R9 290 *Complete* review list

[smackababy]

Been using my 290 on air for a few days and in a few games. It runs hot, not loud though. It really doesn't make any sound until it hits above 90C. I've played some Hearthstone and it never reaches that (hovers around 85C) and I can't hear it at all. It idles a bit high (around 65C). I am running BF4 at 1080p on Ultra (with 4x MSAA) and dip below 60FPS every so often, but not much. I'd imagine if I dropped to 2x MSAA, I'd never drop below 60. I just went with the Ultra setting and left it. Any other game I've played has had zero problem.

Even with the fan going, I can only hear it when I am not in game or there is silence. It isn't the jet engine people are making it out to be when it's in a closed case, not next to your head.

I can't wait to get this thing watercooled. Sadly, I am swamped at work with a release about to go out. Probably won't have time for 2 weeks or so to get my new rig set up.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

Been using my 290 on air for a few days and in a few games. It runs hot, not loud though. It really doesn't make any sound until it hits above 90C. I've played some Hearthstone and it never reaches that (hovers around 85C) and I can't hear it at all. It idles a bit high (around 65C). I am running BF4 at 1080p on Ultra (with 4x MSAA) and dip below 60FPS every so often, but not much. I'd imagine if I dropped to 2x MSAA, I'd never drop below 60. I just went with the Ultra setting and left it. Any other game I've played has had zero problem.

Even with the fan going, I can only hear it when I am not in game or there is silence. It isn't the jet engine people are making it out to be when it's in a closed case, not next to your head.

I can't wait to get this thing watercooled. Sadly, I am swamped at work with a release about to go out. Probably won't have time for 2 weeks or so to get my new rig set up.

We truly appreciate honest opinions from actual owners. :thumbsup:

 

[sze5003]

Been using my 290 on air for a few days and in a few games. It runs hot, not loud though. It really doesn't make any sound until it hits above 90C. I've played some Hearthstone and it never reaches that (hovers around 85C) and I can't hear it at all. It idles a bit high (around 65C). I am running BF4 at 1080p on Ultra (with 4x MSAA) and dip below 60FPS every so often, but not much. I'd imagine if I dropped to 2x MSAA, I'd never drop below 60. I just went with the Ultra setting and left it. Any other game I've played has had zero problem.

Even with the fan going, I can only hear it when I am not in game or there is silence. It isn't the jet engine people are making it out to be when it's in a closed case, not next to your head.

I can't wait to get this thing watercooled. Sadly, I am swamped at work with a release about to go out. Probably won't have time for 2 weeks or so to get my new rig set up.

So it's not so bad as people make the reference card out to be. I can barely hear my card at times. Definately expect better cooling results with water. Hopefully in a month or two we will get a custom solution. I've been reading some of the responses here and every other one is complaining about the noise, the heat, the noise and so on.

 

[chimaxi83]

So it's not so bad as people make the reference card out to be. I can barely hear my card at times. Definately expect better cooling results with water. Hopefully in a month or two we will get a custom solution. I've been reading some of the responses here and every other one is complaining about the noise, the heat, the noise and so on.

And none of the complainers actually own the card

 

[sze5003]

People were saying my 7970ghz is loud. You can hear it but it's not like it interrupts you while gaming. And it doesn't sound like a turbine anyway.

Have you messed with any overclocking, not that you need it but just to be curious?

 

[BallaTheFeared]

And none of the complainers actually own the card

Generally that is how it works, people tend not to buy the things they don't like.

People were saying my 7970ghz is loud. You can hear it but it's not like it interrupts you while gaming. And it doesn't sound like a turbine anyway.

They never released a reference 7970 GHz, but reviewers reviewed them and they were hot and loud.

 

[chimaxi83]

Generally that is how it works, people tend not to buy the things they don't like.



They never released a reference 7970 GHz, but reviewers reviewed them and they were hot and loud.

Oh ok, I didn't know that. Thanks for your input.

 

[smackababy]

So it's not so bad as people make the reference card out to be. I can barely hear my card at times. Definately expect better cooling results with water. Hopefully in a month or two we will get a custom solution. I've been reading some of the responses here and every other one is complaining about the noise, the heat, the noise and so on.

