AMD Radeon R9 290 reviews

[vario]

wait so u can unlock the 290 to a full 290x?

Yes.

Seemed weird to me that not many people here are talking about it.
Current story is that some R290 got normal hawaii XT chips because of the demand, thus simple bios flashing restores the locked shaders.
Seems all reference R290`s have a possibility for unlock.
Currently Powercolor,XFX,VTX were unlocked.Overclock UK even sells the unlocked ones.
And i remember that time and time again people are saying that unlocking is a thing of the past

[Zloyd]

Yea WEIRD is right .... people on "XTREMESYSTEMS" are ing about stock coolers. I think 290 is gonna do well in many markets being able to unlock them is just GG.

[NEOAethyr]

I think it's just the pcb guys.
Some probably got out on the 290x pcb.

Both are probably 99.999% identical, except for like a resister or 2 to tell it what device id it is...
Amd probably has soft straps too.
So once you replace them by flashing the bios it's a full on 290x.
But I don't know for sure, I haven't used a ati/amd card in a long time, I don't know really know about there id's because firegl is something not worth anything to me.
Not be offensive, but I'm just telling you why I don't know anything about changing there id's.

That's if there is any difference at all in there pcb's...
Along time ago I heard ati no protection at all for id changing.
Amd didn't either... you could change there cpu's to other ones, at least some of them, you could at least give them mp instructions.

[solofly]

I just got rid of a pair of GTX460's. They were the noisiest cards out of all the video cards I currently own. I'm glad they're gone and even if didn't care about AMD's piss poor drivers, I know the noise would drive me away from purchasing one...

[vario]

I just got rid of a pair of GTX460's. They were the noisiest cards out of all the video cards I currently own. I'm glad they're gone and even if didn't care about AMD's piss poor drivers, I know the noise would drive me away from purchasing one...

For a post full of information and topic related data! Good job sir!

[mars]

Yea WEIRD is right .... people on "XTREMESYSTEMS" are ing about stock coolers. I think 290 is gonna do well in many markets being able to unlock them is just GG.

this used to be the forum where people didnt have to justify spending xxxxx to cool yyyyy by -zzzzz degrees, people just did it.
Now we get "driver issues", "reference cooler sucks"

wasnt the last card that was bios flashable and unlockable the 6950 -> 6970? AMD/ATI do this often enough

[Ace123]

I think they do this on purpose sometimes to keep it exciting. It costs the same to make both chips and Amd can use little "mistakes" like this to persuade people to purchase the card who otherwise would have bought the competitions. Youd have to be insane to spend 200-250 more for a 780ti when you know the 290 was unlockable and offered the same/near the same performance. At least that might be the logic.

[NEOAethyr]

I think they do this on purpose sometimes to keep it exciting. It costs the same to make both chips and Amd can use little "mistakes" like this to persuade people to purchase the card who otherwise would have bought the competitions. Youd have to be insane to spend 200-250 more for a 780ti when you know the 290 was unlockable and offered the same/near the same performance. At least that might be the logic.

Totally agree.
I think it's a good thing, good practice.
Anyone can pick a quality level and run with it .

Besides I really doubt they spent the extra money to mess with the chip.

I haven't heard anything really yet to say that unlocking is common practice on the new cards.
It would be cool though.

[tajoh111]

Totally agree.
I think it's a good thing, good practice.
Anyone can pick a quality level and run with it .

Besides I really doubt they spent the extra money to mess with the chip.

I haven't heard anything really yet to say that unlocking is common practice on the new cards.
It would be cool though.

It's good for those willing to make the attempt, but I remember AMD closed this loop hole shortly after with those cards.

What surprise me is AMD had such low quantity of the 290x and such plentiful 290 in comparison. Especially at the launch, AMD should off had more 290x if these flashes were so compatible with the 290.

In addition this flash is good and bad, good pretty much for the consumers that are willing to do this, but bad for AMD's margins. Who is gonna buy a 290x when the 290 is 150 dollars cheaper and the same card.

[xBanzai89]

It's good for those willing to make the attempt, but I remember AMD closed this loop hole shortly after with those cards.

What surprise me is AMD had such low quantity of the 290x and such plentiful 290 in comparison. Especially at the launch, AMD should off had more 290x if these flashes were so compatible with the 290.

In addition this flash is good and bad, good pretty much for the consumers that are willing to do this, but bad for AMD's margins. Who is gonna buy a 290x when the 290 is 150 dollars cheaper and the same card.

Seeing as how the majority of people do not overclock their cards, I think it is safe to assume there will be a even smaller minority willing to flash their 290 into a 290X.

