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[Official] AMD R9 390/390X Owners Club

810K views 12K replies 707 participants last post by  chris89 
#1 ·
The OCN Official R9 390 / 390X Owners' Club!



The latest refreshment of the Hawaii Pro and Hawaii XT (code named Grenada Pro and Grenada XT respectively) can be found in the new AMD R9 390 and 390X GPU's.

Where the last Hawaii Series was the enthusiest level line of GPU's, the new 300 series will be considered mainstream.
But don't let this relabeling of our beloved Hawaii cards fool you!!! These cards bring some exciting reform to the table!!!




To be added on the member list please submit the following in your post:

1. PROOF- Either GPU-Z Link with OCN name or Screen shot of GPU-Z validation tab open with OCN Name or a simple pic of your actual GPU with your OCN name showing somewhere in the picture.
2. Manufacturer & Model if not reference
3. Cooling - Stock, Aftermarket or 3rd Party Water


Specs (Not much here you haven't seen!)
390X:
Stream Processors: 2816
Compute Units: 44
Clock Speed: 1050MHz
Compute Performance: 5.9TF
Texture Units: 176
ROPs: 64
Memory: 8GB GDDR5
Memory Interface: 512-bit
Memory Speed: 6.0gpbs
TDP: 275W-300W
Fabrication Process: 28nm

390:
Stream Processors: 2560
Compute Units: 44
Clock Speed: 1000MHz
Compute Performance: 5.9TF
Texture Units: 176
ROPs: 64
Memory: 8GB GDDR5
Memory Interface: 512-bit
Memory Speed: 6.0gpbs
TDP: 275W
Fabrication Process: 28nm

Reviews:

Owners:


Driver:

UPDATED 7/8/15
HERE

AMD Has now released the 15.7 driver that covers all of their GPU's for Windows 7, 8.1, and Windows 10.
This driver seems to have brought the tessellation improvements found on the original 390/390X 15.15 driver to the entire Hawaii series (290/290X).
I have personally tested the driver and it performs very well in all games tested
.

Mainstream you say?

Yes, this card is a mainstream card, though it is on the high-end side of mainstream.
You will find the best performance/per dollar (while still having great 1080P performance) in this range.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

1. Fury X is 11% faster on average than the 390X @ 1080P
and 18% faster on average than the 390X @ 4K yet cost 34% more

2. Fury X is 16% faster on average than the 390 @ 1080P
and 22% faster on average than the 390 @ 4k and cost 49% more


When considering a GPU purchase, please keep overall performance, price, and price/performance ratio in mind. Below is a chart that I will be updating whenever major price changes occur.



WHICH CARD IS FOR ME?

Let's start with some generalizations about each brand that I have simply made for myself based on user information....
then we will branch off into details and photos...Here is a beak down on what I have seen with these cards so far. Keep in mind that aesthetics were not considered, as that is a personal preference


XFX= Full cover waterblock available. SEE COOLING SECTION! These are good clockers usually, and cooling is good for core, but not stellar, and VRM cooling has been revised to stay much cooler than early versions of this card.

Sapphire=SEMI-COVER waterblocks are now available from Alphacool!!! Not to mention this card has excellent air cooling. Require 8+8 pin connectors versus 8+6. Some would prefer that, in hopes of obtaining higher OC results, but unfortunately OC results so far on the Nitro and Tri-X are only mediocre-good

Gigabyte= No waterblocks. Well built card, decent cooling, but the voltage is hard locked, so expect clock ceiling to be very limited... most likely 1100 or less.

PowerColor= Offers full cover waterblocks, and also has excellent air cooling, but so far there have only been weak-mediocre-ish overclocking results. 1150 or less on the core seems to be the norm, with most landing between 1130-1140, even despite it's excellent cooling.

MSI= SEMI-COVER waterblocks are now available from Alphacool!! Stock air cooling is good but not great with regards to the core temps, but seems to be very good for the VRM temps. So far, these seem to have the best overclocking results. Most poeople hitting 1160-1200

Asus= (DCU2) Full cover block available. Not much info on these, but theyappears to use the same cooler as the 290 series, which was a poor performing cooler. I have seen very few purchasing the Asus card. Overclock results seem to be average so far, but have very little data to make a general claim.

Asus= (Strix) Unsure on waterblocks with these... stock cooling is good. Very little OC information, but from what I have seen, they are average. Probably in line with Sapphire when it comes to binning.

And now the details and pictures....

>

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OVERCLOCKING SECTION
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To overclock these cards, one can simply use the Overdrive function of the Catalyst Control Center, but for anyone wanting to overclock these cards outside the constraints of factory voltage, you will need a third party application. I normally recommend one of the following utilities:

MSI Afterburner (up to 100mv+)

Sapphire Trixx (up to 200mv+)
***Keep in mind that these utilities, to my knowledge, will work with all manufacturers' cards***

Then, there is also Asus' GPU Tweak, but it is not known if this utility supports all 300 series cards yet, or only those supplied by Asus.
It can be found HERE

After gathering more overclocking information from new members, and based on my personal experience, it is apparent that these cards, while capable of reaching respectable clock speeds, are not capable of much higher overclocks than were achieved on the 290/290X cards.

