Bios Flash turns R290 in to R290X !!

[TaintedShirt]

Found this posted on Xbit, but original link is from overclockers forum.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/sho...php?t=18559335
Looks like they are already selling them too.

I have heard of the flashing the bios with the bios for a different card. Never seen the result being sold tho. And a two year warranty. Wonder how loud this card will be?

[MDOI]

Now Really There Is No Need For AMD 290X Any More

[herulach]

Its not working in every situation as far as I can tell, so not necessarily, what it does demonstrate is that it amd must be getting great yields, which bodes well both for the partner cards, and any future price drops. And possibly a halfway house 290\?

[KinTharEl]

Umm, not to be a noob, but doesn't that also mean added heat production... On a card series whose reference cooler is already struggling to keep temps low? I'd rather wait for the custom coolers of the 290X before I decide to but the 290X (which, needless to say, I will be buying)

[TaintedShirt]

What I thinking was getting a 290, bios flash and water cool with full block all for the price of a 290x. But so far prices of blocks aren't available. I have just checked on scan and still the same.

edit
Just found prices on thewatercoolingshop and overclockers of ~£90, making this viable if the right card was bought. Hmmm

[Poley09]

Umm, not to be a noob, but doesn't that also mean added heat production... On a card series whose reference cooler is already struggling to keep temps low? I'd rather wait for the custom coolers of the 290X before I decide to but the 290X (which, needless to say, I will be buying)

That is my thinking as well. There is nothing i could need less than higher temps on a card that already has high temp. Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

I think the reference cards are being dragged on and more and more release dates are coming out hoping to get more people interested. But in reality if they released them at the launch of the card they would have sold 10x as much.

[herulach]

They're hot by design. They oc themselves until they hit thermal limit, so a 290X might not clock as high, but will still perform better.

[bloodkil]

Sadly very few cards unlock now, like my Saphhire R9 290 :/