[NEOAethyr]

In addition this flash is good and bad, good pretty much for the consumers that are willing to do this, but bad for AMD's margins. Who is gonna buy a 290x when the 290 is 150 dollars cheaper and the same card.

I don't think it's bad for amd's margins at all.
It could get more people buying amd.
And they get to sell more of there lower binned chips.

Heck maybe they only bin for the 290x, while the 290 gets any old chip.
Meaning the 290 could have end up having just as good as chance as using the whole chip as a 290x.
You never know.
Just saying, maybe there is little to no throw away.
This could change as there are more lower end model's put out in the market (once they have accumulated enough bad chips that don't fit in the 290 range).
Just speculation.

[STEvil]

I just got rid of a pair of GTX460's. They were the noisiest cards out of all the video cards I currently own. I'm glad they're gone and even if didn't care about AMD's piss poor drivers, I know the noise would drive me away from purchasing one...

Interestingly I have yet to crash with my 290x, where my GTX670 would crash every 3 or 4 days like clockwork if I was gaming. If I didnt game it would last a week or two sometimes.

hmm

PC runs 24/7 btw.

[MaddMuppet]

Yes.

Seemed weird to me that not many people here are talking about it.
Current story is that some R290 got normal hawaii XT chips because of the demand, thus simple bios flashing restores the locked shaders.
Seems all reference R290`s have a possibility for unlock.
Currently Powercolor,XFX,VTX were unlocked.Overclock UK even sells the unlocked ones.
And i remember that time and time again people are saying that unlocking is a thing of the past

If this is pretty much a given that the majority will unlock to the 290x, then put me down for 2 or 3. What a score that would be considering the price. Simply amazing.

[kuroikenshi]

snip

I just Gave you an Internets

you should have 245 now

[VoodooProphetII]

I think they do this on purpose sometimes to keep it exciting. It costs the same to make both chips and Amd can use little "mistakes" like this to persuade people to purchase the card who otherwise would have bought the competitions. Youd have to be insane to spend 200-250 more for a 780ti when you know the 290 was unlockable and offered the same/near the same performance. At least that might be the logic.

Well Ace123, meet insane. However, the price difference for me was closer to 350 when you take what we pay for the cards locally which would make me really insane. But hey, at least I can run my card 1253mhz core and 7600mhz memory 24/7 without an issue.

[Heinz68]

SAPPHIRE releases Performance Boost for R9 290

SAPPHIRE Technology has just announced that it is releasing a performance enhancing BIOS for the recently introduced SAPPHIRE R9 290 graphics card.

After internal testing under various operating conditions, SAPPHIRE is now releasing a BIOS specifically for the currently available R9 290 which operates with a different fan profile, and a maximum fan speed of 47%. The company believes this offers the user the best compromise for enhanced performance, noise and reliability. The new BIOS and Flash tool are available free to download from the company?s website.

Always looking to provide the user with the best solutions, SAPPHIRE will be introducing new models in the R9 290 family over the coming weeks based on the company?s own designs and with innovative and enhanced cooling solutions.

Read more at SapphireTech

[thatdude90210]

Read more at SapphireTech

Interesting. I flashed my Sapphire R9 290, looks like the only change is fan profile.

[vario]

Well Ace123, meet insane. However, the price difference for me was closer to 350 when you take what we pay for the cards locally which would make me really insane. But hey, at least I can run my card 1253mhz core and 7600mhz memory 24/7 without an issue.

What is the purpose of a post like this ? I mean, great for u that you have chosen some different card and you are happy with it.But what is the purpose of you telling us this ?
AMD threads are always full of this
"Yea yea, but i will buy nv"
"Well yea but drivers suck"
"Well i can OC my card!"
and so on.Absolutely NOTHING in terms of a topic at hand.
And these broad as hell statements."at least i can overclock my card to "insert some number".What are you implying? That u cant overclock AMD cards ? Not to these speeds ? You know that architectural differences make this kind of comparisons kind of stupid ?You know that your card IS NOT really running at these speeds 24/7 ? Its running at those speeds BEST CASE SCENARIO only when 3D loaded,and still it doesnt matter.Btw you know that memory on 290 is in 512bit configuration, so even running slower MHZ wise can give you more bandwith...Oh i heard that some kind of celeron was overclocked to 9ghz ,it has nothing to do with this topic but here you go, it has more numbers dude.
780Ti is a great card ,it is overpriced great card, but it is great.However 290/X are better in terms of price to performance ratio ,so people will buy what they want.

