AMD Radeon R9 290 reviews

[LordEC911]

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.

You would have to be trying to brick a 290/290x for that to happen.

[vario]

You would have to be trying to brick a 290/290x for that to happen.

Dont they have double bios to begin with ? Anyhow, Tajoh seems to grab to only bad 290 related news ,or spins the good ones badly.
R290 Unlocks to 290X via bios flash!
"well yea but you can brick your card then..."

And lets be clear here, R290 is a steal even without unlock capability!

[blindbox]

Uh, hasn't AMD cards been unbrickable since they started introducing dual bios? The backup bios is read-only.

Not sure if all AMD cards have dual bioses though.

[thatdude90210]

The reference boards do, but the partner/custom boards sometimes cheap out and didn't have dual bios switch.

[wez]

Either way, you can just use another card for display and re-flash the bricked card.

[DefStar]

Wow that's a steal...a 290 and an ek water block and bios flash to 290x, no actual air cooled 290x will ever touch it no matter how hard you try...and you only spent $500 for the water block and 290. Now that makes sense.

[Heinz68]

AMD?s R9 290 series drives 4K monitors well

The Graphics Core Next architecture is opening up the 4K gamer market
There is a shift coming in the high-end gaming segment, with more and more enthusiast gaming, and gamers, converting to Ultra HD. The new high-end AIBs will be tasked with displaying playable frame rates in these higher resolutions while not sacrificing options like TresFX and anti-aliasing.

What do we think?
Given the price of the GTX 780 family with the GTX 780 is retailing for $515 and the 780 TI for $700, the HD 7900 series should be attractive to consumers with its lower prices of $549 and $349. The boards stack up to their counterparts in Ultra HD performance, but they will run hotter as well as use more power. We are really looking for?ward to see what AMD board partners have in mind for the 290 and 290X. With some extra cooling (which will no doubt come with extra cost), we can see an increase in the frame rates in Ultra HD. Twenty-fourteen will be the year of 4K.?R.D.

Read much more at JPR (Jon Peddie Research)
I believe the $349 is a typo should be $399

[LagunaX]

I just got an XFX r9 290.
Unfortunately mine won't unlock into a 290x after running the Hawaii tool diagnostics.
However, the noise under load actually isn't that bad, but I have mine in a CM 690 II under my desk.
Just sounds like a big fan on medium settings.

[tajoh111]

Why are the partners taking so long to get a new cooler on it. Nvidia has already got non-reference PCB cards pictured and coming soon. Just slapping on a new cooler shouldn't take that much time.

Does AMD make more money when people use their reference design and reference cooler or something? After the none reference cooler versions come out, I don't think anyway is going to touch a reference design.

[Dimitriman]

Why are the partners taking so long to get a new cooler on it. Nvidia has already got non-reference PCB cards pictured and coming soon. Just slapping on a new cooler shouldn't take that much time.

Does AMD make more money when people use their reference design and reference cooler or something? After the none reference cooler versions come out, I don't think anyway is going to touch a reference design.

So you mean Nvidia also doesn't have them.

But I agree AMD is taking a bit long.

[tajoh111]

So you mean Nvidia also doesn't have them.

But I agree AMD is taking a bit long.

Non-reference cooler gtx 780-ti are already out.

There's actually a couple non-reference PCB gtx 780-ti reviewed and previewed.

http://www.fudzilla.com/home/item/33...ntom-previewed.
http://www.kitguru.net/components/gr...p-ultra-hd-4k/


I am not sure they are out in store's but they do have them more or less ready to be released.

I haven't seen non-reference cooled 290x yet? Even in picture form.

Non-reference cooled gtx 780 ti has been out since day one and they don't need a cooler upgrade nearly as badly as Hawaii.

[mars]

oh noes AMD still hasnt released non reference coolers for the 290 series what will I do now? I am disappoint

lets all go buy 780ti for the non reference cooler! go team nvidia!

[Zloyd]

A week or so more im guessing we heard since its released that they will take till mid Dec or thereabouts for the aftermarket cooled 290,290x's

[Heinz68]

oh noes AMD still hasnt released non reference coolers for the 290 series what will I do now? I am disappoint

lets all go buy 780ti for the non reference cooler! go team nvidia!

Exactly! I can't even imagine how disappointed 'tajoh111' must be since he is waiting to buy the AMD R9 290 series non-reference card and in the meantime AMD is trying to make more money selling the reference card.

