Reference Radeon R9 290X Taken Apart

btarunr · Oct 14, 2013

A HIS-branded AMD reference design Radeon R9 290X graphics card was taken apart by Expreview, revealing its cooling solution, the PCB, the VRM, and the star attraction, the company's new 28 nm "Hawaii" silicon. The pictures match with an earlier, blurrier leak from September. The cooling solution is typical AMD fare, with its copper plate covering the GPU, memory, and VRM areas, aluminium channels, and a lateral-flow fan. The PCB features the swanky new 7.08 billion-transistor chip from AMD, sixteen GDDR5 memory chips (all of which are on the obverse side), and the 5+1+1 phase VRM, which uses CPL-made chokes, IR-made DirectFETs, and a new IR-made VRM controller. The first reviews of the Radeon R9 290X should be published later this month. Find more pictures at the source.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

RCoon · Oct 14, 2013

That's some disgraceful pasting right there AMD/HIS...

Indra EMC · Oct 14, 2013

I know that is a sample card but why there is no crossfire connector ?

Ghost · Oct 14, 2013

Indra EMC said:
I know that is a sample card but why there is no crossfire connector ?

Because R9 290X uses CF over PCI-E.

nemesis.ie · Oct 14, 2013

Indra EMC said:
I know that is a sample card but why there is no crossfire connector ?

If you check out the preview details you'll find that Crossfire is being handled over the PCI-E bus only on the new cards.

nemesis.ie · Oct 14, 2013

RCoon said:
That's some disgraceful pasting right there AMD/HIS...

I've seen much worse, at least it looks pretty even and no gaps.

Assimilator · Oct 14, 2013

Highest-end card in the range, but no backplate?

RCoon · Oct 14, 2013

Assimilator said:
Highest-end card in the range, but no backplate?

When has a reference card from ANY range of GPU's ever come packaged with a backplate?

the54thvoid · Oct 14, 2013

Went to source for better look at PCB pics. The chokes look very similar to what was on my stock Powercolor 7970. At least they start with '1007R3, R15'. oooh. They can whine under load. Not saying it will but if W1zz is reading this, mind to listen out for the boards electrical noise.
EKWB are making blocks for these so they'd be pretty fast under water (I'd hope) but if there's choke noise, it's not so pretty.

Also,

What are the screw holes for in the cover? Or is it just where the shroud screws have already been removed...

RCoon · Oct 14, 2013

the54thvoid said:
Went to source for better look at PCB pics. The chokes look very similar to what was on my stock Powercolor 7970. At least they start with '1007R3, R15'. oooh. They can whine under load. Not saying it will but if W1zz is reading this, mind to listen out for the boards electrical noise.
EKWB are making blocks for these so they'd be pretty fast under water (I'd hope) but if there's choke noise, it's not so pretty.

Also,

What are the screw holes for in the cover? Or is it just where the shroud screws have already been removed...

http://img.techpowerup.org/131014/Untitled662.png

Screw holes I assume are similar to the Titan/780, the outer shroud screws into the inner cooler on the end, only there are 4 here instead of 2.

Supercrit · Oct 14, 2013

rcoon said:
when has a reference card from any range of gpu's ever come packaged with a backplate?

5870, 6970/6950

Fairlady-z · Oct 14, 2013

Too bad these cards wont ship for about 500ish, as that would have been a must buy GPU. I know people who did/didn't need to upgrade would have lol. Also, from the looks of that PCB it would a good idea to wait out for a Asus custom, but my understanding is for now the AIB are not allowed to make their own? Is there any truth to this? What about a custom cooler?

RCoon · Oct 14, 2013

Supercrit said:
5870, 6970/6950

Interesting examples, but those days are long gone.

Supercrit · Oct 14, 2013

RCoon said:
Interesting examples, but those days are long gone.

Sigh... The golden age of backplates of 69xx, where even the non-top card 6950 has a backplate, as well as being able to unlock to a 6970.

Fairlady-z · Oct 14, 2013

the54thvoid said:
Went to source for better look at PCB pics. The chokes look very similar to what was on my stock Powercolor 7970. At least they start with '1007R3, R15'. oooh. They can whine under load. Not saying it will but if W1zz is reading this, mind to listen out for the boards electrical noise.
EKWB are making blocks for these so they'd be pretty fast under water (I'd hope) but if there's choke noise, it's not so pretty.

Also,

What are the screw holes for in the cover? Or is it just where the shroud screws have already been removed...

http://img.techpowerup.org/131014/Untitled662.png

Say it isnt so Jhonny....god what I hate the most is the damn whine noise that some of my older cards produced. It drove me nuts, so much that I would upgrade at a loss just to get out of it. My MSI 7

btarunr · Oct 14, 2013

Assimilator said:
Highest-end card in the range, but no backplate?

Just like the $1000 Titan.

the54thvoid · Oct 14, 2013

btarunr said:
Just like the $1000 Titan.

Absolutely. And FTR, my Titan has coil whine when i up the voltage. Let's hope AMD isn't making a "better than Titan but has same problems as Titan card."

