Just bought a R9 290 graphics card, hope it was a good decision/bargain

[jimborae]

So I've just got a VTX3D R9 290 V2 for £286.00 from Aria.co.uk, which seemed to me like a good price. It will be replacing an HD6950 which was bios flashed to 6970 specs and I currently game @ a 1920x1200 resolution on a 24" monitor. So my question is do you think I will be able to play my games (BF4, TitanFall & COD 4) with most of the eye candy turned on at descent frame rates and did I get a good deal (It's been awhile since I looked into the graphics card market?)

PS. I've also ordered an EK waterblock so that I can watercool this puppy.

[Dooms]

Don't know about the VTX3D r9 290 but as its a reference card can't see there being any issues with it (except heat which you are solving with WC) so you will have a card that will play any game out at the moment at ultra everything if you are only running at 1920x1200

[jimborae]

Actually it's a Ver 2 so not a reference card/cooler, however the block should fit, so just need to be a bit careful when installing it just to be on the safe side.

[Butuz]

Yep it'll play everything at 1080p ultra. And yep that is a decent price! Well done!

Butuz

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

You have a monster system for 1920X1080 gaming!!

It does make many of the GTX770 and R9 280X cards look overpriced!!

[kompukare]

It does make many of the GTX770 and R9 280X cards look overpriced!!

Yes, Aria's cheapest R9 280X is £263.99 vs this R9 290 for £287.99 (gone up £2?). So that's ~9% more for over 20% faster, plus an 1GB of memory and TrueAudio etc. Which is totally what don't expect: high end cards tend to cost lot more for every little extra speed.

EDIT:
Not a bad looking card:
http://www.vtx3d.com/products_features.asp?id=184
Strange, VTX3d and Powercolor are owned by the same company but Powercolor's custom R9 290 is a three fan thing:
http://www.powercolor.com/Global/pro...res.asp?id=523

[slinger]

I got the Powercolor R9 290 PCS+ 4GB that Aria were doing on a daily special on Monday for £249 + vat (£299 delivered) which has a massive 3 slot cooler - it doesn get over 60c under full load :-) I also game at 1920x1200 and put it this way, Battlefield 4 maxed out, not only looks amazing, but plays sweet too! :-)

[jimborae]

I got the Powercolor R9 290 PCS+ 4GB that Aria were doing on a daily special on Monday for £249 + vat (£299 delivered) which has a massive 3 slot cooler - it doesn get over 60c under full load :-) I also game at 1920x1200 and put it this way, Battlefield 4 maxed out, not only looks amazing, but plays sweet too! :-)

Yeah that's what I wanted to get originally but by the time I got home it had gone up to £330 delivered Anyways good to know that BF4 runs good on it. Cheers

[Saracen]

.... So my question is do you think I will be able to play my games .... with most of the eye candy turned on at descent frame rates and did I get a good deal (It's been awhile since I looked into the graphics card market?)

....

re: eye candy, I'd have thought so, and would certainly hope so at the best part of £300.

As for "good deal", that's really two question :-

- is the price a good deal for that card?
- is ~£300 a "worth it" for any gaming card?

On the price for the card, looks decent to me, though not stunning.

On £300 for a gaming card, that's very subjective. To me, NO gaming card is worth that. Or anything close to that. Period. But I didn't buy it. I'm sure there are things I would, or have, spent £300 (or more) on that many/most here wouldn't dream of doing. In the last year, £400 on a food processor and £500 on a kitchen blender come to mind, for a start.

Whether it's a good deal spending £300 on a gaming card, or food processor, is entirely a matter of whether it's worth it to the person spending the money. I have no buyer's remorse of the FP or blender, so you'll get your answer to that issue if you have buyer's remorse over spending what you did on that card. Think back, in say 3 months, and ask yourself if, feeling as you then do, would you still have bought if you knew you'd feel that way, and if the answer is "hell, yes" then it was a good deal. if you wish you hadn't bought, then it wasn't.

For what it's worth, my guess is you'll be in the "hell, yes" category. But it's clearly a guess. Do you think a blender for £500(-ish) is a "good deal"? Well, I do. I wanted one, was going to get one, got an offer, and saved £100+ on what I'd expected to pay. And don't regret buying.

[Blackfudge]

Monster card at a great price

[The Hand]

Yea, it sounds like you have no worries there on the performance front.. a friend of mine is running BF4 and Titanfall @1080p on Ultra with a GTX 680 and its silky smooth. Well done on the price too!

[krazy_olie]

Get gaming

[MrJim]

In the last year, £400 on a food processor and £500 on a kitchen blender come to mind, for a start.

You're either a professional chef, or a very serious amateur!

[StevenTCShearer]

Yeah as others have said that card should be a monster for gaming! I am going to order the 290 very shortly for my new PC.

Also how do you have such a high download and upload speed? :O

[jimborae]

Also how do you have such a high download and upload speed? :O

That's my broadband fibre connection at work, thought I'd post it for a laugh.

[Letchy]

That seems like an awesome deal OP! Makes me think twice about buying the MSI GTX 770 from Scan at some point, being around £30 more and all

That's my broadband fibre connection at work, thought I'd post it for a laugh.

Thank you... I thought you had just an amazing internet provider! haha