R9 290 *Complete* review list

[GaiaHunter]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7481/the-amd-radeon-r9-290-review/3

Case: NZXT Phantom 630 Windowed Edition

Literally the best case scenario for the 290 here.

We have wildly different dB measurements across reviewers - how far it is measured has a big impact in the numbers.

While the lower the dB number the better, there is a point where it doesn't matter.

I've seen measurements as low as 43dB and measurements as high as 57dB.

That is a substantial difference, as in the card at AT is more than TWICE as noisy as the card of GURU3D.

 

[OCGuy]

So the delay to "increase performance" was really just allowing the fan speed to go higher out of the box, allowing better review performance?

That's......interesting. I think I prefer how every other card works. A set base clock speed that allows equal comparison.

 

[smackababy]

This baby looks loud and hot; but I will be putting it under water, so no problems for me! I am glad I waited for a 290 and didn't grab a 290X. Two of these should be real nice!

 

[Stuka87]

Sounds like reference cooler models drop after the 780Ti. And I am thinking AMD is purposefully holding back inventory of current reference designs. Release the cards, but make them harder to get so more people hold off for the faster after market models.

But for its price, the 290 is awesome, and is the next 7950. Why buy a 290X when a 290 can match it in most cases.

 

[smackababy]

I'd say the 290 is looking more like the 5870. This is a home run. 97% of the 290x performance for $150 less.

 

[96Firebird]

Why buy a 290X when a 290 can match it in most cases.

This makes me wonder how many people will be returning their 290X for the regular 290. Save $150 for slightly less performance.

 

[SlowSpyder]

So the delay to "increase performance" was really just allowing the fan speed to go higher out of the box, allowing better review performance?

That's......interesting. I think I prefer how every other card works. A set base clock speed that allows equal comparison.

Spending more money for less performance is interesting too. No card is perfect, be it AMD or Nvidia based.

 

[Atreidin]

Two quick questions about Anandtech's sound measurements. First, maybe I'm just missing it, but do they say the location of measurement relative to the system? I don't see anything about it, and I would expect that information to be on the page about sound measurements. Maybe it's on another page?

Also in the Anandtech review, is the case closed? I'm guessing that it is, but I don't know for sure. I'm guessing it is so mundane of a detail it wasn't worth mentioning. I only bring it up because it seems like other sites, like TechPowerUp, tested with one side of the case open.

I just want some testimonials about what it's like in a closed, well-ventilated case, maybe under or next to a desk. I'm probably going to wait to make any purchases for a few months anyway, but it would be interesting to know now. It would also be nice to have more details as to the kind of sound, is it high frequency, "wobbly", or whatever. For some sounds my tolerance would be at a much lower dB than others. Sound files would be nice.

 

[ams23]

This is one of the most controversial and polarizing launches I have seen in a long time. This is a fast card let down by very high noise, heat, and power consumption.

Just as I suspected earlier, as you can see from Anandtech's review, when the noise levels are brought down closer to GTX 780, the performance of R9 290 simply tanks way below GTX 780.

Even more shocking is Tom's Hardware findings that a retail R9 290X from Newegg was actually up to 20% (!) SLOWER than the R9 290X card they received from AMD using the exact same drivers! That is a crazy variance. Dr. Jekyl or Mr. Hyde, take your pick.

 

[flopper]

This makes me wonder how many people will be returning their 290X for the regular 290. Save $150 for slightly less performance.

not many still the better card.

for me 290 sits perfect.
I get one down the line.

 

[DooKey]

I wish I didn't like new hardware so much......I had to order a couple of 290s to compare to my 7990s. Can't wait to get them Thursday, and I have the day off to play with them.

 

[Face2Face]

Here is a video from Linus Tech Tips on the R290

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k5_f_gsxJw&feature=c4-overview&list=UUXuqSBlHAE6Xw-yeJA0Tunw

Seems to preform pretty well @ 1075/1350 vs. The GTX 780 @ 1110/1802 if I am reading the GTX 780 right.

 

[GaiaHunter]

http://www.anandtech.com/comments/7481/the-amd-radeon-r9-290-review/337828

Side of the case open, at a foot.

 

[Lonyo]

http://www.anandtech.com/comments/7481/the-amd-radeon-r9-290-review/337828

So if I have a case with sound proofing and put the side of the case on and have it 3 feet away... suddenly it's nowhere near as loud. (Stock Fractal R3)

And there you get the disconnect between benchmark sites and real world use.

 

[Stuka87]

So if I have a case with sound proofing and put the side of the case on and have it 3 feet away... suddenly it's nowhere near as loud. (Stock Fractal R3)

And there you get the disconnect between benchmark sites and real world use.

Anandtech does theres case open so everything they test is on the same playing field. Different cases will have vastly different acoustic properties. So from one review to the next numbers can change a lot.

So while this does result in AT's numbers always being way higher than other sites, you know numbers from one review will correlate to others.

But yeah, if you have a case with thick aluminum or something, you are not going to hear the card most likely.

 

[Lonyo]

Anandtech does theres case open so everything they test is on the same playing field. Different cases will have vastly different acoustic properties. So from one review to the next numbers can change a lot.

So while this does result in AT's numbers always being way higher than other sites, you know numbers from one review will correlate to others.

But yeah, if you have a case with thick aluminum or something, you are not going to hear the card most likely.