BarbaricSoul · Oct 14, 2013

the54thvoid said:
Absolutely. And FTR, my Titan has coil whine when i up the voltage. Let's hope AMD isn't making a "better than Titan but has same problems as Titan card."

I agree 100%. I'd love to replace my 7970 with a 290X,but if the card has coil whine , I don't care if it gives a bajillion FPS at super ultra very high settings at 25600000*16000000 resolution, I won't buy it. :shadedshu

dj-electric · Oct 14, 2013

This PCB design makes me worry, It doesn't seem very capable, at all.

BUT, unlike the Titan it is going to be changed a lot by AIB's

Ghost · Oct 14, 2013

BarbaricSoul said:
I agree 100%. I'd love to replace my 7970 with a 290X,but if the card has coil whine , I don't care if it gives a bajillion FPS at super ultra very high settings at 25600000*16000000 resolution, I won't buy it. :shadedshu

Actually, bajillion FPS would be a cause of coil whine.

RCoon · Oct 14, 2013

Ghost said:
Actually, bajillion FPS would be a cause of coil whine.

I was just about to say. My old reference 780 got coil whine, only when I reached 1800+ FPS, but the coil whine disappeared around 1600-1700FPS. (3DMark tests)

Fourstaff · Oct 14, 2013

btarunr said:
Just like the $1000 Titan.

IIRC they removed it because it caused the cards to be air starved in SLI.

manofthem · Oct 14, 2013

I can live with the coil whine

. Just give me a nice price withinu a month from launch, and we have a deal!

Prima.Vera · Oct 14, 2013

Why are they keeping the same shitty cooler??! Specially for a premium card?? WHY?

swirl09 · Oct 14, 2013

the54thvoid said:
Went to source for better look at PCB pics. The chokes look very similar to what was on my stock Powercolor 7970. At least they start with '1007R3, R15'. oooh. They can whine under load. Not saying it will but if W1zz is reading this, mind to listen out for the boards electrical noise.
EKWB are making blocks for these so they'd be pretty fast under water (I'd hope) but if there's choke noise, it's not so pretty.

This is a complete deal breaker for me. I had 2 7970s and both had the most god awful coil whine. I'll be paying attention to any reviews about this issue.

I'm feeling like an upgrade, and this card may do it - if it has no bloody whiney buzz crap.

System Name	RBMK-1000
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling	DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory	2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s)	Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage	Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s)	BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case	Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s)	ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply	Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse	ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard	Gamdias Hermes E2
Software	Windows 11 Pro

System Name	HP Omen 17
Processor	i7 7700HQ
Memory	16GB 2400Mhz DDR4
Video Card(s)	GTX 1060
Storage	Samsung SM961 256GB + HGST 1TB
Display(s)	1080p IPS G-SYNC 75Hz
Audio Device(s)	Bang & Olufsen
Power Supply	230W
Mouse	Roccat Kone XTD+
Software	Win 10 Pro

System Name	Nipponsei-ゲームだけのため
Processor	Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 @3Ghz OC
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA EP-45 DS4
Cooling	Thermaltake V1 AX
Memory	Patriot Viper Extreme PC2-8500 8 GB (4 x 2GB)
Video Card(s)	XFX Radeon HD 5850 BLACK EDITION
Storage	2 x 320 GB Seagate S-ATA + 1500GB Seagate Barracuda S-ATA
Display(s)	Philips 220E @ 1920 x 1080 + BenQ FP71G+
Case	Cooler Master HAF 932 Repaint Black
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC 888
Power Supply	ENLIGHT EN-6500BS 650 Watt Black Silver
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate X64

System Name	ASAS
Processor	Intel Core i5 2500K @ 4.2 GHz
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3-B3
Cooling	Scythe Ashura
Memory	Patriot 2x4GB DDR3 1600MHz 9-9-9-24 T1 @ 1.5V
Video Card(s)	MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Gaming
Storage	Samsung 830 256GB + Samsung Spinpoint T133 HD400LJ 400GB
Display(s)	Samsung SyncMaster EX1920
Case	Bitfenix Ghost
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC889
Power Supply	Seasonic S12II-620 Bronze 620W
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1

System Name	"Run of the mill" (except GPU)
Processor	R9 3900X
Motherboard	ASRock X470 Taich Ultimate
Cooling	Cryorig (not recommended)
Memory	32GB (2 x 16GB) Team 3200 MT/s, CL14
Video Card(s)	Radeon RX6900XT
Storage	Samsung 970 Evo plus 1TB NVMe
Display(s)	Samsung Q95T
Case	Define R5
Audio Device(s)	On board
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime 1000W
Mouse	Roccat Leadr
Keyboard	K95 RGB
Software	Windows 11 Pro x64, insider preview dev channel
Benchmark Scores	#1 worldwide on 3D Mark 99, back in the (P133) days. :)

Reference Radeon R9 290X Taken Apart

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator

RCoon

Indra EMC

Ghost

nemesis.ie

nemesis.ie

Assimilator

RCoon

the54thvoid

Super Intoxicated Moderator

RCoon

Supercrit

Fairlady-z

RCoon

Supercrit

Fairlady-z

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator

the54thvoid

Super Intoxicated Moderator

BarbaricSoul

dj-electric

Ghost

RCoon

Fourstaff

Moderator

manofthem

WCG-TPU Team All-Star!

