Msi r9 390x gaming 8g review

With the arrival of the AMD R300 Series there are many variants that we can choose, which one will be suitable for our needs and tastes?, Without a doubt in this review that we bring you today, you will enjoy the most powerful 390X on the market, I Introducing the Msi R9 390X Gaming 8G. Huge heatsink with two large but silent fans, a state-of-the-art finish and heart-stopping performance so that no game can resist us. Are you going to miss it ?.

We thank MSI for trusting the product for their analysis:

Technical characteristics.

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TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS MSI 390X Gaming 8G
GPU	AMD Radeon R9 390X (Grenada XT)
Connectors	1 x PCIE 6-pin. 1 x 8-pin PCIE.
Core frequency	1080/1100 Mhz
Memory type	GDDR5.
Memory size	8 GB.
Memory speed (mhz)	6000 MHz / 6100Mhz
DirectX	Version 12.
BUS memory	512 bits.
BUS card	PCI-E 3.0 x16.
OpenGL	OpenGL®4.4
I / O	2 x DVI-D 1 x HDMI Output 1 x Display Port (Regular DP) Supports HDCP.
Dimensions	27.7 x 12.9 x 5.1 cm
Price	479 euros.

Msi R9 390X Gaming 8G.

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A range that undoubtedly needs no introduction is the Msi Gaming, equipped with a rear Backplate, a heatpipe sink known to all as Twin Frozr Zero, which boasts its name because, at rest or in a multimedia environment, the fans are turned off, leaving us 0 dB of sound. The 390X is the highest in its range except for the Fury. Equipped with 2816 GCN1.1 shaders prepared for DX12, 176 Texture Units and 64 Rops along with its huge 512Bit memory bus and no less than 8Gb of memory, they will give us a total of 384Gb / s bandwidth, Ideal for high resolutions, or the most demanding games. Making mention of its frequencies, the Msi Gaming is the most powerful of all, with 1100Mhz in the Gpu thus converting it, while its memory works at 1500Mhz making a total of 6000Mhz effective.

It has a TDP of 275w, therefore we will need a power supply of at least 500 ~ 600W and two connectors, 6 and 8 pin. The card incorporates a 6 to 8 pin adapter, manual, driver and software CD, as well as an LED with the Msi dragon emblem permanently illuminated to give that distinctive Gaming touch.

Being fully unlocked and with the Msi Afterburner software, from the same house, it will allow us to further stretch its frequencies and get extra performance.

With a 7-phase design, the VRMs and other dissipated vital parts as well as its memory guarantee excellent cooling and optimum performance. The card also has special Gaming APP software, which allows us to control the type of operation we want, Silent, Normal and OC, altering its operation with a single click.

Test bench and performance tests.

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TESTING BENCH
Processor:	i5-4690k @ 4400 Mhz..
Base plate:	Asus Z97M-Plus.
Memory:	Geil Evo Potenza @ 2666Mhz.
Heatsink	Be Quiet Dark Rock 3.
HDD	Transcend M.2 MT800 256Gb. Sata interface.
Graphics Card	Msi R9 390X Gaming @ 1100/1500. OC 1150 / 1650Mhz. Gigabyte R9 390 G1 Gaming 1025 / 1500Mhz. Asus 970 Mini. 1280 / 1753Mhz.
Power supply	Corsair CS550M 550W.

For benchmarks we will use the following titles:

• 3DMark - Gpu ScoreF1 2015Hitman AbsolutionLotR - Shadow of MordorThiefTomb RaiderBioshock InfiniteMetro Last Light

All tests will be passed in their maximum configuration unless it is stated differently in the graph. And this time we will do it in two resolutions, the most popular today, 1080P (1920 × 1080) and a slightly higher one, 1440P (2560x1440P). The operating system used will be the new Windows 10 Pro 64 bit and the latest drivers, the 15.8Beta.

What are we looking for in the tests?

