[ PcPer ] AMD Radeon R9 290X Now Selling at $299

[KaRLiToS]

SOURCE

When NVIDIA launched the GTX 980 and GTX 970 last month, it shocked the discrete graphics world. The GTX 970 in particular was an amazing performer and undercut the price of the Radeon R9 290 at the time. That is something that NVIDIA rarely does and we were excited to see some competition in the market.

AMD responded with some price cuts on both the R9 290X and the R9 290 shortly thereafter (though they refuse to call them that) and it seems that AMD and its partners are at it again.

PcPer found a XFX Double D at 299$ and they say that AMD dropped the price.

It is probably XFX that decided to drop the prices of its card, anyway, nobody wants a XFX especialy the Double D edition.

 

[Kenmitch]

The DD version isn't bad. It's no TriX but the cooler is sufficient under normal uses. Not going to get crazy overclocks with it. Pretty quiet even at 100% fan speed. VRM cooling is its weakness.

Above based on 24/7 mining with a 290 DD. Just had to use a custom fan speed to keep vrm temps tolerable.

 

[RussianSensation]

Not bad. However, I think the $251 MSI Gaming R9 290, Gigabyte Windforce R9 290 for $254 stand out as even better values than 290X or 970. And with recent price drops, Zotac 780Ti for $360 at NCIXUS is a smoking value for sure compared to the 980. MSI Gaming 980 goes for $580 while Windforce is $630. The value is just not there in those cards as you can get almost 2X 780Tis for just $70-120 more. NV is unlikely to drop prices since the launch hype of Maxwell is too strong, most gamers hardly follow deals, or revisit post-launch reviews/assessments of price/performance. NV also knows there are A LOT of gamers who will pay hundreds of dollars to have the best card ($649 280, $649 780, $699 780Ti at launch, $550 780 6GB).

I was actually pleased with 970's pricing but 980 just continues NV's tradition of milking the early adopters and those who want bragging rights of the fastest single GPU. Unfortunately I don't see this changing any time soon as 390X should also cost a lot. If AMD even manages to beat 980 by 5-10%, they will want to price it high at $550 too. I am hoping GM200 levels all these cards, comes at $699-749, so that 980 drops to about $449 where it belongs.

390X needs to beat 980 though or NV could easily raise GM200 to $999 without competition. It's good to see that R9 290/290X forced NV to price 970 so aggressively and now we are seeing price wars and clearance on old gen 290/290X/780/780Ti. Good time for someone to go CF/SLI or simply grab one of these ID they don't intend to spend $550-700 on flagship cards in 2015.

Maybe GTX960Ti will also be a game changer in 2015. My takeaway is that history keeps repeating itself - it's often not worth it to buy the latest and greatest GPU as it's superceeded quickly and depreciates in value like a rock in 12-18 months. Now one can buy 2X 780Ti for the price of a single 780Ti just 1 year ago is tellingl. Similarly dual 290X are just $50 more than a single 290X was 1 year ago. The price to pay for latest tech as an early adopter sure is steep.

 

[Rvenger]

HIS R9 290 IceQ is 230 AR with the free games as of this morning.

 

[Rezist]

Not bad. However, I think the $251 MSI Gaming R9 290, Gigabyte Windforce R9 290 for $254 stand out as even better values than 290X or 970. And with recent price drops, Zotac 780Ti for $360 at NCIXUS is a smoking value for sure compared to the 980. MSI Gaming 980 goes for $580 while Windforce is $630. The value is just not there in those cards as you can get almost 2X 780Tis for just $70-120 more. NV is unlikely to drop prices since the launch hype of Maxwell is too strong, most gamers hardly follow deals, or revisit post-launch reviews/assessments of price/performance. NV also knows there are A LOT of gamers who will pay hundreds of dollars to have the best card ($649 280, $649 780, $699 780Ti at launch, $550 780 6GB).

I was actually pleased with 970's pricing but 980 just continues NV's tradition of milking the early adopters and those who want bragging rights of the fastest single GPU. Unfortunately I don't see this changing any time soon as 390X should also cost a lot. If AMD even manages to beat 980 by 5-10%, they will want to price it high at $550 too. I am hoping GM200 levels all these cards, comes at $699-749, so that 980 drops to about $449 where it belongs.