Prima.Vera

swirl09

System Name	Firelance.
Processor	Threadripper 3960X
Motherboard	ROG Strix TRX40-E Gaming
Cooling	IceGem 360 + 6x Arctic Cooling P12
Memory	8x 16GB Patriot Viper DDR4-3200 CL16
Video Card(s)	MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Ventus 2X OC
Storage	2TB WD SN850X (boot), 4TB Crucial P3 (data)
Display(s)	3x AOC Q32E2N (32" 2560x1440 75Hz)
Case	Enthoo Pro II Server Edition (Closed Panel) + 6 fans
Power Supply	Fractal Design Ion+ 2 Platinum 760W
Mouse	Logitech G602
Keyboard	Razer Pro Type Ultra
Software	Windows 10 Professional x64

Processor	Ryzen 7800X3D
Motherboard	MSI MAG Mortar B650 (wifi)
Cooling	be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4
Memory	32GB Kingston Fury
Video Card(s)	Gainward RTX4070ti
Storage	Seagate FireCuda 530 M.2 1TB / Samsumg 960 Pro M.2 512Gb
Display(s)	LG 32" 165Hz 1440p GSYNC
Case	Asus Prime AP201
Audio Device(s)	On Board
Power Supply	be quiet! Pure POwer M12 850w Gold (ATX3.0)
Software	W10

Processor	Ryzen 2700X
Motherboard	Asrock X470 Master sli/ac
Cooling	Raijintek Themis Evo
Memory	Team Dark Pro 3200 cl14
Video Card(s)	GTX 1080
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus Gold Plus 850W

System Name	Barb's Domain
Processor	i9 10850k 5.1GHz all cores
Motherboard	MSI MPG Z490 GAMING EDGE WIFI
Cooling	Deep Cool Assassin III
Memory	2*16gig Corsair LPX DDR4 3200
Video Card(s)	RTX 4080 FE
Storage	500gb Samsung 980 Pro M2 SSD, 500GB WD Blue SATA SSD, 2TB Seagate Hybrid SSHD
Display(s)	Dell - S3222DGM 32" 2k Curved/ASUS VP28UQG 28" 4K (ran at 2k), Sanyo 75" 4k TV
Case	SilverStone Fortress FT04
Audio Device(s)	Bose Companion II speakers, Corsair - HS70 PRO headphones
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x (2021)
Mouse	Logitech G502
Keyboard	Logitech Orion Spectrum G910
VR HMD	Oculus Quest 2
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
Benchmark Scores	https://www.3dmark.com/spy/34962882

System Name	Orange! // ItchyHands
Processor	3570K // 10400F
Motherboard	ASRock z77 Extreme4 // TUF Gaming B460M-Plus
Cooling	Stock // Stock
Memory	2x4Gb 1600Mhz CL9 Corsair XMS3 // 2x8Gb 3200 Mhz XPG D41
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Nitro+ RX 570 // Asus TUF RTX 2070
Storage	Samsung 840 250Gb // SX8200 480GB
Display(s)	LG 22EA53VQ // Philips 275M QHD
Case	NZXT Phantom 410 Black/Orange // Tecware Forge M
Power Supply	Corsair CXM500w // CM MWE 600w

Processor	3900X @ 4.0
Motherboard	Asus ROG Strix X570-E
Cooling	DeepCool Castle 360EX
Memory	G Skill Trident Z Neo 32GB 3600
Video Card(s)	RX 5700 XT Pulse
Storage	Sabrent Rocket Q 1TB
Display(s)	LG 34UC88
Case	Thermaltake P3
Power Supply	Super Flower Leadex III 750w
Mouse	Logitech G900
Keyboard	G Skill KM570 MX Silver
Software	Windows 10 Pro

Processor	Intel® Core™ i7-13700K
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Elite AX
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15
Memory	32GB(2x16) DDR5@6600MHz G-Skill Trident Z5
Video Card(s)	ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 3080 AMP Holo
Storage	2TB SK Platinum P41 SSD + 4TB SanDisk Ultra SSD + 500GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD
Display(s)	Acer Predator X34 3440x1440@100Hz G-Sync
Case	NZXT PHANTOM410-BK
Audio Device(s)	Creative X-Fi Titanium PCIe
Power Supply	Corsair 850W
Mouse	Logitech Hero G502 SE
Software	Windows 11 Pro - 64bit
Benchmark Scores	30FPS in NFS:Rivals

Processor	12900K @5.1all Pcore only, 1.23v
Motherboard	MSI Edge
Cooling	D15 Chromax Black
Memory	32GB 4000 C15
Video Card(s)	4090 Suprim X
Storage	Various Samsung M.2s, 860 evo other
Display(s)	Predator X27 / Deck (Nreal air) / LG C3 83
Case	FD Torrent
Audio Device(s)	Hifiman Ananda / AudioEngine A5+
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime TX 1000W
Mouse	Amazon finest (no brand)
Keyboard	Amazon finest (no brand)
VR HMD	Index
Benchmark Scores	I got some numbers.