AMD Radeon R9 290 4 GB

[hardcore_gamer]

Tomshardware replaced the stock cooler with an Arctic Accelero Xtreme III. It gave 13% improvement in performance (without manual overclocking) and much better noise levels.

AMD could have scored a perfect 10 if they've equipped this card with a good cooler.

 

[mastershake575]

Damn that's a great price.

Even a third party cooler version will only cost $425-450 and that will easily allow clocks at 1050-1100mhz (this card has SERIOUS potential, I hope AMD's production on this card is high and that it sells well).

 

[The Von Matrices]

I like the price, but I'm unhappy that AMD panicked and made a bad decision in not including a "quiet" mode. It's the same PCB and has the same switch; it's just disabled. I have a feeling the company didn't like the 290X reviews being confusing with the two modes, so they just ditched the "quiet" mode to make their performance consistent across reviews at the expense of noise. Now the R9 290 has no "quiet" mode, and unless you want to manually tune fan control (not many people do) you're stuck with the noise. 49dB all the time is unacceptable.

 

[Pumper]

I'd be interested in seeing a review where they take all these cards and overclock them and re-evaluate.

Have a look at linustechtips reviews on youtube. They always do OCed to max. benchmarks.

 

[mascotzel]

Because noobs still buy/own $100 21.5-inch 1080p monitors that only have D-Sub.

That is not what I mean.
Which high end card in the last two years has had a VGA output?!
None.
Despite this, you only put it as a negative only on Radeon R9 290(X) series.

 

[btarunr]

Which high end card in the last two years has had a VGA output?!

GeForce GTX Titan, GTX 690, HD 7990, HD 7970 GHz Edition, etc.

 

[Totally]

That is not what I mean.
Which high end card in the last two years has had a VGA output?!

Just about all off them. Even the Titan does. Ever heard of a DVI->VGA adapter.

 

[mascotzel]

That is not a VGA output.An adapter is an adapter.
They say in the review that they received the cards as bulk, not as retail.

 

[Lionheart]

Good work AMD

Now we just gotta wait for non reference cards I don't want a hair dryer for a video card

 

[Totally]

That is not a VGA output.An adapter is an adapter.
They say in the review that they received the cards as bulk, not as retail.

what i was alluding to is that analog vga output was passed via the DVI-A port using and adapter. With the R9 series card THERE IS NO VGA OUTPUT PERIOD.

 

[W1zzard]

Ever heard of a DVI->VGA adapter.

You can't use these adapters, they require special analog VGA pins on the DVI port, which are not present on R9 290 Series

 

[Totally]

You can't use these adapters, they require special analog VGA pins on the DVI port, which are not present on R9 290 Series

I brought that up because the previous guy was saying prior cards lacked VGA, and R9 shouldn't be an exception. I was trying to subtlety say "Bro, just because you don't see it doesn't mean it's not there" on cards like the Titan, 7970 and so on...

 

[zzzaac]

I'm craving for some non-reference 290 and 290x's

I wonder....will you be able to xfire a 290 and 290x?

 

[btarunr]

That is not a VGA output.An adapter is an adapter.
They say in the review that they received the cards as bulk, not as retail.

It is a VGA output. The DVI connectors on those cards feature pins for that VGA output, which an adapter merely rearranges in the RS232 D-Sub connector layout. That adapter won't work on an R9 290/290X, because those VGA pins are absent on an R9 290/290X. It will work on GTX Titan.

The summary of our argument is:

• People still buy/use cheap 21.5-inch 1080p monitors that only feature VGA input
• Those people use DVI to D-Sub adapters
• Those adapters work on every other high-end graphics card (launched in the past 2 years)
• Those adapters will not work on R9 290/290X
• That warrants a demerit

 

[Over_Lord]

Radeon 290 is - - - WOW!

Waiting for AIB to work their magic with an after market cooling solution

 

[The Von Matrices]

hilarious that team green is trying so hard to win on the top end when amd crushes them up the middle. a gtx 770 ti would be a better move than a $700 gtx 780 ti

AMD knows that NVidia already has GK104 pushed to the limit in GTX 770; there's no way to make a higher performance GK104 card. A GTX 770Ti would have to be a GK110 cut down even more than a GTX 780, and I'm not sure NVidia wants a 4th GK110 SKU. This would be a repeat of the GTX 260, which was such a large chip for such a low price that investors speculated that NVidia was losing money on each card sold. I think all NVidia can do is cut the price of GTX 780 even more and just cede the $400 range to AMD. A $449 GTX 780 would be reasonable considering that most GTX 780 cards are custom overclocked variants that perform better than the stock GTX 780 benchmarks indicate.

