trying to decide between a reference r9 290 for 340$ CAD or an

>>51522247
Reference 290 will run fine, it's the 290x that got too hot in the reference cooler.

290 will outperform the 380, same gpu as the 390.
Just overclock it or flash a custom bios.
Undervolt if you're not overclocking.

How is pic related? That's messed up.

I have a r9 290 reference and it's loud for sure, I've only have gotten it to 85C and its rated to sustain 95C. It idles at 42C.

You can't really OC the 290 ref card, but that isn't a concern for me. If I could do it over again I would have bought the Sapphire 290x. Depends on what your needs are though.

>>51522273

You can only flash the 290x ref card. Only certain early serial numbers of the 290 can be flashed and fully OCd

>>51522291
You can't flash a 390 bios onto a 290?

it's this one, a 290x

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202043&ignorebbr=1

but I guess I should go for it? noise and temperatures suck, but it's probably not worth straight up sacrificing performance

>>51522300

Unless someone figured it out by now, bit last time I checked on the forums you couldn't because the board is missing a small chip that the X version has.

The drivers have vastly improved since launch. But it still sounds like a jet engine. Powerful card though.

>>51522291
This. Look into this and see if you reference card you are buying supports being flashed into a 290x. All the hardware is already there, it's just locked because that's business.

>>51522368
it is a 290x, no flashing needed

>>51522338
I'm the one samefagging, it is a loud card man, you have to turn up the volume or wear headphones. Some reviews say unreasonably loud. I thought about water cooling it but its just a 4chan machine at this point so I don't care anymore.

I think mine is an MSI.

Another thing is that I overbought when I got the 290. It's just wasted power. But i figured it would last a long time. So take an inventory of what you actually do on your machine and look at all your options.

>>51522426
I just wanna play fallout 4 and the wither and upcoming games in very nice settings at 1080p

ah, starting to realize there's no "correct" answer here...

>>51522523
A 290 will definitely deliver "very nice" settings at 1080p. I'm maxing out pretty much anything on mine, no problem at all. Can even run older games in 3200x1800.

>>51522247
poor guys...

wind turbines are fucking deadly

I'm in Canada, and I run a 290x, not particularly loud or hot.

That price is fucking out to lunch though