$250 R9 290 Installed :)

[Shmee]

Congrats guys! Great cards.

 

[kawi6rr]

Well that kind of sucks. Did you see this video?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EomL1oysVXs

I watched the video but he didn't do what the card was doing just said what he fixed. My card doesn't do that and the video didn't show what he was talking about? This video is complete BS in my opinion, heck I could grab a brand new 980 and do the same thing WTF!

 

[Silverforce11]

I watched the video but he didn't do what the card was doing just said what he fixed. My card doesn't do that and the video didn't show what he was talking about? This video is complete BS in my opinion, heck I could grab a brand new 980 and do the same thing WTF!

It's just bad sample, QC issue. RMA it if you have such defects.

I had to do a similar fix when I had a windforce card, fan rattling against the heatsink.

 

[kawi6rr]

How much should I sell the games that came with it?

Sid Meier's Beyond Earth
AMD Gaming evolved: I believe this comes with 3 games?

 

[OatisCampbell]

I just replaced my XFX 7970 Black (sold for $140) with a HIS 290 IceQ2 I got for $250 AMIR. Super cheap upgrade, sold the AMD Gold and Beyond Earth that came with it for another $65 or so.

Card is very quiet, a lot faster than a 7970. A 970 would have been a little faster, but $80-$90 more.

 

[Rvenger]

Yeah I fixed it with a different method, I put some rubber pads on the contact between the plastic shroud and the metal heatsink and it fixed the issues so I'm happy now

Just disappointed that Sapphire has such a design flaw that requires us to do the handiwork to fix it.

Unfortunately, everything has flaws, at least it was an easy fix. The good news is it looks like the Trix PCB is well supported. It was a concern I had but your photos clearly show that it has a strong supporting bracket on the underside of the card. Every Sapphire card I owned had some serious PCB sag and I didn't want to take the chance, I should have by the looks of it. Those cards look nice. What are the ASIC scores on both?

 

[Rvenger]

How much should I sell the games that came with it?

Sid Meier's Beyond Earth
AMD Gaming evolved: I believe this comes with 3 games?

You can't sell them here on FS/FT. That is against AMD's TOS agreement.

 

[RussianSensation]

I just replaced my XFX 7970 Black (sold for $140) with a HIS 290 IceQ2 I got for $250 AMIR. Super cheap upgrade, sold the AMD Gold and Beyond Earth that came with it for another $65 or so.

Card is very quiet, a lot faster than a 7970. A 970 would have been a little faster, but $80-$90 more.

Wow, that's an awesome upgrade that should hold you over for 1-2 years until next gen cards fall in price. I always enjoy stories like yours much more when someone gets an upgrade for minimal cost outlay due to proper upgrade timing and resale tactics :thumbsup:

 

[Headfoot]

Awesome! I'm acquiring two R9 290 Tri-X's for $550 tonight. Going to put them into Crossfire and hope to God I can maintain 120 FPS @ 1080p in a majority of games.

I got an open box EVGA Supernova G2 1000W for $120 just to support the GPUs lol

I'm just hoping there's no "microstutter" or some stupid incompatibility or driver issues that people would say about AMD.

Getting to 120hz is frequently capped out by your CPU at 1080p. And there's not much you can do about it since CPU tech is going for lower power consumption instead of performance.

 

[OatisCampbell]

Wow, that's an awesome upgrade that should hold you over for 1-2 years until next gen cards fall in price. I always enjoy stories like yours much more when someone gets an upgrade for minimal cost outlay due to proper upgrade timing and resale tactics :thumbsup:

When a person can get 26% more performance for less than the cost of a game, it's a "must have" upgrade.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/R9_290/26.html

I game on an old 3007, so this is a big deal for me. Going from 34 to 43fps at a game like Metro is pretty much the difference between playable and not.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/R9_290/17.html

 

[hungtran]

Tigerdirect has $30 off $150 today using Visa Checkout. So Tri-X R9 290 is now an amazing $199 with 3 games tax free in CA. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...&EdpNo=8866844 I really regret buying the GTX 980. Should've waited.

 

[boozzer]

Tigerdirect has $30 off $150 today using Visa Checkout. So Tri-X R9 290 is now an amazing $199 with 3 games tax free in CA. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...&EdpNo=8866844 I really regret buying the GTX 980. Should've waited.

woooooow 200$ for a 290 tri x hahahaha and I thought 285 was a deal just a while ago when I bought mine

edit: I just realize the price difference between 290 and 970 is now 160$ = 80% hahaahahahahahhaaa for 5% performance difference!

 

[Super56K]

I feel like I've hit a good sweet spot for two years running now. Last year - first week of November - I bought a 7870 XT for $120 (only a few weeks before the GPU market went crazy due to mining). It worked very well catching up on the 2010-2013 titles I missed due to not having a gaming PC. I'm currently playing Saints Row IV without a hiccup.