[mars]

personally i hope AMD do NOT waste their focus nor their dwindling resources on this non-issue

and again this is XS, I shouldn't need to justify my selfishness in the above statement, I ran a stock cooler for maybe about a week which should be normal for most of the forum posters here

and please no more tears about warranty, risk of bios flashing and whatever drama that makes no sense on what is meant to be a forum of experienced enthusiasts

[tajoh111]

personally i hope AMD do NOT waste their focus nor their dwindling resources on this non-issue

and again this is XS, I shouldn't need to justify my selfishness in the above statement, I ran a stock cooler for maybe about a week which should be normal for most of the forum posters here

and please no more tears about warranty, risk of bios flashing and whatever drama that makes no sense on what is meant to be a forum of experienced enthusiasts

It is an issue. I think its a blanket statement to say we are xtremesystems. We don't care about noise and etc. It isn't just noise that's an issue, its the overclocking headroom with the stock cooler. Once you add a good cooler to the 290x, it starts getting into the same league of pricing as the gtx 780 ti. I don't want to buy a r290 because there's a good chance that the flash won't work and I suspect these cards come from a lower binning than the 290x. I also hate the idea of buying crippled cards with some parts missing. I was making all sorts of complaints on the gtx 780 about this.

Exactly! I can't even imagine how disappointed 'tajoh111' must be since he is waiting to buy the AMD R9 290 series non-reference card and in the meantime AMD is trying to make more money selling the reference card.

I was actually considering the 290x way before hand. But like most people on xtremesystems, I overclock(which is not an non issue on this forum). With this in mind, the 290x doesn't overclock very far unless your willing to crank up the noise to an unusable level. And at these levels, it's to the point where even people at xtremesystems can't tolerate. A lot of people are replacing the stock solution, ,however, many non-stock solutions(except water) don't cool the VRM's very well. As a result, overclocking with poor vrm cooling can lead to dead cards. Dead cards from overclocking from overheated vrms is a good way to not get a successful Warrantee RMA.

Waiting around for none stock solutions is not a dumb thing to do at all. And if I do buy one will be on my own accord and on my own terms on what I want from a product. I won't be told that noise isn't an issue because I post on xtremesystems and I don't want to be forced to buy a none reference cooler to make it the product I want.

I think you guys give AMD way too much leeway. AMD should have non-reference coolers out at this point and it is really a product in need of a better cooler. To not buy one until better cooling on it in my opinion is completely reasonable.

[mars]

It is an issue. I think its a blanket statement to say we are xtremesystems. We don't care about noise and etc. It isn't just noise that's an issue, its the overclocking headroom with the stock cooler. Once you add a good cooler to the 290x, it starts getting into the same league of pricing as the gtx 780 ti.

please look again at my post... and tell me where i mentioned "noise"... I did not bring it up, yet here you are answering an imaginary assertion
if i bought a 780ti i will still be using aftermarket cooling....so the rest of your statement isnt applicable at all considering what I asserted was that NOONE here should be using any STOCK cooler... doesnt matter if its acid dipped, cryofrozen, plated with unobtainium comes with free blowjob, WE can still do better

of course we give AMD leeway, they ing deserve it, I ended up spending fair less than what I originally planned to play bf4 which would not have happened if the 290 was NOT competitive with Nvidias offerings

your opinion is valid though... so yea keep waiting for a better reference cooler... rofl

[Tim]

It is an issue. I think its a blanket statement to say we are xtremesystems. We don't care about noise and etc. It isn't just noise that's an issue, its the overclocking headroom with the stock cooler. Once you add a good cooler to the 290x, it starts getting into the same league of pricing as the gtx 780 ti. I don't want to buy a r290 because there's a good chance that the flash won't work and I suspect these cards come from a lower binning than the 290x. I also hate the idea of buying crippled cards with some parts missing. I was making all sorts of complaints on the gtx 780 about this.



I was actually considering the 290x way before hand. But like most people on xtremesystems, I overclock(which is not an non issue on this forum). With this in mind, the 290x doesn't overclock very far unless your willing to crank up the noise to an unusable level. And at these levels, it's to the point where even people at xtremesystems can't tolerate. A lot of people are replacing the stock solution, ,however, many non-stock solutions(except water) don't cool the VRM's very well. As a result, overclocking with poor vrm cooling can lead to dead cards. Dead cards from overclocking from overheated vrms is a good way to not get a successful Warrantee RMA.

Waiting around for none stock solutions is not a dumb thing to do at all. And if I do buy one will be on my own accord and on my own terms on what I want from a product. I won't be told that noise isn't an issue because I post on xtremesystems and I don't want to be forced to buy a none reference cooler to make it the product I want.

I think you guys give AMD way too much leeway. AMD should have non-reference coolers out at this point and it is really a product in need of a better cooler. To not buy one until better cooling on it in my opinion is completely reasonable.

Enough now please, you are just rehashing over and over and over and over again.

[madmaxx]

@ tajoh: How much does nVidia pay you? Is it per post, or are you salary? LoL

[flopper]

290 best card in the world.
the new king.

