Your opinion contradicts real world user experience. You cannot say universally that all R9 290/290Xs produce more noise than any GTX970. For example the popular EVGA GTX970 is way louder than the Sapphire Tri-X 290:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=37125547&postcount=34
While you can measure the difference in the noise levels with a very accurate scientific tool, can you ear actually perceive the difference in an enclosed case over your PSU, CPU and case fans? Can you hear a difference of 6-7dB in a Fractal Design R5? Don't forget that some heatsink fans make lower noise but it's more uncomfortable due to a certain electrical sounds/frequency of the ball bearings. It's not that simple.
See this video of how quiet after-market R9 290s actually sound under max load:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYxmW4JiJs8
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That's before even talking about even cheaper R9 290s. Unless all you do is play GW titles or run a miniITX, it sounds to me like the "pathetic marketing" being employed here is for the $550-600 GTX980. :thumbsdown: For any brand agnostic gamer, the comparison of a $640 MSI Lightning 290Xs vs. a $610 Gigabyte G1 980 is an eye-opener to how out of line the pricing disparity has gotten between NV and AMD's offering all because of perf/watt, power usage and brand loyalty. It's a really sad time for the GPU industry as there is no way something like this would have ever happened during ATI/NV days if ATI's best card was only 10% slower but cost HALF. :sneaky:
I never got into PC gaming because of power savings. If I did, I would have been on a Wii U or PS4 and never overclocked components. Even high-end gamers eventually realize when the value of the competition is simply
awful.
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