PowerColor PCS+ r9 290 vs Sapphire r9 290 tri-x vs Asus r9 290 DirectCU II OC

[junkiefp]

I'm back. and after testing this beast I can confirm that its prolly the best 290 series on the market.

Here are the Heaven 4.0 results.

Powercolor PCS+ 290

Stock score 1625


Overclocked 1120/1500 @63 degrees C:

FPS:66.8 Score:1682 Min FPS:14.2 Max FPS:145.0

Platform:
Windows NT 6.2 (build 9200) 64bit
CPU model:
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 750 @ 2.67GHz (2673MHz) x4
GPU model:
AMD Radeon R9 200 Series 13.350.1005.0 (4095MB) x1
Settings

Render:
Direct3D11
Mode:1920x1080 fullscreen
Preset:Custom Quality:Ultra Tessellation:Extreme

So far I'm very happy. Let me know if you guys want pics.

 

[Shmee]

Nice clocks. What memory do you have? Elpida or Hynix?

 

[junkiefp]

Hynix!

 

[Despoiler]

I dont think Asus has, the powercolor pcs+ has the highest stock clock. Alot of people talking about the Asus disadvantages . it seems that Asus product for r9 290 is poor compare to others. the powercolor pcs+ also have backplate which is more good looking than the MSI. the problem is, I never heard about this manufacture before

The Gigabyte R9 290 Windforce 3x has the same stock clock as the Powercolor (1040). I have the Gigabyte and it's fantastic. Their F3 BIOS fixed the temp issues people complained about. Mine was loaded with F3 from the factory.

 

[Belkov]

I'm back. and after testing this beast I can confirm that its prolly the best 290 series on the market.

Here are the Heaven 4.0 results.

Powercolor PCS+ 290

Stock score 1625


Overclocked 1120/1500 @63 degrees C:

FPS:66.8 Score:1682 Min FPS:14.2 Max FPS:145.0

Platform:
Windows NT 6.2 (build 9200) 64bit
CPU model:
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 750 @ 2.67GHz (2673MHz) x4
GPU model:
AMD Radeon R9 200 Series 13.350.1005.0 (4095MB) x1
Settings

Render:
Direct3D11
Mode:1920x1080 fullscreen
Preset:Custom Quality:Ultra Tessellation:Extreme

So far I'm very happy. Let me know if you guys want pics.

I'm sorry but i can't believe you made so high score on stock... Or something i am missing? What is the resolution of your monitor? My r9 290 wf3 has stock clocks of 1040/1250MHz and it achieve 54 fps which is about 1300-1400 points...

 

[wand3r3r]

It says overclocked 1120/1500 right in there.

 

[RaulF]

It says overclocked 1120/1500 right in there.

I noticed that too, but it does say stock score right before the score. Maybe he fudge the numbers and put the OC ones in there.

Maybe a CPU difference between them?

 

[Belkov]

Well, with 1150/1400 i make 56-57 fps...
If his monitor is less than full hd, the score would be so high, even on 1920*1080 mode. I check some other results and his result is not normal for a 290...

Edit: I made another test - 1150/1500MHz - exactly 59fps... I used the rig in my signature. And my CPU is faster too... Something definitely is not right...

 

[nardz84]

Well, it took 27 days to ship, but I finally got my Asus r9 290 dcu2 @msrp ($439+tax) from Amazon. So far I'm pretty happy, gpu tweak says its staying under 78C with a max fan load around 45%, stock 1000/1260MHz. Compared to the other brands that's not terrific it seems, but I really don't plan to overclock, was just waiting for a non-reference cooler at a normal price. If anyone wants to know more specifics about it, I can add that for ya.

 

[JBT]

Well, it took 27 days to ship, but I finally got my Asus r9 290 dcu2 @msrp ($439+tax) from Amazon. So far I'm pretty happy, gpu tweak says its staying under 78C with a max fan load around 45%, stock 1000/1260MHz. Compared to the other brands that's not terrific it seems, but I really don't plan to overclock, was just waiting for a non-reference cooler at a normal price. If anyone wants to know more specifics about it, I can add that for ya.

Yep just received mine tonight as well

 

[drclaw_]

Hynix!

you lucky bastard i got elpida memory, the card is good gaming card

i was able to get mining kilohash rate 740 stable
with guiminer

my settings were 27400 thread concurrency and 20 difficulty @ 256 worksize
gputhreads 2, everything else default

it might be possible to hit 800 but i dunno, i have been increasing thread concurrency by 64, starting from 8192 thread concurrency

i can surf the web and mine comfortably around 600-660 kilohash
i just lower the difficulty to 14 and use 27400 tc

only thing is i get invalid shares sometimes, then i restart it and its okay
i dunno
not the best mining card but i have elpida memory

also check out this forum on the pcs 290, long conversation on the card
http://www.overclock.net/t/1462592/powercolor-pcs-r9-290/240_30#post_21952746

also heres my unigine score,
http://oi62.tinypic.com/34riwwi.jpg

and vrm temps while 100% gpu load with unigine, its same temps while i mine

gpu temp
http://oi58.tinypic.com/4g6f5j.jpg

vrm temps
http://oi59.tinypic.com/jpenb9.jpg

 

[IEC]

I got Elpida on my Powercolor PCS+ 290.

It's my coolest running 290 save my watercooled cards. Currently running 69C with a 27C ambient in my open mining rack. Versus 72-74C for the Sapphire Tri-X. Yes, it beats the Tri-X in cooling.

 

[Gloomy]

I got Elpida on my Powercolor PCS+ 290.

It's my coolest running 290 save my watercooled cards. Currently running 69C with a 27C ambient in my open mining rack. Versus 72-74C for the Sapphire Tri-X. Yes, it beats the Tri-X in cooling.

It's a 3-slot cooler right? I looks beefy, similar to the Lightning cooler. So it's no surprise really.

 

[IEC]

Yup, 3 slot. Beefy indeed.

 

[TreVader]

At current prices it's hard for me to understand why anybody would by the sapphire 290, it's a great card but right now it's priced at about $50 more than reference 290X, and only a bit less than the cheaper aftermarket 290X.


For the price of the sapphire 290 ($600) you could buy a reference 290 and put it under water, or you could buy a 290X, or you could buy another reference 290 and save $150

 

[Belkov]

It depends of the country. For example in my country i bought my GB R9 290 OC for 540 USD and it was the cheapest one(excluding reference). Both Tri-X and PCS+ cost around 590-610 $ and the cheapest 290X cost around 730 USD. So as you can see 290 is still better priced in my country. I was thinking of getting a 780, but it is more expensive too - around 650$. And by the way WF3 is as good as Tri-X - the problem with WF3 is that those cards run on higher stock clocks with higher stock voltage. A friend of mine and me tested those cards and when they run on equal clocks and voltages WF3 keeps more or less the same temps. The only difference is that it is louder than TRI-X.

 

[Fastx]

Fwiw the Tri-X 290 is on sale with promo code and in stock now (ends 3-20) for $494.00 shipped and is the cheapest I have seen it in awhile.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202080