Features - QOTW: Will you be buying an AMD Radeon R9 290X?

[CompanionCube]

sadly no, too expensive :\

[GuidoLS]

No, because I don't need a $600 (after tax) blow drier, let alone one that runs at ~70db...

[Blazer]

I probably won't be purchasing this card as my cross fired 6970s are working just fine right now. But if I was to win one, then who am I to look a gift in the butt?

[addz17]

Titan performance at half the price and your probably getting a free game with it? As long as it has custom cooling Nvidia doesn't have a leg to stand on. Especially since Nvidia has been trying to bleed gamers dry recently, physx is pretty useless and all the new consoles are running AMD harware. I get the feeling we will need more compute performance with up & coming titles and Nvidia's compute performance kind of pathetic. Amd's sledge hammer architecture is a much better all rounder so if i get bored i might sell my 670.

[george1979]

NO...lol,


because I bought in August 3 x TITAN, and I'm not sorry despite all the benchmarks I've read about these new cards from AMD .... The single SATISFACTION THAT I HAVE IS THAT I WAS TO BUY 3 gtx 780 LIHTNING FROM MSI, but fortunately they delayed the launch of the 780 and I bought the TITAN ..... THANKS MSI ..... and one more thing ..... 95ºC NO WAY.. I know what was it with the AMD 3x7970 ... THANK but NOOOOOOO

So you joined Hexus just to tell us all how you bought 3 Titans? Awww thanks its always nice to meet people with more money than sense - on a side note I'm selling some nice left handed screwdrivers and tartan paint if you're interested

[jackjack]

It's a YES, i would love to bring this Hot bad boy back home with me, it' HOT, it's CHEAPER, It's LOUDER, It's BETTER, It's Wattage Drinker, Damn i love R290X! Perfect JOB for Water cooling!

[dfour]

It's a YES, i would love to bring this Hot bad boy back home with me, it' HOT, it's CHEAPER, It's LOUDER, It's BETTER, It's Wattage Drinker, Damn i love R290X! Perfect JOB for Water cooling!

it will also save you on your heating bills this winter as well!!!

Mines just arrived thanks DPD

[VijaySathyan]

Nope, will wait for a better cooler.

[Kanoe]

Got mine yesterday. So far its not reached 95 under load and the fan hasn't been that noisy either. Got to push it some more today.

[jackjack]

it will also save you on your heating bills this winter as well!!!

lol ^_^

Got mine yesterday. So far its not reached 95 under load and the fan hasn't been that noisy either. Got to push it some more today.

enjoy the card bro

[Erenhardt]

I was really wanting to but the price is way too high for me and also it doesn't have enough of a performance jump over the previous generations top end. I'll maybe get a 280X in 6 months or so just because my current card now (slightly) struggles - occasionally with the newer games.

Where is the logic here? You will not get 290X because it is to slow, but you will get 280X which is slower 6 months later?
In 6 months we will be looking at gtx800 and R9 300 series!

[MMAX63]

NO...lol,


because I bought in August 3 x TITAN, and I'm not sorry despite all the benchmarks I've read about these new cards from AMD .... The single SATISFACTION THAT I HAVE IS THAT I WAS TO BUY 3 gtx 780 LIHTNING FROM MSI, but fortunately they delayed the launch of the 780 and I bought the TITAN ..... THANKS MSI ..... and one more thing ..... 95ºC NO WAY.. I know what was it with the AMD 3x7970 ... THANK but NOOOOOOO

So you joined Hexus just to tell us all how you bought 3 Titans? Awww thanks its always nice to meet people with more money than sense - on a side note I'm selling some nice left handed screwdrivers and tartan paint if you're interested

1 YES, and I am very happy with my choice ...... lol
2 thank you but I do not buy second-hand equipment .... attempt another
(No offense to anyone ..... if I have money and can afford it, why not? If you do not have money or you have other priorities, you should not criticize those who do it for pleasure ...... lol) OK.

[Erenhardt]

It did occur to me recently that 95C was about what the GTX480 ran at, and that people slated that heavily while the 290X is getting "it's OK, but a bit worried about the heat" - I wondered if we were being unfair to the 480. So I reviewed some of the reviews.

While the 290X is hot running and draws more power than the competition, it does at least show serious competitive advantage in most actual games, it's priced very reasonably, and the power draw isn't ridiculous for a top end card - although I've not seen a direct comparison I'd guess it draws no more, and probably less, than the 7990/GTX690, and gets closeish in performance.

The GTX480, OTOH, performed little better than the 5870, despite being significantly more expensive, and drew more power than the dual-gpu 5970 (which hammered it, in performance terms). AMD have at least got most of the picture right: the performance and price are good, and the power draw is in the right ballpark, if a little high. So I'm confident in saying that this isn't just like the GTX480 - it's a far less troubled product.

Since silicon gets more leaky the hotter it gets, we might see partner cards with better cooling actually *reduce* power consumption by keeping the temperatures lower and reducing silicon leakage (this is the problem that really limited the GTX480). Or they might decide to use that better cooling to push the TDP limits and wring every last ounce of performance out of the card. Either way, it'll make for an interesting few months.

Of course, I still won't be getting one, but lets not start tagging the R9 290X with the epithet of "the new GTX480" - it's got a lot more going for it than GF100!

So true.
AMD have new GPU tweaking tool in CCC that lets you set target temperature, max fan speed, power limit. You can do whatever you want with the card. You can trade some of those 'C for more dB if you want.
That is not to say reference cooler is good, far from it. But who expected reference blower to be any good for overclocking? Look what happened with nvidia Titan cooler! People bought $10 more expensive EVGA ACX cooler because it was so much better then "epic titan cooler". Then why even bother, why making a competition to your own partners that specialize in gpu cooling? That would be giant waste of $ from AMD.

Sadly, they didn't deliver samples to their partners prior release, to avoid any leaks to the competition. This caused reference only release. We should be getting custom designed 290X in the next month. Good cooling solution along with better drivers can change the high-end landscape even more!

[grayg1]

No, but if I was I'd certainly show a little patience and wait because you are going to get so much more for your money in about a month e.g. the custom cards will be out for around the same price meaning you can constantly run in uber mode whilst being fairly quiet and AMD will have brought out their new never settle bundle. Frankly I think buying one now is a waste of money unless you're going water.

Personally I'm looking at the 290 non X because it should be comparable, cheaper, less power hungry and thus run a little cooler.

[Hunt0r]

ill wait till 3rd party non reference boards and cooling come trickling down the pipe before I take the plunge

[george1979]

1 YES, and I am very happy with my choice ...... lol
2 thank you but I do not buy second-hand equipment .... attempt another
(No offense to anyone ..... if I have money and can afford it, why not? If you do not have money or you have other priorities, you should not criticize those who do it for pleasure ...... lol) OK.

Lol it wasn't really a criticism, more of an observation. Happy gaming