[Tom's Hardware] R9 290X 4GB vs. 8GB at 4K - why we need 6-8GB GPUs

[el etro]

AMD when they released the 7970 Ghz or 7950 Boost reference cards, they went with a flat 1.25vcore which anyone who has used the 7900 series knows was ridiculous.

This Vcore probably indicates that there's no much differences on transistor level between Tahiti and TahitiXT2 chips, there's only binning for support higher clockspeeds on all cards. BTW, it seems to TahitiXTL(the second major revision on Tahiti chips) do the work of reducing power consumption.

My custom PCS+ 7950 had a default vcore of 1.087v !!

I also got a reference 7970 for mining and promptly set it to 1.1v and it ran fine, saving a lot of power and less fan speed required.

Never underestimate AMD's incompetence.

This is good to know. This also partially explains the much bigger power draw of the cards.

 

[KaRLiToS]

This is really marketing hype. If you want a 2% improvement then buy a 8GB 290x but if you want 15%, just get a GTX 980. At this point, it is obvious that AMD has nothing to compete now but to make people believe that the 8GB version is worth it.

I don't think it's worth it to buy double Vram on the same architechture. Just wait for next Gen instead. We never saw big improvement when Nvidia and AMD doubled the Vram. Check the GTX 680 or 770 at 4GB... Basically no amelioration. Same thing goes for the HD 7970 @ 6Gb or GTX 780 at 6GB. Just a big gimmick in my opinion, I know I'll get attacked for that post.

http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/zardon/sapphire-r9-290x-vapor-x-8gb-cf-review/

Greedy companies with their gimmick cards.

 

[guskline]

I would wait until the 390 series is released to seriously consider 8GB vs 4.

 

[KaRLiToS]

I would wait until the 390 series is released to seriously consider 8GB vs 4.

Same for me mate. 6GB and 8GB on 20nm or 16nm will be the real deal.

 

[notty22]

twitter
Roy@AMD ‏@amd_roy 18m18 minutes ago Does 8GB and 512bit count? Yes it does; http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/76685-sapphire-radeon-r9-290x-vapor-x-8gb/?page=9 … @HEXUSNET @AMDRadeon @NVIDIAGeForce

 

[f1sherman]

twitter
Roy@AMD ‏@amd_roy 18m18 minutes ago Does 8GB and 512bit count? Yes it does; http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/76685-sapphire-radeon-r9-290x-vapor-x-8gb/?page=9 … @HEXUSNET @AMDRadeon @NVIDIAGeForce

No, please not AMD Roy. noooooooooooo.........

 

[Paul98]

Yeah today it's not going to matter, but if you plan to keep the card for quite a while I would guess down the road 8GB will be of use. I have seen this before, you go with what looks good now, but down the road a few years the extra VRam can extend the life of the card.

That said I wouldn't buy one right now, rather it's time to wait for the next round of cards.

 

[boozzer]

how many of you guys actually game at 4k? I find all this 4k focus to be kinda dumb.

anyone knows the minimum cost of a 60 fps at 4k with high settings in games?

 

[digitaldurandal]

how many of you guys actually game at 4k? I find all this 4k focus to be kinda dumb.

anyone knows the minimum cost of a 60 fps at 4k with high settings in games?

6160x1200 resolution here. Running high settings with no AA 290 CF.

 

[boozzer]

6160x1200 resolution here. Running high settings with no AA 290 CF.

so 2 290 is about 500, how much does your 4k monitor cost?

 

[Rvenger]

Indeed. The fact that there's even a built-in switch for this (the uber mode switch) makes the whole thing rather silly.

Actually, Uber mode just increases the maximum fan speed to 55% and still throttles. You have to adjust the temperature lower and increase the max fan speed to 100% in CCC in order to take the fan cap off. That fan will get up to around 70% which is pretty ear piercing.

I ran mine at a maximum target temperature of 85C with an uncapped fan speed. Most games its not so bad, but when you turn vsync off, all hell breaks loose.

 

[SPBHM]

Reference blower 290X to compare with an aftermarket cooler? Not exactly the best card to use as a 4GB counterpart. 95C and throttle.

I would like to see a proper cooled 4GB 290X before making any conclusions.

using unber mode the throttling was not that significant without OC, and if you manually set a higher fan speed it should eliminate the problem.