Radeon HD 7990 Vs R9 290X and 290

[Z15CAM]

Leave nVidia out this thread.

Is see the Malta 7990 going for $650 CDN where the expected Hawaii 290X will be approx the same price CDN - Both without games at this price in Canada.

Other then CF'g 7950's or 7970's, as I want to stay away from a 2 card solution, I don't expect many cards will out Perform/Price ratio of the Dual GPU 7990 and that includes the $650 290X or Titan and GTX 690 for $1000.

It appears AMD pretty well has micro stuttering under control with their latest drivers.

Now; considering the advent of Mantel, which I assume all Cards, excluding the Tahiti 280X, will not support, which card would you pic?

Not excluding the OC'g potential of the R9 290 for $500 CDN, but if I'm going to spend $500 - I'm going to spend $650 but not over, if Mantle is not all that critical ;o)

PS: I want to 2560 x 1440 - 120Hz game on a QX2510 PLS 27" display and play games like Crises, Metro LL, BF4 and Star Citizen.

 

[96Firebird]

Now; considering the advent of Mantel, which I assume all Cards, excluding the Tahiti 280X, will not support, which card would you pic?

All new AMD cards appear to support Mantle, even the rebrands...

http://www.amd.com/US/PRODUCTS/DESKTOP/GRAPHICS/R9/Pages/amd-radeon-hd-r9-series.aspx#4

Edit - Nevermind, I misread that sentence. Now I see you mean the 7xxx series won't support Mantle. Which I am not sure is totally correct.

 

[Z15CAM]

Hum! May be I should rephrase my original synopsis: - Will the Radeon HD 7990 suffer when playing Mantle Engine Encoded games?

I'm thinking, in the future, perhaps Mantle Hardware Card could be a Software Emulated Engine for cards that do not support it. Of course this would heavily tax the CPU - In which case emulation would not be worth it but an 8 core CPU may handle Mantle Emulation - I know I'm hypothesizing - Either way Emulation SUCKS - LOL

Gotta say for $650 a single GPU 512 Bit 4 GB card looks great for 1440p gaming (Mantle or not). It appears AMD has a 512 Bit 8GB Single GPU card planned in the future - Which I imagine will sell for $1000+. The re-introducing of 512 bit with lots of vRam could end the need for dual GPU Cards, CF and SLI.

But that Dual GPU Radeon 7990 768 Bit 6 GB (effective 3 GB) Malta card is one BEAST and probably still the fastest card on the planet for $650 which is cheaper them most GTX 780's.

May be AMD will develop a Daughter Mantle Card - No doubt nVidia owners will buy it, providing Mantle takes off - LOL

Mantle has me concerned. Is AMD forsaking the 7990 for Mantle? - Sish! What a conundrum.

Basically for the same price what is the Best Choice between a Radeon Hd 7990 & R9 290X?

Right now, it appears, over the release of a Hardware Encoding Chip and Mantle Software Plus Gaming Contracts, AMD has seized control of the GPU Gaming Market.

Geez! I'm not much of a Gamer: I'm a System Builder and Software Installer with some Hacks of my own but WTF is appropriate - Yes I'm ant-sing, it's exciting and about time something relevant is happening that may stop this Insane Pricing of discreet GPU's ;o)

 

[Face2Face]

You might just wanna wait until the two other cards you are looking at are actually reviewed.

Hum! May be I should rephrase my original synopsis: - Will the Radeon HD 7990 suffer when playing Mantle encoded games?

Probably not, but won't know until mantle is released..

 

[Techhog]

All new AMD cards appear to support Mantle, even the rebrands...

http://www.amd.com/US/PRODUCTS/DESKTOP/GRAPHICS/R9/Pages/amd-radeon-hd-r9-series.aspx#4

Edit - Nevermind, I misread that sentence. Now I see you mean the 7xxx series won't support Mantle. Which I am not sure is totally correct.

A BF4 dev said that all GCN GPUs support it.

 

[Z15CAM]

A BF4 dev said that all GCN GPUs support it.

Forgot about that - So Mantle is nothing but an AMD Patent Software Game Engine for GCN Cards and doesn't need Hardware Encoding which they appear to advertize - OK - That means the 7990 is unaffected - Emulated software or daughter GCN Cards for none GNC Cards is an arbitrary argument. Then the purpose of advertizing Mantle Enc Games are AMD GCN specific leaving nVidia outta it as their GPU are not GCN and nothing more then an advertizing gimmick and has nothing to do with Price/Performance.

Other then for the Single GPU AMD R9 290X 512 bit 4 GB Power House, which we all wanted for 2560x1600 rendering, Mantle just represents a contract between AMD and Game Builders for GCN Cards - Hum.

So a Dual GPU GNC Malta 768 Bit/effective 3GB Radeon HD 7990 for $650 is clearly a more powerful card then a Single GPU 290X 512 bit/4GB for the same price.

The R9 290X would have to be priced below $600 CDN for me to consider it over a $650 Radeon HD 7990.