390X needs to beat 980 though or NV could easily raise GM200 to $999 without competition. It's good to see that R9 290/290X forced NV to price 970 so aggressively and now we are seeing price wars and clearance on old gen 290/290X/780/780Ti. Good time for someone to go CF/SLI or simply grab one of these ID they don't intend to spend $550-700 on flagship cards in 2015.

Maybe GTX960Ti will also be a game changer in 2015. My takeaway is that history keeps repeating itself - it's often not worth it to buy the latest and greatest GPU as it's superceeded quickly and depreciates in value like a rock in 12-18 months. Now one can buy 2X 780Ti for the price of a single 780Ti just 1 year ago is tellingl. Similarly dual 290X are just $50 more than a single 290X was 1 year ago. The price to pay for latest tech as an early adopter sure is steep.

Could nVidia drop the prices? Seems like retailers are controlling the prices now. I mean if they can get back to MSRP the 970 is still awesome.

 

[RussianSensation]

HIS R9 290 IceQ is 230 AR with the free games as of this morning.

That's an incredible deal.

http://www.techspot.com/review/898-geforce-gtx-970-sli-4k-gaming/page7.html

 

[boozzer]

yea, when I saw this, my 285$ 290 tri x became normal, instead of a bargain I would gladly pay 15$ for 5% more performance :/

 

[SolMiester]

Lots of people have NV to thank right now for these super low prices of 290 series. NV gets to release a premium card in the 980 with the bigger price, and then with the 970, force AMD to drastically reduce the price of its own cards, in order to keep selling them.

 

[raghu78]

Lots of people have NV to thank right now for these super low prices of 290 series. NV gets to release a premium card in the 980 with the bigger price, and then with the 970, force AMD to drastically reduce the price of its own cards, in order to keep selling them.

That has always been the case. Consumers benefit from strong competition. Remember when the GTX 780 got a price cut after the R9 290 / R9 290X launch. Similarly when HD 7970 prices were cut after GTX 680 launch. The one time when AMD forced price cuts on both the high end models was the HD 4870 (which pushed Nvidia to cut the prices on the then recently launched GTX 280 / GTX 260) . We need AMD to respond with a very powerful R9 390X to force the prices down on GTX 980 and to push Nvidia to launch GM200. :thumbsup:

 

[SolMiester]

The 780 reduced, because NV released the Ti to still keep the performance crown and premium sale price.
Where AMD now, like with the 7970 didn't have another card to release. The have to cut pricing to sell.
What will be interesting is, will NV reduce the 980 when GM200 is release, or will that go up to the next level like the Titan and 780 did they hit the market!

 

[KaRLiToS]

Lots of people have NV to thank right now for these super low prices of 290 series. NV gets to release a premium card in the 980 with the bigger price, and then with the 970, force AMD to drastically reduce the price of its own cards, in order to keep selling them.

Hail to Nvidi for releasing a full price card barely faster. Sorry but it is the same story every year. And no I will never thank a company for making money on me. They should thank us.

 

[Keysplayr]

Hail to Nvidi for releasing a full price card barely faster. Sorry but it is the same story every year. And no I will never thank a company for making money on me. They should thank us.

"Hail to Nvidia" LOL, my my my.
They do thank us. In the form of a GPU in which to play and enjoy your games.
When you get a haircut, do you thank and tip the stylist or do you resent them for daring to make any money off of you?

 

[KaRLiToS]

Yeah but when I thank the stylist, she don't charge me with a 1000$ full hair cut the next time. Or she don't try to charge me 3000$ with two hair cuts that throttle.

AMD and Nvidia don't give a dime about us, I won't thank them. If you do, then this is your problem.

By the way your comparaison was bad. You just compared a service (haircut) with a product (GPU). Of course you'll thank for a service depending on the quality.

 

[lavaheadache]

The 780 reduced, because NV released the Ti to still keep the performance crown and premium sale price.
Where AMD now, like with the 7970 didn't have another card to release. The have to cut pricing to sell.
What will be interesting is, will NV reduce the 980 when GM200 is release, or will that go up to the next level like the Titan and 780 did they hit the market!