It's irrelevant if all the numbers in a review are in the same environment when that environment is not a realistic one.
Sure, they may be comparable and a 290 might be louder than a 780, but how much louder in the real world?

It basically is disinformative because it presents "factual" information that isn't real world information.
"Oh it's really loud, it's twice as loud as a 780 when you are 1 foot away with an open case".
But how much louder is it at a real distance with a closed case? That's what people should get told. Real world measurements.

43 dba
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/radeon_r9_290_review_benchmarks,31.html

62dba vs 50 for 780
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...ws/63863-amd-radeon-r9-290-4gb-review-15.html

55.6
http://uk.hardware.info/reviews/495...x-780-energy-consumption-and-noise-production

43 vs 38 for 780
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/61785-amd-radeon-r9-290/?page=10

35 vs 35 for 780
http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/zardon/amd-r9-290-review-1600p-4k-and-cf/41/

45 vs 43
http://media.bestofmicro.com/O/L/407829/original/01-Noise-Gaming-Loop.png

Maybe 59 right next to it, but unclear as the graph won't load.
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/5857/amd-radeon-r9-290-4gb-reference-video-card-review/index22.html

49 vs 36
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/R9_290/25.html

49 vs 40
http://techreport.com/review/25602/amd-radeon-r9-290-graphics-card-reviewed/8

61 vs 51
http://www.legitreviews.com/amd-radeon-r9-290-4gb-video-card-review_127216/11


Basically, there's a delta of anything from 0 to 13db, which is inconsistent across all reviews, with both minimum and maximum varying wildly.

This is obviously due to how each site takes its measurements, and the cases they use, but the point is... it may be louder, or it may not be any louder. All depends, who knows.

Which is also ridiculous, but clearly 13db is the maximum and mainly appears to be where people do not at all real world testing of noise.

 

[moonbogg]

Can't wait to see Nvidia's response to the 290. I had a feeling this card would be an insane value, and it is. 4gb of ram and performance like that is really nice.

 

[Cloudfire777]

LOL talk about killing your own high end card.

290X is pretty much useless now. Within 5% of 290X performance, but $150 less.
Good work AMD :thumbsup:


The thread crapping needs to stop.

-Rvenger

 

[blackened23]

LOL talk about killing your own high end card.

290X is pretty much useless now. Within 5% of 290X performance, but $150 less.
Good work AMD :thumbsup:

Back to the usual trolling ways again? Eh? It seems like a 500$ pricetag for the 290X would make sense at this point and I wouldn't deny that, but seeing your post.... I can't think of NV ever doing anything similar in terms of killing their high end gaming cards to the tune of a 350$ cheaper card. Ever. Or releasing a faster cheaper card that is 300$ cheaper. I mean I can't believe NV would ever do anything like that.

 

[smackababy]

Can't wait to see Nvidia's response to the 290. I had a feeling this card would be an insane value, and it is. 4gb of ram and performance like that is really nice.

Pretty much the only thing they can do is drop the price of the 780. I can't see a 770ti or similar coming in.

I am glad I waited for this though. I had a feeling the 290 would be good, but no idea it would be this good. I am going to be getting one and putting it under water. The OC should put it at 290x performance, and looking at the 1080p performance, I should have no problems with just 1. Although, having a 120hz might entice me to go for 2 so I can get above 60FPS in everything.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

LOL talk about killing your own high end card.

290X is pretty much useless now. Within 5% of 290X performance, but $150 less.
Good work AMD :thumbsup:

If you set the 290x at 47% fan speed it will speed up the same amount as the 290.

I wouldn't be surprised if they make an official fan speed increase on the 290x in time for the 780ti launch.

 

[SlowSpyder]

LOL talk about killing your own high end card.

290X is pretty much useless now. Within 5% of 290X performance, but $150 less.
Good work AMD :thumbsup:

This is generally how AMD's second fastest GPU is, nothing new really. The 7950 was very close to the 7970, the 6950's that could be flashed, the 5850... all very close to the next card up.

I could probably sell my 7970 for 50% the cost of an R290. Very tempting!! I'm looking forward to the non-reference cards, maybe a Christmas present to myself.

 

[GaiaHunter]

Which is also ridiculous, but clearly 13db is the maximum and mainly appears to be where people do not at all real world testing of noise.

If this was in terms of FPS one review could show the same card doing 120 FPS while the other would show 60 FPS.

 

[Golgatha]

LOL talk about killing your own high end card.

290X is pretty much useless now. Within 5% of 290X performance, but $150 less.
Good work AMD :thumbsup:

That was my 1st thought. Way to shoot yourself in the foot AMD! However, there's no denying it's a great performer and will be the choice for dual card setups once they get some aftermarket coolers for those noisy suckers.

Personally, if I was buying today I'd pay the extra $200 for a nice silent 780 SLI setup that's slightly slower. That's just me though. Water cooling doesn't interest me because liquid + PC is just a dumb idea IMO. I'm getting old and hard of hearing too. Get off my lawn!

In all seriousness, if nVidia doesn't respond with further price cuts once aftermarket cooler clad versions of the 290 come out en masse, I could see the forum thread claiming 40% market share coming true for AMD. That's a nice and relatively cheap product for the performance it's capable of.

 

[Golgatha]

If this was in terms of FPS one review could show the same card doing 120 FPS while the other would show 60 FPS.

Actually it's a logarithmic scale and every 3db is roughly twice the volume, so it's more like 100 FPS vs 1600 FPS.