[videocardz] Radeon R9 290 priced at €349 (US$400?)

[Slomo4shO]

Isn't that more or less the case all the time though? I don't recall ever buying a reference card. The 780/titan cooler is a bit of an exception, but that thing is expensive, and nvidia had the profit margins to justify it.

The exception has always been water cooling. Everything else deserves a non-reference design

 

[thilanliyan]

Didn't think the 290 would be so close to the 290x.

 

[Ieat]

Isn't that more or less the case all the time though?

I don't recall ever buying a reference card.

The 780/titan cooler is a bit of an exception, but that thing is expensive, and nvidia had the profit margins to justify it.

There are plenty of people who preferred the reference cards from amd in the past. They were usually of higher build quality, heatsink plate for ram and vrm, always had unlocked voltage and the external exhaust was good for small to medium size cases. The only down side was the noise. However this time around the cooler isn't even good enough to allow overclocking with voltage.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Isn't that more or less the case all the time though?

I don't recall ever buying a reference card.

The 780/titan cooler is a bit of an exception, but that thing is expensive, and nvidia had the profit margins to justify it.

I don't know...this is going a bit back but my 9500 pro / 9600 pro / 9700 pro / 5850 / 6870 were all reference I believe.

 

[EndlessWargasm]

I don't know...this is going a bit back but my 9500 pro / 9600 pro / 9700 pro / 5850 / 6870 were all reference I believe.

Midrange cards like the 6870 are usually not so bad, but mostly for that last few generations I suspect that custom coolers far outsold reference designs. I have no data to back that up however.

I think I might have had a reference 7600GT, but I slapped a zalman flower on that bad boy.

 

[E6700]

oh crap!! I just bought GTX 770 4gb for $320+tax price mistake from microcenter 3 days ago. decision decisions.

 

[Slomo4shO]

oh crap!! I just bought GTX 770 4gb for $320+tax price mistake from microcenter 3 days ago. decision decisions.

20-25% more performance for 20-25% price premium... your call :whiste:

 

[PCboy]

oh crap!! I just bought GTX 770 4gb for $320+tax price mistake from microcenter 3 days ago. decision decisions.

Still better than buying a GTX780 at 499

All you're paying for is the name-brand, nothing else.

 

[selni]

The new driver will steal the show of the R9 290 tomorrow, if the rumors we know are true.

Looks like their driver increase was a fan speed tweak, which is why it was rumored to only apply to the 290 and not the X.

 

[Nomanor]

Isn't that more or less the case all the time though?

I don't recall ever buying a reference card.

The 780/titan cooler is a bit of an exception, but that thing is expensive, and nvidia had the profit margins to justify it.

I wonder what kind of people buy reference cards. They are obviously crap, especially the new 290/290x.

If you wait a bit, you get kickass aftermarket design with much better noise levels and cooling (which increases performance ceiling).

 

[BrightCandle]

I wonder what kind of people buy reference cards. They are obviously crap, especially the new 290/290x.

AMDs reference coolers are bad, but that isn't true of the competition. The problem with the aftermarket coolers that do better is they aren't blower designs. Blowers have the advantage of needing less case fans and more importantly work a lot better in crossfire. The aftermarket coolers can cause problems with crossfire. Its not just a straight "the reference cooler is rubbish so wait for AIB cards" because its actually a trade off. It's a reasonable given a well cooled case and no crossfire and a bit more cost but it's not as black and white obviously better.

The 290/290X are high wattage cards and they will always be loud, because of it.

 

[flopper]

The card of the decade.

 

[Keysplayr]

sounds like non-reference is the only way to go with these guys.

Isn't that more or less the case all the time though?

No. Not even close.

 

[EndlessWargasm]

AMDs reference coolers are bad, but that isn't true of the competition.

Bit of revisionist history there. The Titan/780 cooler is an exception in a long line of, barely sufficient to passable, reference coolers from both the red and green teams.

No question that the Hawaii cooler is on the lower end of that scale, but it isn't FX 5800 Ultra/Dustbuster bad, it is just average, which looks very poor in comparison to the Titan cooler. Half the cost though.

 

[EndlessWargasm]

No. Not even close.

Want to make an actual argument, rather than a drive-by one liner?
Discussion is fun, a dismissive sentence achieves nothing.