At this point, most members are able to reach speeds of 1090-1150 on stock voltage, which is not very common on the 290 series.

Many members are finding themselves in the 1150-1200 range using 50-100mv+ voltage offset. These results are inline with some of the better clocking 290's I've seen, but not congruent with some of the golden samples I have seen from the 290 series, that will exceed 1200MHz using more than 100mv offset, and these certainly don't seem to like high voltages and clocks over 1200MHz at all.....

It appears that while these cards clock higher than the 290 series using less voltage, they inherently don't clock higher than the 290's using MORE voltage.... (
kookoo.gif
right?) Well actually, here's why.. or at least my current theory as to why.... With the improved "low leakage" silicon used on this series, we are getting higher clocks within a low to moderate voltage range (0-100mv+), but due to the nature of these newer chips, they do not respond to high voltage (over 100mv) because they can not bleed the voltage off. This causes these chip to exhibit higher temps also. They all seem to get to a stopping point (around 1180MHz on average), and then they are simply "done" (I've not seen any stable over 1200mhz, self included). Even in spite of how cool you get them, and how much juice you send. These characteristics are very similar to AMD's improved process to their Vishera family of CPU's. This improved process has major advantages for the average user who does standard overclocking on air using no or mild voltage bumps, however this series may not be the best option for extreme overclockers who plan to put their cards on custom water loops and use high amounts of voltage. Definitely stick with modified 290 boards (ala Lightning / Matrix) for that kind of stuff
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I had theorized early on that these cards would clock much better on water, but as more water results surface, we are still seeing these cards run out at 1200MHz. It's not to say there aren't some samples out there capable of doing marginally better, or who knows, maybe a lot better......
but as of now, these are 1200MHz or less Hawaii cards....

Now, it's not to say they WON'T run at higher clocks, but you won't get better performance, as the cards just tend to give deminish returns at a certain point. This is not due to temps or throttling or power either, it's just simply an "unhappy" card after that point.

I have personally benchmarked my card at 1220 MHz/1750 using 150mv/50mv+, and with no artifacts at all, only to find that it scores better at 1200Mhz at 100mv. And even 1200MHz at 100mv only scores a few more points (FireStrike graphics score) than running at 1190 with 75mv, and 1180MHz on 60mv.

NOW, the non-debatable, and good news for all overclockers... The Memory IC's are hands-down, great clockers on this series, and users are finding themselves in the 1700+ range on a regular basis.

I too was able to break the 1750MHz mark, but only with the addition of AUX voltage.

Anyone finding their cards memory to be capping at 1600MHz may want to try 25-50mv+ (or more) AUX voltage to achieve a higher clock speed.

For members who are overclocking their cards, and would like their results to be reported on the owner spread sheet, PLEASE include your clock speeds, your voltage offset used to achieve them, and a benchmark for some verification.

***More to come on votlage, temps, cooling, etc.... again, PLEASE STAY TUNED!!....***

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: COOLING
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This section will be a work in progress as more information is gathered on coolers, aftermarket blocks, etc...

For those planning on running their cards with factory cooling, keep this in mind:

MANY CARDS are equipped with a zero-state fan feature that completely turns the fan off as long as the temp is under 60c. This will cause idle temps to be very high, but it is completely safe. Also, even when the GPU does break 60c at idle (for example, another member mentioned their idle temp was 65c) the fans will only spin at a very low speed. This is done to maintain a silent experience at idle/general usage.

If you would prefer to reduce the idle temperature, you can create a custom fan profile in one of the third party OC utilities posted in the overclocking section.


COFIRMED (UPDATED 7/15/15)

The only full cover EK blocks that are cross compatible between 290 and 390 series cards, are those manufactured for Asus DCU, XFX DD (ACCORDING TO MEMBERS AND REPORTS, THE XFX CARD IS NO LONGER COMPATIBLE WITH EK BLOCKS!!!! THIS IS DUE TO A PCB/COOLING REVISION TO IMPROVE VRM COOLING.... oh the irony...
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), and PowerColor PCS+ cards.

However, Alphacool has now began producing a semi-cover blocks for the Sapphire and MSI cards, which uses a water block, mated to a large passivbe heatsink to cool the VRM's. Good news for owners of those cards, as those cards are both quite popular!



Again, please stay tuned for more information....

Have something to contribute to our main post?
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Contact me through PM and I will make sure any valid and useful information is added, along with you credentials and a nice "thank you!"
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2 12
#5 ·
Here's my thoughts for anyone thinking about these cards...

If you buy one, I think you made a great choice....

If you don't buy one, I completely understand
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At the end of the day, I am thrilled to be the first on here to own one of these cards.
I know these are now going to be considered mainstream GPU's, but I feel like these cards are still pretty beastly, and are great performers for the money.

Just stay tuned..... This will be a work in progress.

Teaser info....

This 390 is about 14% faster out of the box than my 290 Tri-x OC.

At 100+MV I have hit 1180/1600 with full stability.