Its not like the successor to Hawaii has to be magnitudes higher in performance to match or even beat the 980. That shouldn't even be the goal. The 980 is going to have a short life as nvidia's top sku IMO. Big Maxwell will be the card to beat.

 

[Techhog]

AMD is in serious trouble. If they don't shape up soon, we're going to have a couple of monopolies on our hands soon. :/

 

[Grooveriding]

Its not like the successor to Hawaii has to be magnitudes higher in performance to match or even beat the 980. That shouldn't even be the goal. The 980 is going to have a short life as nvidia's top sku IMO. Big Maxwell will be the card to beat.

Yup the 980 is a quick filler card imo. Something to cash in on quickly at a high price, smaller die than usual for the flagship price like 680. It's imperceptibly faster than a 780ti, that should say it all. I think we'll see GM200 in about 3 months and it will be the real deal and with it will come price cuts on 980 & 970 and we'll most likely see whatever AMD has coming around then as well.

 

[Hauk]

I think we'll see GM200 in about 3 months and it will be the real deal and with it will come price cuts on 980 & 970 and we'll most likely see whatever AMD has coming around then as well.

with all that and being tax time (refund here), money will surely leave pocket

 

[KaRLiToS]

with all that and being tax time (refund here), money will surely leave pocket

 

[digitaldurandal]

HIS R9 290 IceQ is 230 AR with the free games as of this morning.

Dang it Rvenger, now I am on the red team. I just bought two for my bank account and for me.

 

[digitaldurandal]

My order was just canceled due to out of stock notice. Second time I missed a deal.

 

[lavaheadache]

Yup the 980 is a quick filler card imo. Something to cash in on quickly at a high price, smaller die than usual for the flagship price like 680. It's imperceptibly faster than a 780ti, that should say it all. I think we'll see GM200 in about 3 months and it will be the real deal and with it will come price cuts on 980 & 970 and we'll most likely see whatever AMD has coming around then as well.

I see we share the same opion across the entire subject. I dumped my 980 because I felt like while more powerful than my 290x Lightning the difference was only really seen in some benchmarks aside from what my power meter said. 980 and 970 are impressive from a technological standpoint but will soon be forgotten because , as you put it, they are filler cards. Both merely offering the same overall performance level already obtainable just at better price points and lower power which screams new midrange.

If I were buying a card right now, I would probably snag a 290(x) or 780(ti) as the prices have dropped (new or used) to where they are actually the bargains compared to the new cards.

Even the 295x2 and Z are at prices where if single card was desirable for lots of performance they are reasonable considerations.

 

[mindbomb]

Imo, hawaii was one of the worst architectures in recent history. MSI has a 970 that they rate at 148 watts, meaning two of them in SLI still uses a tad less power than a 290x. It's embarrassing. I feel I'm locked into AMD cards because of mantle, but I feel the best amd cards are used ~$100 radeon 7950's from decommissioned mining rigs.

 

[wand3r3r]

Imo, hawaii was one of the worst architectures in recent history. MSI has a 970 that they rate at 148 watts, meaning two of them in SLI still uses a tad less power than a 290x. It's embarrassing. I feel I'm locked into AMD cards because of mantle, but I feel the best amd cards are used ~$100 radeon 7950's from decommissioned mining rigs.

I can only assume you haven't seen the actual power usage and not the "rated" tdp. Put them to work and check out the potential difference. Hint, it's not what you claim.

http://www.techspot.com/review/898-geforce-gtx-970-sli-4k-gaming/page6.html

 

[lavaheadache]

I can only assume you haven't seen the actual power usage and not the "rated" tdp. Put them to work and check out the potential difference. Hint, it's not what you claim.

http://www.techspot.com/review/898-geforce-gtx-970-sli-4k-gaming/page6.html

I wasn't even going to bother... reading reviews =! first hand experience.

When a review shows peak wattage it isn't very indicative of actual experience.

 

[mindbomb]

No, I'm pretty sure what I said was right. Some non reference models run at 250w, and also, the testing methodologies may not be that good for some sites, so it's possible the big difference doesn't show up some times. This is a problem for many tonga and maxwell models, where one of the selling points is efficiency.