Anyhow, overclockers.UK are selling premodded 290 to 290X cards for a price between 290 and a 290X, so you have a warranty and all.So this procedure have to be at least somewhat common for them to do that.However from what i read they are not as plentiful as 6950 to 6970 cards.

[[XC] Lead Head]

Interestingly I have yet to crash with my 290x, where my GTX670 would crash every 3 or 4 days like clockwork if I was gaming. If I didnt game it would last a week or two sometimes.

hmm

PC runs 24/7 btw.

I must be the only person who has never had any serious problems with ATI drivers. Radeon 9600 > x800 Pro (unlocked) > x1800 > HD4770 + HD6570M. Never once had the drivers cause me problems. Sure CCC sucks and takes decades to load, but that's another thing.

The HD4770 rig is a media center that runs 24/7. It's shocking how well that 4770 plays modern games as well.

[VoodooProphetII]

What is the purpose of a post like this ? I mean, great for u that you have chosen some different card and you are happy with it.But what is the purpose of you telling us this ?
AMD threads are always full of this
"Yea yea, but i will buy nv"
"Well yea but drivers suck"
"Well i can OC my card!"
and so on.Absolutely NOTHING in terms of a topic at hand.
And these broad as hell statements."at least i can overclock my card to "insert some number".What are you implying? That u cant overclock AMD cards ? Not to these speeds ? You know that architectural differences make this kind of comparisons kind of stupid ?You know that your card IS NOT really running at these speeds 24/7 ? Its running at those speeds BEST CASE SCENARIO only when 3D loaded,and still it doesnt matter.Btw you know that memory on 290 is in 512bit configuration, so even running slower MHZ wise can give you more bandwith...Oh i heard that some kind of celeron was overclocked to 9ghz ,it has nothing to do with this topic but here you go, it has more numbers dude.
780Ti is a great card ,it is overpriced great card, but it is great.However 290/X are better in terms of price to performance ratio ,so people will buy what they want.

Anyhow, overclockers.UK are selling premodded 290 to 290X cards for a price between 290 and a 290X, so you have a warranty and all.So this procedure have to be at least somewhat common for them to do that.However from what i read they are not as plentiful as 6950 to 6970 cards.

Touchy... Okay, I'll admit it was not contributing in any way to the topic, but I did reply to a general remark insinuating / implying that someone who bought a GTX 780 Ti at 200 to 250 more than the R9 290 knowing that the R9 290 is unlockable to a R9 290X has to be insane. So I basically just explained why I am, as the poster would say, insane.
Keep in mind that any person, by nature will do their utmost to prove their point of view. Yes that counts for me as well. It is good to look past the negatives and focus on the positives, but don’t be blinded by the positives to the extent that you fail to acknowledge the negatives.

[Ace123]

I think you read my post wrong. I was simply voicing the attitude or thought process that a company could potentially provoke from someone if they intentionally released a card that could be unlocked into a more expensive one rivaling the performance of a much more expensive card. If a customer "knew" they could unlock a 400 dollar card into a 550 dollar card that rivaled the performance of a 650 dollar card, that person might say "youd have to be insane to..... blah blah"

[VoodooProphetII]

I think you read my post wrong. I was simply voicing the attitude or thought process that a company could potentially provoke from someone if they intentionally released a card that could be unlocked into a more expensive one rivaling the performance of a much more expensive card. If a customer "knew" they could unlock a 400 dollar card into a 550 dollar card that rivaled the performance of a 650 dollar card, that person might say "youd have to be insane to..... blah blah"

Noted.... Thanks for clearing that up, and yes you are right in saying that.

[Zloyd]

Are there that many unlocks happening ? I know a few people waiting on DCu2 and stuff to show up because current aftermarket is 3 slot. Guess lots of people waiting on better coolers before they pull the trigger. Ah for the first time im seeing AMD should have done better much better on the cooler ON launch day itself the hype's gonna die down and hurt their sales, tho really I guess once those hit its gonna be good till maxwell shows up.

[tajoh111]

I think you read my post wrong. I was simply voicing the attitude or thought process that a company could potentially provoke from someone if they intentionally released a card that could be unlocked into a more expensive one rivaling the performance of a much more expensive card. If a customer "knew" they could unlock a 400 dollar card into a 550 dollar card that rivaled the performance of a 650 dollar card, that person might say "youd have to be insane to..... blah blah"

This is the same basis as overclocking isn't it. E.g One could overclock a 280x high enough, it performs as well as the 500 dollar cards can. And atleast to me, overclocking is more safe when done with low enough voltage and easier. Doing a bios update can be a lottery and/or brick a card under the wrong circumstances.

[Zloyd]

Ummm tajoh I think your looking for treehuggercomputing.com