I will finish finding the max VRAM clock this evening, and then continue to push voltage from there for more core frequency.
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#6 ·
I'm joining you in (hopefully) 12 hours! Can't wait
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#8 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by sTOrM41 View Post

huh?
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hard to believe.
Stock 290 Tri-X pulled around 10,800 graphics score in FireStrike

Stock MSI Gaming 390 is pulling 12,500!!!

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http://www.3dmark.com/fs/5184408

Notice Futuremark has mislabeled the card as a 380... They'd better get this fixed quickly!

An overclcoked run so you can see that the clocks aren't fudged on the first run. http://www.3dmark.com/fs/5184788
Firestrike definitely reports the clocks correct every time with these cards (had issues with this on the 2 series)!
 
#10 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by sTOrM41 View Post

cant tell why, but my 290@390 bios is also faster than with my 290 bios at firestrike,
on the other hand fps in games are pretty mich the same.
Part of the performance boost lay within the 15.15 driver.
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My minimum FPS are up about 8-10% from my 290, and the max FPS are up as high as 15% in some cases.

Throw in the extra clock speed I can hit on this card, and it definitely makes for a better experience.

I'm not saying anyone with a 290/290x needs to go out and get one of these cards, but anyone with a 7 series/ or <280 series would really be getting a nice upgrade here!

This refresh/driver combination is a winner in my opinion!
 
#13 ·
Count me in
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MSI 390
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#14 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Amhro View Post

Count me in
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MSI 390
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Good man!

I am getting the chart together today.

So far it's just you and I.

I have a feeling by the time the Fury reviews get around, you are going to see a lot more activity in here.

I'd also bet that many who do go 300 series, will get the MSI gaming, unless it goes against a color scheme or something?
 
#15 ·
@Amhro Added to spreadsheet!

I don't expect it to be too busy in here with Fury launching, but after some of the stuff I'm seeing with that card, this thread may get a little busier than I had originally anticipated...
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I'll be working on gathering more information on the 300 series as it comes along.

I will also be making a list of known issues I have experienced with the card. One major issue being some strange tree flickering in Dirt Rally (appears to be obvious driver troubles), and also CCC not working at all with the 15.15 driver set, even after doing a cleaning, and reinstall.... very strange, but I'll keep trying to get it sorted and report back.
 
#16 ·
I am wondering how long will it take until someone unlocks 390 to 390X
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#21 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by BackwoodsNC View Post

What's the max volts you can put through the card?
Only tested 100+mv on AB so far, but am going to attempt more with Trixx this evening.

What was nice to see, was that even though the core hits around 80c on heavy load, the VRM never breaks 64c, so there is plenty of headroom for more voltage.

Seeing 1185MHz stable on a 100mv+ bump was very nice to see.....

I will monitor the reported voltage later and see if the stock voltage, and overlcocked voltage are reporting higher (roughly) than what my 290 did.
I am inclined to believe so..... but if that is the case, then it means a few things are true...

1. The FrozerV cooler on this card is doing a great job on the core AND the VRM's
2. If the stock voltage is higher than the 290 (by 50-100mv) this means we have potential to get in the realm of 250-300mv+ voltage increase (over 290) with trixx, without ever having to touch a new BIOS
3. With that said, even if the silicone was not improved, and all these clocks are coming by way of voltage, we are still being given more potential voltage, so overclocks on this series should be higher either way
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#22 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Agent Smith1984 View Post

@Amhro

Can you tell me your MSI 390 Default clocks?

Mine are not as advertised.

I am reporting 1040/1500 instead of 1060/1525

Also, have you had any driver/CCC/game issues.

Any overclocking yet?

Thanks
Same here, 1040/1500.
On official site it says it's gaming mode http://www.msi.com/product/vga/R9-390-GAMING-8G.html#hero-overview
Games are fine so far, only issue I had with CCC was changing some settings - turned them on, then back off and screen went black, had to restart.
Haven't tried overclocking yet, will get to that later
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Tried running 4K on 55" TV and there were few issues, like grey line on right side and couldn't figure it out.
 
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#23 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Amhro View Post

Same here, 1040/1500.
On official site it says it's gaming mode http://www.msi.com/product/vga/R9-390-GAMING-8G.html#hero-overview
Games are fine so far, only issue I had with CCC was changing some settings - turned them on, then back off and screen went black, had to restart.
Haven't tried overclocking yet, will get to that later
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Tried running 4K on 55" TV and there were few issues, like grey line on right side and couldn't figure it out.
DERP!!!

See what happens when you rush things?? lol

I didn't even install the MSI gaming app, or included version of AfterBurner from the CD.

No optical drive in my rig, so I'll DL that app and test later.

May also look for an AB update also, to see if there is some missing support form current version....
 
#26 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by jwcw View Post

390 looks great for me at 1080p from doing my research just unsure if i should go for that or a 290x at this stage with them been basically the same price in the uk, if only the 390x was a little less i could justify getting it.
290x with 8gb vs 390 with 8gb? They would be pretty much equal. 390x is faster than 290x though even if its only clock speed its stock clock is like 10% or more faster.
 
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