AMD Radeon R9-290X tested and reviewed

The ref cooler can keep up with the 800MHz QUIET clock at max 3300RPM, that's about it. The 1 GHz uber clock is effectively slightly over 800MHz once it hits 94*C.

 

Supply and demand, they will sell them for as high a price as they can.

 

it all depends. the higher you go in resolution and the more AA you use, the more the 290x will pull away. but if you game at 1080p then yeah, a 780 at the same price would be interesting. We'll see if nvidia lower the 780 price.

Also, I'm pretty sure that a 290x with a better 3rd party cooler will perform just fine and temps/noise will be in check. I'll be curious to see how much more performance AMD can get out of the 290x with new drivers. I'm sure there's more performance in there.

 

I am disappointed to be honest a marginal performance gain at higher heat output and can't overclock well, in my eyes a Gtx 780 is still a winner if you overclock, Gtx 780 msi gaming edition beats this thing out the box and cost 30 pounds more, I am very dissapointed because I was hoping this would be a lot better, oh well it's life I guess, Gtx 780 ti is the next thing to look forward to.

 

look at this, for me, this is an absolute no go http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sceM0-pfbb4

@RPGgamesplayer - driver updates might just squeeze a bit more performance out of the 290x, also custom pcb/cooler cards could fix everything you don't like.

 

Well I know some peoples 780's hit a temp barrier in the UK during the summer, would be interesting to see 290x performance under those conditions.
Im sure owners will run at full speed initially but im sure once the novelty has worn off they will drop those clocks to subdue the noise.

 

Ouch. CF is pretty much out of the question with these.

 

I would not cf these reference ones, no way, even one sounds awful, imagine 2 of them together.

 

Yup, another 7950 would help

 

very tempted to run 2x 7950 Vapor-X

 

mmmm decisions. a 780 can be had for around £500 whereas a 290x plus a waterblock would set me back around £550 (perhaps bit less)...

Nice review Hildebrand!

 

Nvidia's reaction to AMD
http://captiongenerator.com/8748/Hitler-reacts-to-AMD-NDA-and-GTX-780ti

Nice review and a powerfull card with a nice price.

 

Yep. Apparently the stock cooler does suck balls. Asus direct cu cooler would probably fix that but even still it would dump a lot of heat inside the case. Probably manageable with one card but CF is another matter... I'd definitely consider getting another 7950 if I were you.

 

Awesome card Need to get one come xmas. So smaller die then titan but uses bit more power and has heat issues ok give me aftermarket kuhlers. But at half the price oh damn and the same performance level in UHD atleast all the time. While beating 780 to bulb in xfire.

Yeah AMD made a winner here for sure. And the price is the most amazing thing for me tho

I don't see any real advances in performance tho until we get to 20nm or so. Since they would only be increasing the die size like hell from here on out else it would be minimal changes in perf.

 

Awesome cards, and what a price, i never expected them to be that low, £450+, nice one AMD

 

Pros price performance, 1ghz oc on vram. Cons 75 mhz oc on hilberts sample and temperature. I would wait for the custom coolers

 

Nice review indeed.

500Eur sounds about right, cheaper then both 780 and titan. Looking forward to 290 (non-x) it should be even more tempting.

 

Am gonna wait to see what happens re 780 + 780ti prices. Also check out the waterblocks

 

Great card and a fantastic price, unfortunately the heat and noise ruins things if you have to pay more for an after market cooler/card.

How much difference would even the best air cooling make?

 

Great card, no doubt with excellent price.
It could be almost perfect, with a good aftermarket cooler.
I will wait to December to see if with Mantle and a good aftermarket cooler solution it will wort it to trade for my 690GTX... BF4 fan here

Ah... and i want to see to what the 780ti is capable...