AMD Radeon R9-290X tested and reviewed

Or they know that the majority of buyers are going to get 3rd party cooler on their cards TFIV, DCU2, WF3 and the likes. The only people that will jump in the reference cards will be OEM, uninformed, impatient and guys that already are thinking water and other forms if cooling.

 

Short answer is yes.

 

I want that EVGA 290x Classified :eyebrows:

 

It looks like the same cooler my 6950's had with a different plastic shroud.

 

I do, sadly. I remember buying into Fermi early and that stock cooler was awful.

 

This is so wrong

 

What sucks is that the reference cards will be the only ones available until either December or some time in 2014, or so most of the rumors suggest.

 

True. I don't expect any custom cards to hit shelves much before the end of Jan. It's usually 3-4 months after the reference cards.

 

Buttt... we can slap those MK-26 coolers on them auuwwyeee. There, problem
solved.

Yeah.

 

Patience grasshopper. :blunt:

 

Yeah I certainly won't wait that long. Oh well, finally an excuse to do water, amirite? :banana:

 

There is always a reason to go water.

 

It's the birth of all life.

 

Best bet is to do it yourself, likely to get better results than waiting a few months for an off the shelf card with a custom cooler.
Might scare a lot doing it themselves though.

It does eat away at the value of these cards though, might be best to hold off buying these cards until after the 780ti is out, will likely have more choice and better prices.

 

Indeed.

 

man, I haven't fitted a custom cooler to a gpu since the days of 6600gt, when I fitted a zalman cooler to it. things like that make me nervous.

Will we have to wait long for 290 custom cards too? anyone knows?

 

I have mixed feeling on this one. At one end the price is without a doubt impressive. But the heat and power are a little to much, and this card still looses to a highly OCed 780 in most cases.

But again, the price is awesome and I'm sure once we start seeing non refrence designs those things will change.

 

stick a custom cooler on it and it flies past 780/Titan.

 

Great performance, crappy cooler.