Is this r9 290x unreliable?

[Whatisgoingonherethen]

So I was going to get this opposed to the gtx 770 due to its great performance and price only being £30 more. However, after a closer look i'm not sure it's a good idea, anyone got an opinion on which one to get?
The r9 is faster, but I'm scared of it dying soon.

 

[victorst1]

Only if you have a bad one, which is unlikely. It consumes about 300 W (very much), but the biggest concern is the noise. It is the noisiest.

 

[rhysiam]

The R9 290X is definitely faster than a 770. I haven't heard of any major reliability issues with the card. The cards with the stock cooler do run seriously hot, but AMD are adamant that it's within safe operating range and won't affect the life of the card. Given it's been out a while now, I would have expected to see reports if there were significant failure rates. That would be a massive hit on AMD's reputation too, so I can't see them taking those sorts of risks.

If you're looking at a reference AMD R9 290X (without an branded cooler), bear in mind that they are very loud. It's a low quality cooler that isn't really up to the job. There are a bunch of branded models (like Sapphire Tri-X) which are much better options and definitely worth the extra 5%-10% they usually charge.

 

[Wisecracker]

There are no heat, sound or reliability issues with the non-reference cooler designs for the R9 290X.

There is also no real reason for multiple cards unless you are planning a 4K build or running Eyefinity. An R9 290 is likely a better solution, anyway, from a price/performance standpoint.

 

[Whatisgoingonherethen]

Only if you have a bad one, which is unlikely. It consumes about 300 W (very much), but the biggest concern is the noise. It is the noisiest.

sorry, here's the link to it:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-TRI-X-Graphics-Card-PCI-E/dp/B00HFA44YQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1401196060&sr=1-1&keywords=r9+290x
What do you think now?

 

[Whatisgoingonherethen]

Just reaalised this is a r9 290... How does a r9 290 fair against a gtx 770?

 

[victorst1]

The Radeon 290 (non X) about it's 10% - 60% better than Nvidia GTX 770.
www.anandtech.com/show/7481/the-amd-radeon-r9-290-review

 

[Whatisgoingonherethen]

The Radeon 290 (non X) about it's 10% - 60% better than Nvidia GTX 770.
www.anandtech.com/show/7481/the-amd-radeon-r9-290-review

Okay thanks, is it still reliable though? Does it run very hot, even with this after market cooler?

 

[Suztera]

Here is the review of that exact model: http://www.anandtech.com/show/7601/sapphire-radeon-r9-290-review-our-first-custom-cooled-290
It is considered a good cooler and i wouldn't worry much about the temperatures.
however, if you can find a R9 290 Vapour X that has a better cooler than the Trix.