It does run hot. I've never seen it blow 60C. It is also silent at those temps. I game without headphones (on some not so great speakers) and can not hear the card while I'm in game.

I haven't OC'd any, so if you do that, it might skew the results some. My case is also poor for air cooling (Corsair 700D). I do have 2 120.3 radiators pushing air in though.

Something else I've noticed, is that the fan spins down really quickly after you stop stressing the card (even if it is still a bit hot). If I exit BF4, I only hear it for maybe 5 seconds and then it lets the slower speed cool the GPU down.

EDIT: My opinion is if you're on air and your case doesn't have the best air flow, I'd wait for a non-reference cooler. Only because it will heat up your CPU temps as well and if that could be a problem, the card won't help anything. If your CPU is adequitely cooled, the reference model is fine for stock speeds. I haven't OC'd yet (waiting for it to be in my loop), so I can't comment on the performance from that. The noise is a non-issue unless your case in right next to your head, at least in my opinion.

 

[sze5003]

Generally that is how it works, people tend not to buy the things they don't like.



They never released a reference 7970 GHz, but reviewers reviewed them and they were hot and loud.

Yea I didn't mean reference model. I guess I don't mind, to me it's not loud but it's pretty decent at temps, at least my model.

 

[amenx]

People tend to listen to what reviewers say, and if some reviews (ie, TPU, AT) say the cards are loud, then that may sway them more than the average users experience.

I've hear that the noise of the gtx470 was not that bad by some users and reviewers, but it bothered me a lot. Used frame-limiting to keep it more quiet in many games. So users experiences can vary.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Oh ok, I didn't know that. Thanks for your input.

I noticed you were having a hard time understanding, I'm just glad I could help :thumbsup:

 

[sze5003]

It does run hot. I've never seen it blow 60C. It is also silent at those temps. I game without headphones (on some not so great speakers) and can not hear the card while I'm in game.

I haven't OC'd any, so if you do that, it might skew the results some. My case is also poor for air cooling (Corsair 700D). I do have 2 120.3 radiators pushing air in though.

Something else I've noticed, is that the fan spins down really quickly after you stop stressing the card (even if it is still a bit hot). If I exit BF4, I only hear it for maybe 5 seconds and then it lets the slower speed cool the GPU down.

EDIT: My opinion is if you're on air and your case doesn't have the best air flow, I'd wait for a non-reference cooler. Only because it will heat up your CPU temps as well and if that could be a problem, the card won't help anything. If your CPU is adequitely cooled, the reference model is fine for stock speeds. I haven't OC'd yet (waiting for it to be in my loop), so I can't comment on the performance from that. The noise is a non-issue unless your case in right next to your head, at least in my opinion.

My card does the same, as soon as it's done being pushed, immediate fan wind down.

I have a nzxt 410 with the three standard fans it has, and I removed the lower hd cage which gives more air for my card now. But I generally would just go for non reference model anyway. I don't plan on doing any custom cooling either.

 

[chimaxi83]

I noticed you were having a hard time understanding, I'm just glad I could help :thumbsup:

You've found your forum calling, seems like you have some redeeming quality. Glad I could help.

People were saying my 7970ghz is loud. You can hear it but it's not like it interrupts you while gaming. And it doesn't sound like a turbine anyway.

Have you messed with any overclocking, not that you need it but just to be curious?

Not much overclocking for me. My 290X with modded BIOS was giving me issues, so that one is gone. Then 290 came out. I picked up two of those, haven't installed them yet though.

I did some quick testing with stock uber BIOS on the 290X. I was able to get the core up and stable to 1150, but memory started to artifact at 1375, so not much there. Games were stable at 1150/1375, and it didn't matter if it was air or water. Modded BIOS with voltage control did absolutely zero for clocks, other than black screen crashing.

Think I'll wait for proper voltage control with the 290s.

 

[guskline]

Been using my 290 on air for a few days and in a few games. It runs hot, not loud though. It really doesn't make any sound until it hits above 90C. I've played some Hearthstone and it never reaches that (hovers around 85C) and I can't hear it at all. It idles a bit high (around 65C). I am running BF4 at 1080p on Ultra (with 4x MSAA) and dip below 60FPS every so often, but not much. I'd imagine if I dropped to 2x MSAA, I'd never drop below 60. I just went with the Ultra setting and left it. Any other game I've played has had zero problem.