[rekleif]

@ tajoh: How much does nVidia pay you? Is it per post, or are you salary? LoL

Lol. Of course it is not per post. It obviously is per word.

[tajoh111]

@ tajoh: How much does nVidia pay you? Is it per post, or are you salary? LoL

Seriously. I am not really positive about Nvidia cards at all. I have been pretty critical of their pricing. Unlike some of the AMD fanboys here, I don't look like I am trying to sell AMD cards or Nvidia cards. I am just picky about my purchases. If I was really someone paid by Nvidia, I would be alot more positive about Nvidia cards(similar to what floppers posts are like but for nvidia) and I would have jumped up a lot more on AMD's black screen issues. Having a lot of pure value does get a product a lot of points, but when i buy something, I am willing to wait for a product for the features I want or pay that extra dollar to get the features I want. Rarely does brand have to do anything with it. As a result, I don't upgrade often and the system in my sig is actually the system I still use. However I did remove the 4890 as it was too loud and the 4870x2 is pretty darn loud too. As a a result, I use my laptop most of the time for work and such when I am at home.

All I want is AMD to hurry up with their partner none reference cards? That isn't much to ask when the competition released their product later and have such cards on the market already. I am not going to buy a flaw product just because AMD is the underdog. These Hawaii threads, really having nothing to hear from at all because AMD has not released anything yet. No new cards and no solid new on when the none-reference card are coming. I really do wish we got news about this.

And particularly because this is xtremesystems, I think people have something to gain from non-reference designs. Overclocking headroom is probably the biggest thing. Its not a secret that these things don't overclock with a regular cooler. They overclock well enough with a waterblock but they hit a wall with Ln2 very quickly. I think one more thing these cards could benefit from is a improved power delivery system. The amount of power these things consume when overclocked make it the most power hungry single GPU pretty much of all time. As a result, I think these cards can benefit most from having upgraded VRMs. Not necessarily in headroom but it is a possibility, but lifetime usage of the cards. Running a card highly overclock with extra voltage is bound to take its toll on the power delivery system on these cards.

[Sparky]

All I want is AMD to hurry up with their partner none reference cards? That isn't much to ask when the competition released their product later and have such cards on the market already. I am not going to buy a flaw product just because AMD is the underdog. These Hawaii threads, really having nothing to hear from at all because AMD has released anything yet. No new cards and no solid new on when the none-reference card are coming. I really do wish we got news about this.

I think you have the partners to bug about this, not AMD. AMD isn't producing the partner non-reference cards...

And I do wish you'd stop with the "Reference cooler suxx!!" posts. We know, we get it, we all know it, we really don't need you constantly complaining about it. Please, just stop it already

[tajoh111]

The thing is, this is a news forum and I am waiting for more news on the 290x reference coolers. It is simply taking a long time. With no news to hear from and constant news of their competitor releasing all sort of none reference cards, AMD or their partners need to throw people a bone.

All I heard are two things from two different sources and they are hardly reliable. Kyle Bennett at hardocp is saying a couple weeks into December and Gibbo from overclockers.uk mentioning sometime early next year. And this is only mentioned for the none-reference cooled version of the 290x. If we want something like a lightning or matrix, I have no idea how long people are going to wait. But if the makers are taking this long to slap on a cooler, it doesn't give me much room to be optimistic.

I remember it was Gibbo possibly who said AMD was not letting partner put non-reference coolers version of there cards till next year just around when Hawaii was released. From the looks of it, it could be the reason for the delay and really unfortunate for a GPU that deserves a better cooler.

Although I complain about the cooler, I hardly use trolling language about it.

[Heinz68]

^^^^^
Off course you're trolling, the only time you visit the AMDs threads is to condemn the product. I'm sure even you know that as everybody else knows.
Now people are not stupid they know about the cooling issue from many tech forums plus all they need to do is to read one review in the OP and they still buy the card. I guess that must bother you a lot, since from day one you claimed you would never buy the card in other words advizing others not to buy it.

What possibly can be your your problem about the non-reference card not on the market since you're not waiting to buy one? At the same time prizing Nvidia and the partners to have some.

Well I can only speculate about it, but it makes some sense. 1) The NV GK 110 is around at least from Feb. 2013, Hawaii is new arch. 2) It takes time to build up inventory before getting in the production of non-reference cards, still up to today not every partner has the cards at Newegg at the same time, but is getting much better. 3) If Gibbo is right about AMD having some time limit before allowing the non-reference cards. The reason might be to do all drivers update to correct any issues, ( off course this one is highly speculative by me). Additionally some off the non-reference cards are probably going to be OC editions, it takes time to have enough binned chips for that.

Anyway I believe AMD and some off the partners are trying to do the best to have such card on the market before Christmas. Lets wait and see if it will work out, but for you tajoh111 it will not make any difference, except you will need to figure out some new AMD bashing issue.