R9 290x Buy or wait?

[runzwithsizorz]

Is now a good time to buy MSI R9290x? Or should I wait?

 

[thilanliyan]

Wait. AMD's new cards are under a week away so you may be able to get good deals on both AMD and nVidia cards soon.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Wait. Fiji is getting officially unveiled next week; prices have nowhere to go but down.

 

[exar333]

The 290 is a great buy now for ~$220. The rumored 390/390x is probably going to be a better option for similar prices as the current 290x IMHO.

If you need/want HDMI 2.0, waiting is also a good idea.

 

[raghu78]

right now i would say you just hold off till R9 3xx cards launch. R9 290X cards will be available even a couple of weeks from now. but wait to see what the new gen brings. :thumbsup:

 

[Bartokomus]

quick follow up question if i may; i've been looking online to see the power draw and physical dimensions of the card as MSI just gave me a full refund on my R9 280x. does anyone have a link or know off hand?

thanks in advance.

 

[nitromullet]

quick follow up question if i may; i've been looking online to see the power draw and physical dimensions of the card as MSI just gave me a full refund on my R9 280x. does anyone have a link or know off hand?

thanks in advance.

http://us.msi.com/product/vga/#?category=AMD-R9 290X

Click on the card you're considering, and then click the "Specification" tab. That will give you the dimensions.

Most reviews will have power consumption benchamrks, like this one. http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/R9_290X/25.html

 

[bryanW1995]

http://us.msi.com/product/vga/#?category=AMD-R9 290X

Click on the card you're considering, and then click the "Specification" tab. That will give you the dimensions.

Most reviews will have power consumption benchamrks, like this one. http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/R9_290X/25.html

^^^^ I was going to point you to tpu, but it looks like nitromullet already did so.

I would recommend that you wait until information comes out on 390/390x, though I would say that you might end up going with r9 290 just b/c it's so cheap for the performance it gives you.

 

[LTC8K6]

http://i.imgur.com/kknGSJK.png

Patience...

 

[nenforcer]

Wait until June 16th 2015! Next Tuesday all will be clear!

 

[SPBHM]

you should wait because it's just a few days
but from the rumors the 390s are going to be more expensive and based on the same GPU, so the 290x could still be a better deal for a while

 

[Leyawiin]

I bought a GTX 260 two months before the GTX 460 came out. Felt like a total maroon. If the AMD 300 series is only a week away by all means wait. You may still get an R9 290X but at least you'll have all the information.

 

[SilentRunning]

I bought a GTX 260 two months before the GTX 460 came out. Felt like a total maroon. If the AMD 300 series is only a week away by all means wait. You may still get an R9 290X but at least you'll have all the information.

I know how you feel. I once went plaid.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Check 290X inventory if you can and then consider if you are willing to wait or not. Potentially missing out on a great deal.

The 390/390X rebrands with 8GB looks to have a 50-100$ price premium over the current 290/290X deals.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Firestrike benchmark of the $450 XFX R9 390x sold at Best Buy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kEcbLRnbVI

Like RussianSensation has been saying forever, the 290/290x at firesale prices are incredible deals and I wouldn't wait and then have them go out of stock for good.

Here he is unboxing the 390x
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-zxnaPDKPU

 

[SimianR]

It seems like the 390/390X are going to be pretty similar to the 290/290X besides slightly higher base clocks and more VRAM. You can weigh the pros and cons and decide whether the extra VRAM is worth it. If you are thinking about going crossfire down the road then maybe the 390/390X would be the better option (or an 8GB 290X).

 

[Temuka]

Firestrike benchmark of the $450 XFX R9 390x sold at Best Buy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kEcbLRnbVI

Like RussianSensation has been saying forever, the 290/290x at firesale prices are incredible deals and I wouldn't wait and then have them go out of stock for good.

Here he is unboxing the 390x
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-zxnaPDKPU

Which incredible deals are you talking about? Please provide some links

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Which incredible deals are you talking about? Please provide some links

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202143

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131549

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127774

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150696

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131548

 

[brandonmatic]

If you're brand agnostic I think you should wait until we see what's what with the 390 series. If they're underwhelming I'm sure you'll still be able to get a good deal on a 290 series card for at least another month while they clear out stock.

 

[JDG1980]

If you're brand agnostic I think you should wait until we see what's what with the 390 series. If they're underwhelming I'm sure you'll still be able to get a good deal on a 290 series card for at least another month while they clear out stock.

We already know "what's what" with the 390 series. Best Buy is selling the cards (even though technically they're not supposed to) and we've got a reasonable amount of hard data now. They are Hawaii rebrands with an unnecessary memory clock boost and an even more unnecessary 8GB of RAM.

If you want a Hawaii card, just buy a 290/290X now. It'll be cheaper. But personally, I would be reluctant to reward AMD's dishonest business practices.

 

[Temuka]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202143

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131549

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127774

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150696

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131548

Yeah,nothing special. These prices are more than 6 months on market,but thx anyway

 

[RussianSensation]

Which incredible deals are you talking about? Please provide some links

To add to Steve's comment:

$220 PowerColor 290

He also linked XFX R9 290X for $270. That's a great deal if someone wants lifetime warranty.

The cheapest good GTX970 I can find is $315 USD.

Yeah,nothing special. These prices are more than 6 months on market,but thx anyway

Because of tarnished image of R9 200 series, you won't find a better deal than the Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 for $199 or PowerColor PCS+ R9 290 for $199 - both deals available around Black Friday 2014. It's going to take 6+ months before we see R9 390 or GTX970 drop to $199.

 

[brandonmatic]

We already know "what's what" with the 390 series. Best Buy is selling the cards (even though technically they're not supposed to) and we've got a reasonable amount of hard data now. They are Hawaii rebrands with an unnecessary memory clock boost and an even more unnecessary 8GB of RAM.

If you want a Hawaii card, just buy a 290/290X now. It'll be cheaper. But personally, I would be reluctant to reward AMD's dishonest business practices.

Yeah, it's looking that way. I think there's no way the 390 will be a better value than a top-brand 290 (can be had for $240 after rebate). But will it be a better value (at $329) than a 290x (at $270 after rebate)?

 

[boozzer]

I would 100% wait, few more days, it is literally just few more days.

 

[LTC8K6]

http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=...7&postcount=72

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/5060799

So far, looks like very similar performance.