Even with the fan going, I can only hear it when I am not in game or there is silence. It isn't the jet engine people are making it out to be when it's in a closed case, not next to your head.

I can't wait to get this thing watercooled. Sadly, I am swamped at work with a release about to go out. Probably won't have time for 2 weeks or so to get my new rig set up.

Thanks for an insightful opinion. If I had not just moved to water cooled GTX670s I think the R9 290s in CF AND water cooled (EK makes the full water blocks) would be the ticket. Fan noise is eliminated. Just might need more radiator capacity with 2 290s!

 

[Will Robinson]

AT's review of R9270 and R9270X is up.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7503/the-amd-radeon-r9-270x-270-review-feat-asus-his
Looks like a decent set of $200 and under cards.

 

[Erenhardt]

AT's review of R9270 and R9270X is up.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7503/the-amd-radeon-r9-270x-270-review-feat-asus-his
Looks like a decent set of $200 and under cards.

No, these cards are not worth it imho. You cant overclock them (or at least within "out of the box" policy ), so MEH.

 

[Will Robinson]

They own their price brackets.
That's probably their intended purpose...
Not grunty enough for me but fine for 1080p on mid settings.:thumbsup:

 

[Silverforce11]

No, these cards are not worth it imho. You cant overclock them (or at least within "out of the box" policy ), so MEH.

It feels like the price bracket down there is so cramped.

Pretty uninspiring launch TBH, I wish they hurry it up and launch a R290 IceQ or PCS+ already..

 

[Zanovar]

It feels like the price bracket down there is so cramped.

Pretty uninspiring launch TBH, I wish they hurry it up and launch a R290 IceQ or PCS+ already..

Patience young padawan.Think ill try out a IceQ or PCS+ this time,something other than a windforcex3.

 

[AlucardX]

I haven't seen much information on overclocking these cards. I wanted to find a good comparison of these versus the 7850 with overclocking.

 

[RomanMtz]

I received my Gigabyte 290 today and to be honest at least on my card, the coil whine is a lot more annoying than the fan noise...

On the desktop is fine, no whine... but once I start BF4, I get nothing but this high-pitched, annoying whine.

Is this common or would it be a reason to RMA? I'm leaning towards RMA, it's really annoying.

 

[smackababy]

I received my Gigabyte 290 today and to be honest at least on my card, the coil whine is a lot more annoying than the fan noise...

On the desktop is fine, no whine... but once I start BF4, I get nothing but this high-pitched, annoying whine.

Is this common or would it be a reason to RMA? I'm leaning towards RMA, it's really annoying.

I'd send it back. Mine has no whine. In fact, I just did a test to make sure.

 

[RomanMtz]

I'd send it back. Mine has no whine. In fact, I just did a test to make sure.

Will do, just wanted to make sure of that. Thanks!

 

[AlNasty]

I received my Gigabyte 290 today and to be honest at least on my card, the coil whine is a lot more annoying than the fan noise...

On the desktop is fine, no whine... but once I start BF4, I get nothing but this high-pitched, annoying whine.

Is this common or would it be a reason to RMA? I'm leaning towards RMA, it's really annoying.

What is your frame rate? Whine would not be uncommon if you are running very high fps? I have heard this of AMD and Nvidia. Mine does it when it gets well into the hundreds and
higher. If you are hearing it during menu loads or such...I would say its normal. Your fps during those times are most likely very high.

If one is getting no coil while, I would like to hear if they are using a 1440 or higher monitor. Mine wont be here until tomorrow to see if it goes away using a higher resolution (less fps). Maybe
the 1080p setups are running very high fps during load times, menu's etc.

 

[DooKey]

What is your frame rate? Whine would not be uncommon if you are running very high fps? I have heard this of AMD and Nvidia. Mine does it when it gets well into the hundreds and
higher. If you are hearing it during menu loads or such...I would say its normal. Your fps during those times are most likely very high.

If one is getting no coil while, I would like to hear if they are using a 1440 or higher monitor. Mine wont be here until tomorrow to see if it goes away using a higher resolution (less fps). Maybe
the 1080p setups are running very high fps during load times, menu's etc.

No whine and I use a 1440p monitor.