greater performance with less heat than the 290x. Seeing as how the 390 is out now, that would be my recommendation for you, unless you want to double up on them in a cross fire setup, which would be the best price vs. performance afaik. Just make sure that you have good airflow through your chassis, and a side case fan over the video card area helps as well. I typically get 60+fps on everything I play (mostly driving and flying sims, as well as WoW) all set to ultra-high at 1080p. Just set the temp to 95°C (yes, you better!) and leave the fan to auto, but set the max fan speed to 100%, mem at 1300, and 10% to Vcc and GPU speed. Works well, very stable, and no sparkly's!

Question 9

compatibility question: DELL-XPS-8300, Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit Intel Core i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 20480MB RAM, DirectX 11, current video card AMD Radeon HD 6570. I want to play Fallout 4 can you recommend some video cards please?

Accepted Answer

While the HD6570 is a fine card, and will perform admirably, I think it would be cheaper to get another one of those cards and run them in cross fire mode unless your MoBo or PSU won't allow for that. Either that or run a 290/390 as a single card solution with a mild 10% oc to power, mem and gpu. Just don't forget to set fan to 95°C (yes, indeed!) and leave it on auto as those fans can get a little loud in furballs.

Question 10

Is anyone having an issue with stuttering in crysis 3 and unigine?  In crysis 3, I am definitely not getting the fps it is supposed to.  Never going above 80 on lowest settings at 1600x900 with i53570k.  It destroyed bf3 and ANY other game i threw it, BUT not crysis 3.  It is having extreme stuttering issues in that game.

Accepted Answer

I have the same card, and while I haven't tried Crysis 3 yet, I do know that is a very hard game for any video card.

The 290s are set to run as hot as 95C with max fan speed of 47%.  If the card exeeds 95C, then it throttles down (reduces the core frequency) which may be causing the stuttering.

Try increasing the max fan speed to 50%, 55%, or even 60%.  Of course it will mean more noise, but it will keep the card cooler and prevent throttling.

Also, with this particular game, you may not want to run with all max settings.  Even with this card it may be too much.  Try turning down some of the graphics options if needed.

Questions & Answers