AMD Radeon R9 290 Review: Fast And $400, But Is It Consistent?

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DrKlahn

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If you are entertaining the notion that I'm posting as a shill, you're on the wrong track.

So the right call was made? We have a very brief explanation and an accusation pretty much saying that AMD is engaging in fraudulent behavior. Is this really where this site is at? There are multi-page threads out there on multiple sites with real world findings that don't support this claim and you still think that this is the right thing to do? Have you looked at what other sites have found after being prompted to investigate this after your article?

I've been PC gaming since the 3DFX days. I never got onto "the 480 stinks because of power and noise" train because quite frankly the other friends I have who PC game are like me: we don't really care that much about power and noise. Our systems are built to he point that an extra 100w isn't going to make any difference except a slight bump to our power bill. I'm sure there are consumers that this is a priority. I just don't personally know any.

What I read into this is that Tom's has decided that these reviews are as much about acoustics now as performance. Show me an article that details what you've found on your retail samples. My guess is that setting the fan target at a maximum of 75% removes these "issues" and restores performance. If you want to complain about the acoustics and why the retail cards should not have to run at that fan speed, I see no issue with that. But your findings at this point are not being substantiated by the majority of owners. It's disappointing to see these numbers continue to be posted in the 780Ti review when you still have not released any real findings.
 

DrKlahn

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The article validates that Quiet mode will throttle clocks to keep acoustics in check. Something we knew from every initial review of the 290X including Tom's.

"... And yeah it is partly true, the BIOS setting needs to be at Quiet mode"

Publish your findings and put this to rest. If there is a legitimate issue with the card not being able to sustain it's maximum advertised clock speed with the fan it came equipped with, then there is a real case against what AMD and it's partners are selling. If this is a case of not wanting to sacrifice acoustics for those clockspeeds then we have nothing more than sensationalist journalism to generate attention.
 
this is all non sense... pick up the "so called" "debate" when we have hawaii chips running at 100% load and staying at a solid 70c or lower.... until then... its all speculation on if the 780/780ti is really faster or not whatever. currently the reference 780ti can hold 100% load and stay under 75c. the hawaii chip in its current reference state cannot come close to that... but aftermarket coolers will easily be able too and then some.
 

somebodyspecial

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If that crack is aimed at me. I own a radeon 5850 and have said it many times and even pointed to where I bought it (amazon, along with 400 other backorders as Amazon tried to screw us all after they priced it too low). Amazon only took 7 months to get it to me...ROFL. I can link you to the thread filled with whiners if you'd like...I've posted it here and at anandtech whenever someone like you comes out saying "fanboy" because someone like me points out the obvious ;)

I buy the best tech at the time. Previously 8800GT, before that radeon 9700pro etc etc...I bounced back and forth on cpus until Core came. They are too far behind in the cpu race for me to even consider them as a gamer (who has NEVER used on board gpu) who does some taxing app stuff too. While I'd love to help them out on cpus, my wallet says "are you an idiot?" and I buy Intel again these days...LOL. I also used to sell AMD/Intel & NV (and everything else) years ago. I had a PC business for 8yrs. :)
 

somebodyspecial

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As he noted in the article just written on the fix, NOISE has gone up on retail now. Just the fact AMD had to admit the problem, then fix is means Chris A did his job and never lied one bit. There would be NO DRIVER FIX if it was Chris spouting BS. Right? Nuff said. Vindicated, like it or not. I guess AMD is just fixing stuff that isn't broke for fun?
 

DrKlahn

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He did his job by actually investigating this issue and publishing his findings. Unfortunately he did this after casting serious doubt on AMD its board partners, as well as publishing two articles with these "findings" in it. If you were a consumer running your $550 graphics card in a mode that the manufacturer has told you will compromise performance in favor of acoustics and you were concerned by the amount the performance was being compromised, then this situation likely had you very concerned. The rest of the owners never saw it and were likely not concerned with it.

This boils down to exactly what I thought it would. An issue with fan speed. Try to tell me the author of this article lacked the knowledge to run the necessary tools to monitor fan speed and GPU temperatures. Try to tell me the author was not aware of the design goals of the Quiet and Uber mode settings when he himself detailed it in the original 209X article on this site, I didn't even have the card in front of me and correctly predicted what was happening.

This was very small issue that was blown completely out of proportion. There is value in reporting that Quiet mode is not consistent among cards. I'm glad it was addressed. But the simple fact is that the majority of the people buying a $500 card are both smart enough to move a fan slider and very likely more concerned with performance than acoustics (within reason). I don't know anyone personally that wouldn't switch the thing to Uber before even installing it.