First the best possible image quality. The most important value for us is the average FPS (Frames per second), the higher the number of FPS, the more fluid the game will be. To differentiate the quality a bit, we leave you a table to assess the quality in FPS, but we will also have the minimum Fps in the tests that were thus possible:

FRAMES BY SECONDS
Frames for Seconds. (FPS)	Gameplay
Less than 30 FPS	Limited
30 - 40 FPS	Playable
40 - 60 FPS	Good
Greater than 60 FPS	Fairly Good or Excellent

1080P test results

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Test results at 1440P.

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Overclock and first impressions with the undervolt

With a card like that, we immediately want to take action and squeeze every last Mhz, can we do it? Yes !, this card has the voltage unlocked, which we, in order to increase its final performance, gave it the maximum allowed, + 50mv for the Msi application, the Afterburner, thus increasing to 1150Mhz for the gpu and memory increased to what 1650Mhz, it may not seem like much since the card starts from 1100Mhz but taking into account the Amd reference, it comes from 1060Mhz, so considering the type of architecture it is, it is a great increase. The currency has undoubtedly been the heat and temperature increased strongly, so if we have a just source or box without too much good ventilation, it is better to be cautious since we will also compromise the rest of the components. The increase in performance you have already seen in the graphics above and the consumption and temperature, we will see later.

Unlike what many do, in addition to overclocking we can also underclock or "undervolt". It is an advantage to have the card unlocked because it not only allows you to go up but also down, why? In this case and going into the matter, this Msi was able to maintain its original frequencies, remember that they are 1100Mhz, but with almost 45mv less having no errors in textures or similar things, thus reducing consumption by almost 30w and its temperature in nothing less than 5th. Therefore, not only can we go upwards, but if we have a certain experience and want to have different operating profiles, it will be the idea since we will not only alleviate temperature and consumption, but also improve the card's useful life.

Temperature and consumption.

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And because not only does the power of a card matter, we are going to evaluate both its consumption and its temperatures, and have a general reference compared to other cards.

Consumption and temperatures have been verified by reading the maximum peak, passing the Metro Last Light benchmark 3 times, ideal for how demanding it is.

Final words and conclusion.

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After seeing the results of the tests, we are more or less faced with the same sensations that we had after analyzing the 290 and 290x at the time because the gpu is more or less similar, with the same number of shaders and other specifications, therefore the Differences seen between this 390 and 390X are very similar. Off-road at 1080P and especially at 1440P make it a complete card, with a very large amount of memory and with a more than good forecast for the future with the arrival of DX12 that we will analyze later.

Another point in favor has been its overclock, high, but it has had a high price, which is temperatures and especially its consumption, really triggering the meter. Do we really need to increase the frequency to an already tight card as standard? The answer is no, for the day-to-day the Msi Gaming has more than enough performance and a balanced consumption for the frequencies that it has been designed and thus resulting in temperatures according to the type of card it is. Precisely where I would emphasize would be to lower the voltage it has as standard to further spice up its temperature (and naturally consumption), to keep us at values ​​of almost 390 but yielding much more. Everything must always be valued and therefore we cannot ignore this detail.

On the other hand, the current price difference between a 390 and a 390X tends to be around € 100 upward, therefore it would be necessary to weigh in which scenarios the choice to take the higher range might not be wise. Msi also has the 390 Gaming and is overclocked in-house, making it perhaps the most attractive of all in its range.

What to say, and that is that despite everything we are dealing with the most powerful 390X as standard, overflowing with quality on all four sides, a box and presentation at the height of the product, high overclocking capabilities, loudness typical of an Htpc equipment… nothing seems escape to the Msi.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ The most powerful 390X	- High temperature and consumption in Oc
+ Semi-passive at rest and silent under load.	- Slightly more expensive than other 390X.
+ Elitist heatsink and finish
+ Performance
+ Overclocking capabilities

And after carefully evaluating all the tests as the product, Professional Review awards him the gold medal:

Msi R9 390X Gaming 8G

Component quality

Refrigeration

Gaming experience

Sonority

Additional features

Price

8.1 / 10

Standard, finished, silent and impressive performance, high overclock.