 

[Keysplayr]

Want to make an actual argument, rather than a drive-by one liner?
Discussion is fun, a dismissive sentence achieves nothing.

What argument? How can an argument be made against a factual statement?
And as for the "one-liner", that was all that was needed.

 

[Erenhardt]

That is crazy price for the performance.
Yesterday they gave me a super promo deal on 770 4GB:
What a rip-off...
The only complain I have is the current AMD pricing. There is almost linear $/performance relation between their cards(-290x). That means if you are willing to add a bit more you get your $ worth of performance. That makes it really hard to settle for something. Do I get 270X, or do I buy 280X next month, or do I just wait a month again and go for 290.

 

[EndlessWargasm]

What argument? How can an argument be made against a factual statement?
And as for the "one-liner", that was all that was needed.

Okay, I'll ignore this:

Member of Nvidia Focus Group

For the moment, and try and have a conversation with you like an adult.

In regards to top end cards, how many, in the last decade, have had a reference cooler that you would have been happy to put in your machine?

For me, even the GTX570 is too loud at load. So none of the current crop of refernece coolers is interesting. Certainly not compared to a DCUII or similar.

But perhaps you are willing to put up with more noise than I am, that may well be a fact about your subjective experience. It would not be true for me however.

 

[Keysplayr]

Okay, I'll ignore this:

For the moment, and try and have a conversation with you like an adult.

In regards to top end cards, how many, in the last decade, have had a reference cooler that you would have been happy to put in your machine?

For me, even the GTX570 is too loud at load. So none of the current crop of refernece coolers is interesting. Certainly not compared to a DCUII or similar.

But perhaps you are willing to put up with more noise than I am, that may well be a fact about your subjective experience. It would not be true for me however.

Excuse me but what does a focus group affiliation have anything to do with reference or aftermarket HSF design? Are you freaking serious?
I somehow knew this would immediately turn into this from your first post to me.

 

[Sweepr]

Incredible price for a 4GB 512-bit card that performs like a GTX780. Cant wait to see custom models, TechPowerUp managed a 16% OC with the reference cooler (beating both Titan and 290X).

 

[bgt]

Incredible price for a 4GB 512-bit card that performs like a GTX780.

So true

 

[EndlessWargasm]

Excuse me but what does a focus group affiliation have anything to do with reference or aftermarket HSF design? Are you freaking serious?
I somehow knew this would immediately turn into this from your first post to me.

You are the person who engaged me.

Way to avoid the conversation at hand.

I'll start again.

In my opinion, by and large, reference designs have not been good enough, the 780/Titan cooler is the exception in a long line of mediocrity.

Excuse me but what does a focus group affiliation have anything to do with reference or aftermarket HSF design? Are you freaking serious?

You receive freebies from one of two industry players. You, by definition, cannot be impartial. Where your opinions fall, is unsurprising.

 

[Keysplayr]

You are the person who engaged me.

Way to avoid the conversation at hand.

I'll start again.

In my opinion, by and large, reference designs have not been good enough, the 780/Titan cooler is the exception in a long line of mediocrity.


You receive freebies from one of two industry players. You, by definition, cannot be impartial. Where your opinions fall, is unsurprising.

Impartial to what in this case, exactly?

 

[MeldarthX]

You are the person who engaged me.

Way to avoid the conversation at hand.

I'll start again.

In my opinion, by and large, reference designs have not been good enough, the 780/Titan cooler is the exception in a long line of mediocrity.


You receive freebies from one of two industry players. You, by definition, cannot be impartial. Where your opinions fall, is unsurprising.

Hey normally Keys and I butt heads on a few issues; but he's liked the 290/290X from the beginning; but doesn't like the cooler....

Which is the truth; but its not as bad as people make it out; people with 290X doing decent OC with noise not that bad.

Both cards are like caged animals waiting to be released....why people want ref cards....crossfire and watercooling baby. Plain and simple.

Its good times in VC land again.....

 

[MangoX]

There are plenty of people who preferred the reference cards from amd in the past. They were usually of higher build quality, heatsink plate for ram and vrm, always had unlocked voltage and the external exhaust was good for small to medium size cases. The only down side was the noise. However this time around the cooler isn't even good enough to allow overclocking with voltage.

You forgot about the backplate