Then I see the deal on that Sapphire tri-x 290 OC for $200 AR this morning. Can't say no to that. Sell the game codes for ~$50, old GPU for ~$80-90 maybe, and be more than set for another 1-1.5 years at 1080p resolution.

 

[Leyawiin]

Tigerdirect has $30 off $150 today using Visa Checkout. So Tri-X R9 290 is now an amazing $199 with 3 games tax free in CA. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...&EdpNo=8866844 I really regret buying the GTX 980. Should've waited.

I was up at 1AM and read your post. Went to TD, added it to my cart and while I was checking out it gave the "sold out" message before I could finish. lol

 

[Rvenger]

woooooow 200$ for a 290 tri x hahahaha and I thought 285 was a deal just a while ago when I bought mine

edit: I just realize the price difference between 290 and 970 is now 160$ = 80% hahaahahahahahhaaa for 5% performance difference!

At 4k, the stock clocked 970 is a couple % slower than a stock 290. At least that's what I have tested so far.

 

[wand3r3r]

At 4k, the stock clocked 970 is a couple % slower than a stock 290. At least that's what I have tested so far.

Not to go too far off topic, how do you like 4k?

 

[boozzer]

At 4k, the stock clocked 970 is a couple % slower than a stock 290. At least that's what I have tested so far.

I personally think 4k performance doesn't matter at all when comparing 290 vs 970. when a single card can handle 4k in the future, I would become very interested.

 

[Leyawiin]

Well I found a great deal on an R9 290 (glad I waited a bit). Got an XFX for $214.99 and that's without a rebate involved. They're $239.99 with $25 off for using Visa Checkout. Darn good deal. Hope the card works out well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150697

 

[toyota]

oops

 

[thilanliyan]

These deals are amazing.
Only thing that sucks for me is that the resale value on my reference 290s has tanked lol.
Why haven't these prices transferred over to the Canadian market?

 

[RussianSensation]

Well I found a great deal on an R9 290 (glad I waited a bit). Got an XFX for $214.99 and that's without a rebate involved. They're $239.99 with $25 off for using Visa Checkout. Darn good deal. Hope the card works out well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150697

Congrats. I honestly would have spent $10 more for the Sapphire Tri-X though and sent in that rebate. Make sure to register the XFX card within 30 days to get better support for warranty.

These deals are amazing.
Only thing that sucks for me is that the resale value on my reference 290s has tanked lol.
Why haven't these prices transferred over to the Canadian market?

Right now is the best time to sell 290s in Canada because prices haven't dropped on 290/290X series. Reference R9 290s are going for $230-250 CDN, which isn't too bad, considering after-market 290 cards are $240-250 USD brand new with 4 games!
http://www.kijiji.ca/b-gta-greater-toronto-area/reference-r9-290/k0l1700272

At the same time if you are gaming at 1440P or below, dual 290s should last you another 1.5 years and then there will be big price drops on 390/390X/980, and so on, right before the Pascal generation in 2016.

 

[Leyawiin]

Congrats. I honestly would have spent $10 more for the Sapphire Tri-X though and sent in that rebate. Make sure to register the XFX card within 30 days to get better support for warranty.

Probably wouldn't have gotten the XFX if it hadn't been for this glowing review. I'll be sure to register it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si_eX9FlBQQ

 

[RussianSensation]

Probably wouldn't have gotten the XFX if it hadn't been for this glowing review. I'll be sure to register it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si_eX9FlBQQ

This deal on PowerColor PCS+ 290 is just out of this world.

PowerColor PCS+ 290 for $210 after rebate. There is a $25 off with Visa Checkout coupon NAFVC25 at Newegg by November 30th. If one can get a friend/relative to order for a 2nd household, a gamer you'll walk out with $210-$25 = $185 for the 1st card and $210 for the 2nd card but 2 game coupons. Sell 1-2 game coupons and get even more savings or redeem the games. Since most after-market 970s cost $350, even if you get the 2nd one with Visa checkout, you pay $325.

After visa check out:

$185 R9 290 vs. $305 for the cheapest 970.
290 CF for $395 vs. $675 for 970 SLI.

And people keep saying 970 is worth it.

 

[Leyawiin]

And people keep saying 970 is worth it.

I was a big proponent of the 970, but Newegg's deals are just too compelling. I have an MSI GTX 970 Golden Edition that's going back. I'd be crazy to keep it between the vast price diff and minor performance diff (compared to the R9 290 I ordered). $160 more for a snazzy heat sink? Lol - no. Anyway, it has coil whine. Even if the R9 did I could live with it for that low price.

 

[skipsneeky2]

Those R9 290 cards are to nice for the price,hard to go wrong in any given situation there. Not sure how the most recent games run on a R9 290 compared to a 770.

Hows a 770 with recent drivers in recent games running compared to a R9 290 these days with mature drivers?