There are so many things about this situation that are borderline unethical. Reporting the "issue" without an real investigation causing doubt in consumers and basically accusing a company of fraud. Not reporting what fan mode the card was even tested with. Honestly who didn't assume that a flagship graphics wouldn't be tested at it's performance setting? If Tom's had any integrity the "retail" numbers would already be pulled from the graphs and the tests reran with the card in its performance mode as it should have been from the very start.

Oh the irony of this site to insinuate that posters in this forum are shills. I wonder who really benefited from this "issue" being presented in the way it was? The overall intent of this whole situation seems awfully suspect.
 

fanman

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Their fanaticism and dedication in finding and gathering all links around international network defending one side and showing nothing but hatred and criticism to others is to me unbelievable if they are not salesmen or at the very least any kind of employees:sarcastic:
As for reference card, there is a reason AMD limits the fan speed to 40% at the cost of performance variation and that is called "Quiet" mode and maybe they should write in the spec -> clock speed: 1 GHz (beware of hearing disturbance):D
 

toscar12

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That difference between the press sample and retail 290x is shocking. I was thinking of buying a 290x but now screw that, its unbelievable crap. Toms hardware and other reviewers should refuse samples and just buy one off Newegg. Its the same with all gpus and cpus you pay full price but its never the same quality when it comes to overclocking or anything due to where the board was printed off its ridiculous. If they are going to make you pay full price for a card or a cpu they should all be the same highest quality.
 


Yeah , spend 1000$ on Intel's next extreme CPU , another 1000$ on the TITAN which anyways they just are going to say made for the "extreme rich" enthusiasts ? Not even a review site can be that rich to buy things for reviewing. And even if they are they wont do that. Its upto the company making the product , to whether to send or not. It wont cost em a lot and loss can be covered with sales , but if reviewers start buying stuff only to review , it sure as hell will cost them a lot.

Lets come to the point , unless you have a monthly income of more than 10000$ which most probably don't , its impossible to buy stuff for review and then let it eat dust for the rest of its life. Or you could sell stuff after reviewing which still isn't affordable.
Just think of what your saying.....
 

utomo

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Soon we will need higher card for 4k gaming, as the display start delivered to many people if the price drop.
 

silicondoc_85

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It's ALWAYS " the next gen" for amd. "Next gen" they will fix their drivers. "Next gen" the future will favor amd cards because x and y.
Next gen amd will really shine.
Next gen this current gen will really be valuable because blah blah console.
Next gen xfire will work correctly.
Next gen amd will make money.
Next gen NEVER COMES.

I am so SICK of next gen, because as always with amd, THIS GEN has 20 freaking blowholes in it like every other one amd ever produced.
 

silicondoc_85

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All the little amd ragers will have to have Gsync when the Gsync boys start fragging them off every map they enter. :)

Don't expect the amd raging loyalists to anything but whine the p word like forever, again... and then of course secretly start adding up their few pennies and rubbing them together wishing they could remain competitive in multiplayer.

AMD will NEVER pony up the dollars to be a gsync player - they have their horde of disgruntled whiner fanboys they can count on verdetrolling forever instead.

Then we have mantle, which required drivers amd cannot produce. The graphics anomalies and crashes will no doubt be extensive to endless so a giant cover-up will be required to keep amd viable and of course, the usual screaming fanbase will shriek beyond belief and lie lie lie lie lie.
 
All the little amd ragers will have to have Gsync when the Gsync boys start fragging them off every map they enter. :)

Don't expect the amd raging loyalists to anything but whine the p word like forever, again... and then of course secretly start adding up their few pennies and rubbing them together wishing they could remain competitive in multiplayer.

AMD will NEVER pony up the dollars to be a gsync player - they have their horde of disgruntled whiner fanboys they can count on verdetrolling forever instead.

Then we have mantle, which required drivers amd cannot produce. The graphics anomalies and crashes will no doubt be extensive to endless so a giant cover-up will be required to keep amd viable and of course, the usual screaming fanbase will shriek beyond belief and lie lie lie lie lie.
NVidia fanboys will just keep drinking the kool-aid and spreading garbage...
 

somebodyspecial

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So every website, dev etc drinks Gsync kool-aid too them huh? They all raved about Gsync. I didn't even see a Mantle benchmark int he APU 2013 conference. NV is SHOWING their tech, while AMD promises what it might be on day. There is a difference and it doesn't taste like Kool-aid ;)
 


It hasn't shown up on toms yet and its not worth my time to actively look it up to see how much they "raved" about it.

It probably will offer an improvement but the comment I responded to was particularly naive and fanboyish

It will not make it "when the Gsync boys start fragging them off every map they enter."
It doesn't make the experience magically so much better that it will give them a huge advantage. Thats absurd reasoning that only blind fanboys would think.

 
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