This thing is a brute!
My system is an Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 with an AMD FX-6350 OC@4.3 Gh, 16 GB RAM, SSD HD. I upgraded from an AMD R9 270 2 GB RAM. While this card works pretty good, playing Fallout 4 is taxing and the frame rates, even at Medium settings, I would get a lot of stutter. Godrays were off.
With this R9 390, while I could play F4 in Ultra, I find the High settings with godrays off is working out well with much less stuttering. The Gigabyte R9 270 was also very loud when playing a game. While the new R9 390 is very quiet, even in overclock mode while playing F4 the fan never goes over 50% and max temps of 72C. Most of the time the fan is off. I have been running it in OC Mode with no crashes at all. This video card requires a well fanned and ventilated case as it produces a lot of heat. Installation may require some cable management, it is big so measure before buying.
As for drivers, even going from the R9 270, requires reinstallation of the Radeon drivers. Use the amdcleanuputility.exe program first, then install the correct drivers. Doing this step will help eliminate any problems.
This card looks nice too. You can control the LED lights on the card to several settings including off or "breathing" mode. So far I have been leaving it on OC mode with no problems with heat. The app is handy for quick on the fly changes in power.
I am so far satisfied with my purchase, I hope I get some miles out of this upgrade!
If any problems crop up I'll update this review.
UPDATE 4/7/16:
I'm really liking this video card. Fallout 4 is really looking good at 60 fps, though sometimes I get some stutter, I think some windows program is doing something in the background because it comes and goes. HOWEVER this thing really puts out some heat, but to be clear the video card does not overheat, it will max out at 70C(normal), the fans come on and it backs down to about 64C while gaming. It is very quiet. If you have the case side off and touched the back of this vid card with F4 running you will burn your fingers though!
I had a Chenbro mid tower that had served me well for 10 years. I did some hacking and carving on my old case to add fans, but cooling my LEPA 120 radiator with hot air wasn't working out so well, cpu temps would get up to the mid 60'sC, some occasional CTD. It was time for a better case.
I bought a Phantek Enthoo Luxe tower and it's huge inside. 1-200(in) mm fan in front, one 140mm(out)in back, a 120mm(in) push/pull Lepa closed loop, but this time it pulls in cool air from the top instead of pushing hot air from inside through the radiator. Next to that on the top is another 140mm(in) fan. So that is 5 fans pushing in and one pulling out. This keeps a positive air pressure inside the case to keep the dust out of the cracks and seams. Such a difference. Now playing Fallout 4 my cpu only hits 46C! I never had any cooling issues with the vid card, it just filled up my case with hot air. Before I would get a CTD now and then while gaming, but it hasn't happened with the case upgrade with better cooling.
I also want to comment on the MSI gaming app. Without using the app the video card idles @300mhz, no fans and cool. When using the app I noticed the video card will not idle while the app is running. I have to kill the MSI app for the card to go into idle mode, otherwise it "sticks" to whatever mode you're in. That is about my only complaint. You can also do some stuff with the lights on the card, several modes to choose from. I like the "breathing" mode. Make sure to go to MSI and download the latest version.
| Max Screen Resolution | 4096 x 2160 |
|---|---|
| Memory Speed | 6100 MHz |
| Graphics Coprocessor | AMD Radeon |
| Chipset Brand | AMD |
| Graphics Card Ram Size | 8 GB |
