This is exactly the point I've raised several times already. R290X is running CRIPPLED in all the metrics when its forced to run at 95C. It will use much more power due to leakage at those high temps. The same thing happened with the 480, until AIBs came in with better cooling, it dropped in power use a lot.
So the reference R290/X is a) using much more power than it should, b) running much more hotter than it should, c) much more noisy than it needs to be.. finally, d) running crippled due to thermal throttling. Even in uber mode, it cannot sustain 1ghz clocks.
Slap on a good cooler and suddenly you get R290X + 5-10% performance, running cooler and using less power.