What are your experiences with the AMD R9 290?

[Dmb7116]

I wanted to buy a new gpu and like the 290. I needed to know a few things. If you have it,

What is your average fps on Minecraft.
Is the card loud enough to where it can be heard on a mic.
Would you recommend something else for 400$ that might be better.
What do you think about this card?

Any and all replies will be appreciated!

 

[rolli59]

Nothing better for the same price!

 

[corvetteguy1994]

+1/\ for the $400 range AMD is boss right now.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

i would recommend waiting for cards with better cooling, or invest in an aftermarket cooler for it if you get one now. dont care what AMD says about the cards designed to run near the boiling point of water, that kind of heat will cause micro cracks in the solder over time and the thermal paste to degrade very quickly.

 

[17seconds]

If you are concerned about noise at all, forget about a reference 290. They even released a new driver that makes it even louder than what you probably read in most of the initial reviews.

Quote:
"Idle noise levels are ok, but a few less dBs in that state would be nice since many productivity users prefer a quiet system for work. As soon as you play any games on the card, though, the experience becomes extremely noisy. The card's noise will overpower any other component and possibly your game's audio; that is, unless you play with headphones or increase the volume.

AMD released a second driver, which we used, after the initial driver provided to reviewers. It yields additional performance to beat the GTX 780 by increasing maximum fan speed from 40% to 47%. The fan is unfortunately also much noisier, so much so that noise output might actually turn into a real dealbreaker for many."
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/R9_290/25.html

Noise samples:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-290-review-benchmark,3659-18.html


Noise isn't even necessarily the biggest concern with the 290. Apparently, they are also having problems with throttling due to excessive heat and variance among retail samples, despite the supposed driver fix (that also increased the noise levels).
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/Retail-Radeon-R9-290X-Frequency-Variance-Issues-Still-Present
http://www.legitreviews.com/amd-radeon-r9-290x-press-sample-versus-retail_129583

Overall, I would recommend to take a pass on the reference 290. It just has too many flaws and negatives to outweigh the performance and cost and too many opportunities for buyer's remorse. If you want to wait, aftermarket coolers aren't due until the end of December, or possibly even January.
http://www.techpowerup.com/195371/custom-design-radeon-r9-290-to-launch-ahead-of-custom-design-r9-290x.html

 

[Mousemonkey]

If you do get a 290 or 290X be sure to ask AMD for a copy of the press sample firmware! :lol:

http://techreport.com/review/25712/are-retail-radeon-r9-290x-cards-slower-than-press-samples

 

[smeezekitty]

If you do get a 290 or 290X be sure to ask AMD for a copy of the press sample firmware! :lol:

http://techreport.com/review/25712/are-retail-radeon-r9-290x-cards-slower-than-press-samples

It is most likely more about cherry picking rather then firmware (and NVidia does the same thing)

 

[Mousemonkey]

If you do get a 290 or 290X be sure to ask AMD for a copy of the press sample firmware! :lol:

http://techreport.com/review/25712/are-retail-radeon-r9-290x-cards-slower-than-press-samples

It is most likely more about cherry picking rather then firmware (and NVidia does the same thing)

Oh really?

Nate over at Legit Reviews has been looking into this same set of problems, and he found that firmware differences between the press and retail cards might be playing a role. Like us, he measured clear differences between the performance of his 290X review sample and some retail cards. He then extracted the firmware from his 290X review unit, flashed it to a retail 290X, and tested again. Turns out the retail 290X performed better when using the press sample's firmware.

That looks like plain old cheating to me!

 

[Torment_78]

i would recomed getting wc with the 290/290x i got the 290x with EK-FC block great oc potential