 

[Stephen.]

Wow go AMD, now i feel like a tool, Nvidia used me and i was a fool to fall for it, all this just shows how much the GK104 was the mid range chip and not high end but AMD did not have a response clear enough at that time, i still feel aaaarrrrrr... will wait for 20nm. Nvidia should price 780TI @ 499 as its not that efficient too, 780 @ 399 and 770 @ 299 where it was always meant to be that should be the way it was meant to be played.

 

[The Von Matrices]

Tomshardware replaced the stock cooler with an Arctic Accelero Xtreme III. It gave 13% improvement in performance (without manual overclocking) and much better noise levels.

AMD could have scored a perfect 10 if they've equipped this card with a good cooler.

The reviews are confusing in this regard, and W1zzard didn't mention it. Unlike the 290X, for the 290 there is basically no performance to be gained by just replacing the stock cooler. The card is not throttling at stock speeds as long as you are using a case with at least moderate airflow; of course really hot climates will experience different conditions. You have to overclock to get performance gains, unlike the 290X. This is the reason the card nearly matches the 290X. Put a custom cooler on the 290X or increase its fan speed and the performance gap will widen at stock clock speeds.

AMD, at the last minute, increased the default fan speed from 40% (290X's "quiet" mode) to 47% (close to 290X's "uber" mode) through the 13.11 beta8 drivers. This stops throttling in almost all conditions and increases the card's performance at the expense of insane noise. The Tom's Hardware article tested at the 40% fan speeds, which causes the card to throttle, and that is the main reason they can claim increased performance through a better cooler. They must have a really hot bench or a high stock voltage card too, because no other review I have yet seen said that card throttled at the 47% fan speed. For anyone using the default 47% fan speed, then there should be no performance increase at stock settings by using a custom cooler.

 

[HammerON]

Very impressive card(s) for the price
This will change the price structure even more

 

[the54thvoid]

Although the noise is unnacceptable for their top tier cards, bit naive imo, the price performance is awesome. It's taken the attractive price of the 780 out the equation. Only relevant problem is the reference design. I couldnt buy a ref card - just too noisy. I think if you're a water cooler, AMD just gave you no option. I wonder if NV will rethink the pricing of the upcoming 780ti? If not, they'll suffer for their arrogance.

 

[Crap Daddy]

Fantastic performance for $400. But as it is, this card is not something you would want to put in your machine. It is simply unacceptable to have this level of noise in the house. We'll have to wait and see aftermarket cards and the real price asked for a proper 290.

 

[HammerON]

It will be interesting to see if Nvidia stays with the ~$700.00 for the 780Ti...

 

[symmetrical]

The reviews are confusing in this regard, and W1zzard didn't mention it. Unlike the 290X, for the 290 there is basically no performance to be gained by just replacing the stock cooler. The card is not throttling at stock speeds as long as you are using a case with at least moderate airflow; of course really hot climates will experience different conditions. You have to overclock to get performance gains, unlike the 290X. This is the reason the card nearly matches the 290X. Put a custom cooler on the 290X or increase its fan speed and the performance gap will widen at stock clock speeds.

AMD, at the last minute, increased the default fan speed from 40% (290X's "quiet" mode) to 47% (close to 290X's "uber" mode) through the 13.11 beta8 drivers. This stops throttling in almost all conditions and increases the card's performance at the expense of insane noise. The Tom's Hardware article tested at the 40% fan speeds, which causes the card to throttle, and that is the main reason they can claim increased performance through a better cooler. They must have a really hot bench or a high stock voltage card too, because no other review I have yet seen said that card throttled at the 47% fan speed. For anyone using the default 47% fan speed, then there should be no performance increase at stock settings by using a custom cooler.

All true and good, but jesus 49dB

But safe to say once they let their AIB partners come out with some nice dual or triple fan coolers, it's going to be a hit.

 

[RCoon]

After all of this and the eventual release of AIB partner cards, I'm more interested in what NVidia intends to do to save themselves. I somehow doubt the 780ti is going to solve the problem of the 290 and 290X, as they're in different price leagues. It's either pull out another ridiculous boost/ti card for that price point (which I personally see as very likely), or bring down prices by a substantial amount.
It's also weird how AMD punched themselves in the balls with the 290, in terms of reference cards. Anyone buying a reference card without water would be stupid to buy a 290X over a 290.

 

[N3M3515]

Tomshardware replaced the stock cooler with an Arctic Accelero Xtreme III. It gave 13% improvement in performance (without manual overclocking) and much better noise levels.

AMD could have scored a perfect 10 if they've equipped this card with a good cooler.

Lol, that's more less kind of what i was expecting from a non reference.