35
MSI Radeon R9 290X Lightning 4 GB Review
Packaging & Contents »Introduction
AMD's Radeon R9 290X is built on the company's Hawaii GPU, the first truly new high-end graphics chip from the company in a very long time (21 months). Using 6.8 billion transistors, the GPU is built on a 28 nanometer process at TSMC, Taiwan. It features 2816 shaders and 64 ROPs connected to 4 GB of memory using a 512-bit wide memory bus.
We are reviewing MSI's flagship R9 290X Lightning today. It comes with a large triple-slot, triple-fan cooler and MSI says it to be equipped with everything hardcore overclockers need to break world records. MSI overclocked GPU frequency by 80 MHz out of the box, while memory remains unchanged.
The MSI R9 290X Lightning is currently available online for $699.
| HD 7970 GHz Ed. | GeForce GTX 680 | GeForce GTX 780 | Radeon R9 290 | Radeon R9 290X | MSI R9 290X Lightning | Radeon HD 7990 | GeForce GTX Titan | GeForce GTX 780 Ti | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shader Units | 2048 | 1536 | 2304 | 2560 | 2816 | 2816 | 2x 2048 | 2688 | 2880 |
| ROPs | 32 | 32 | 48 | 64 | 64 | 64 | 2x 32 | 48 | 48 |
| Graphics Processor | Tahiti | GK104 | GK110 | Hawaii | Hawaii | Hawaii | 2x Tahiti | GK110 | GK110 |
| Transistors | 4310M | 3500M | 7100M | 6200M | 6200M | 6200M | 2x 4310M | 7100M | 7100M |
| Memory Size | 3072 MB | 2048 MB | 3072 MB | 4096 MB | 4096 MB | 4096 MB | 2x 3072 MB | 6144 MB | 3072 MB |
| Memory Bus Width | 384 bit | 256 bit | 384 bit | 512 bit | 512 bit | 512 bit | 2x 384 bit | 384 bit | 384 bit |
| Core Clock | 1050 MHz | 1006 MHz+ | 863 MHz+ | 947 MHz | 1000 MHz | 1080 MHz | 1000 MHz | 837 MHz+ | 876 MHz+ |
| Memory Clock | 1500 MHz | 1502 MHz | 1502 MHz | 1250 MHz | 1250 MHz | 1250 MHz | 1500 MHz | 1502 MHz | 1750 MHz |
| Price | $470 | $400 | $480 | $460 | $570 | $700 | $900 | $1000 | $660 |
Nov 25th, 2024 00:40 EST
change timezone
Latest GPU Drivers
New Forum Posts
- ROM not erased. Error 0FL01 (49)
- What's your latest tech purchase? (22334)
- Your PC ATM (35063)
- TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club (19564)
- test memory cards PS2 (21)
- Scratched mobo traces with a screwdriver (40)
- NVME SSD Longevity without use? (5)
- whats a safe overclock for 1660ti mobile (2)
- Dell Workstation Owners Club (3210)
- Help with RTX 4090 - Low timespy score and low fps in cyberpunk 2077, CPU bottleneck? (13)
Popular Reviews
- STALKER 2 Performance Benchmark Review - 35 GPUs Tested
- Gigabyte X870E Aorus Master Review
- AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Review - The Best Gaming Processor
- ARCTIC P12 PWM PST 120 mm Fan Review
- Sennheiser HD 490 PRO Open-Back Headphones Review
- Chieftec Visio Review
- NVIDIA SFF-Ready System Build & Benchmark Review - Build Small, Play Big
- Upcoming Hardware Launches 2024 (Updated Nov 2024)
- DDR5 Memory Performance Scaling with AMD Zen 5
- Intel Core Ultra 7 265K Review
Controversial News Posts
- AMD Falling Behind: Radeon dGPUs Absent from Steam's Top 20 (222)
- AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Stocks Vaporized in Retail, Being Scalped (153)
- AMD Introduces Next-Generation AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Processor, $479, Nov 7 (124)
- Apple and Samsung in the Fray to Acquire Intel: Rumor (123)
- AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Comes with 120W TDP, 5.20 GHz Boost, All Specs Leaked (120)
- Microsoft Offers $30 Windows 10 Security Extension for Home Users (118)
- TechPowerUp is Hiring a Power Supply (PSU) Reviewer (110)
- AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Has the CCD on Top of the 3D V-cache Die, Not Under it (110)