R9 290X review (hardware.info)

[Pariah]

We've already seen the 94°C in another graph that did reference the benchmark and it is indeed Furmark. Without anything at all to reference the test setup, settings and benches this chart isn't very useful.

That does nothing to answer how loud the cooling system is. Regardless of whether Furmark is realistic or not, if the card can get that hot, then it needs to be able to dissipate that much heat without killing itself. Seems odd the fans would run at under 50% if the GPU is over 90 degrees as someone mentioned. What kind of temperatures does it need to hit for the fan to run at full speed? Is AMD trying to minimize noise by just letting the card run hot? Is AMD trying have the worst launch of a video card in history? We've all heard of a paper launch before. This might be the first paper review we have ever seen. Where are they?

 

[3DVagabond]

That does nothing to answer how loud the cooling system is. Regardless of whether Furmark is realistic or not, if the card can get that hot, then it needs to be able to dissipate that much heat without killing itself. Seems odd the fans would run at under 50% if the GPU is over 90 degrees as someone mentioned. What kind of temperatures does it need to hit for the fan to run at full speed? Is AMD trying to minimize noise by just letting the card run hot? Is AMD trying have the worst launch of a video card in history? We've all heard of a paper launch before. This might be the first paper review we have ever seen. Where are they?

There's 2 modes. Quiet mode, which limits the fan speed to ~40%, and Uber mode, which AFAIK doesn't limit fam speed. The bench I saw where the card hit 94°C in Furmark was in Quiet mode. I'm sure that AMD didn't intend for Furmark bench testing in quiet mode. LOL

 

[boxleitnerb]

I know you are a reliable poster, but can you please cite you source for me. I haven't seen the source and would like to, please.

http://videocardz.com/47039/xfx-radeon-r9-290x-overclocking-temperatures-exposed

Second picture, below the one with furmark. It's difficult to make out, but it looks rather like 93 than 53, also taking into account the heigh of the temperature graph.

 

[3DVagabond]

http://videocardz.com/47039/xfx-radeon-r9-290x-overclocking-temperatures-exposed

Second picture, below the one with furmark. It's difficult to make out, but it looks rather like 93 than 53, also taking into account the heigh of the temperature graph.

Interesting. It's hard to tell, but it does look like it could be 93°, like you said. Again, I'm assuming it's in "quiet mode", which must not be for benchmarking.

The other 7 tests from the same user where the temps were between 52° and 55° is likely "Uber mode" where the fan can ramp up to keep the card cool.

 

[Will Robinson]

That does nothing to answer how loud the cooling system is. Regardless of whether Furmark is realistic or not, if the card can get that hot, then it needs to be able to dissipate that much heat without killing itself. Seems odd the fans would run at under 50% if the GPU is over 90 degrees as someone mentioned. What kind of temperatures does it need to hit for the fan to run at full speed? Is AMD trying to minimize noise by just letting the card run hot? Is AMD trying have the worst launch of a video card in history? We've all heard of a paper launch before. This might be the first paper review we have ever seen. Where are they?

Its amazing how all the NV card owners are so upset by this launch..:hmm:

 

[boxleitnerb]

Interesting. It's hard to tell, but it does look like it could be 93°, like you said. Again, I'm assuming it's in "quiet mode", which must not be for benchmarking.

The other 7 tests from the same user where the temps were between 52° and 55° is likely "Uber mode" where the fan can ramp up to keep the card cool.

Ramp up is a euphemism...you'll likely go deaf at 100% fan speed :biggrin:

 

[ShadowOfMyself]

Its amazing how all the NV card owners are so upset by this launch..:hmm:

How dare AMD launch a 599$ card that beats a 999$ card Worst video card launch ever!

 

[MrK6]

The fact that the card can keep cool under Furmark with the fan only at 40% speaks volumes for how great the HSF is.

 

[Techhog]

That does nothing to answer how loud the cooling system is. Regardless of whether Furmark is realistic or not, if the card can get that hot, then it needs to be able to dissipate that much heat without killing itself. Seems odd the fans would run at under 50% if the GPU is over 90 degrees as someone mentioned. What kind of temperatures does it need to hit for the fan to run at full speed? Is AMD trying to minimize noise by just letting the card run hot? Is AMD trying have the worst launch of a video card in history? We've all heard of a paper launch before. This might be the first paper review we have ever seen. Where are they?

Find out in the next episode of When the Card Burns.

Spoiler

The hyperbole is killing me. I can't wait until there are actual reviews so that everyone can stop acting so silly.

 

[NIGELG]

I really don't like paper launches.It does not matter if AMD or Nvidia does it....

That being said is upgrading from a single 7970 even worth it?

 

[tolis626]

I really don't like paper launches.It does not matter if AMD or Nvidia does it....

That being said is upgrading from a single 7970 even worth it?

I see you're gaming on a single 1080p monitor like me.Unless you plan to also upgrade the monitor,it doesn't make much sense.1080p gaming is already great on the 7970 and the gtx770.GPUs like the r290x,780 (ti or not) and Titan are overkill.For higher resolutions,I'd say it's worth upgrading.
That said,I'm buying one shortly after launch.The improvement over my current HD4650 is going to be a little more than dramatic.

 

[Skurge]

I really don't like paper launches.It does not matter if AMD or Nvidia does it....

That being said is upgrading from a single 7970 even worth it?

This will be hard launch. Retailers will have cards when the NDA lifts.

 

[Pariah]

Its amazing how all the NV card owners are so upset by this launch..:hmm:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=35627868&postcount=44

How do you know what Nvidia owners think by quoting me? That's an interesting talent.

 

[Skurge]

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=35627868&postcount=44

How do you know what Nvidia owners think by quoting me? That's an interesting talent.

Well, clearly you must be annoyed that AMD actually has a card faster than the mighty Geforce4 MX. So clearly you are sour. /sarc

 

[JBT]

I see you're gaming on a single 1080p monitor like me.Unless you plan to also upgrade the monitor,it doesn't make much sense.1080p gaming is already great on the 7970 and the gtx770.GPUs like the r290x,780 (ti or not) and Titan are overkill.For higher resolutions,I'd say it's worth upgrading.
That said,I'm buying one shortly after launch.The improvement over my current HD4650 is going to be a little more than dramatic.

Unless of course the scaling function like in BF4 really takes off.

 

[RussianSensation]

The fact that the card can keep cool under Furmark with the fan only at 40% speaks volumes for how great the HSF is.

It's pretty amazing how some people panic for no reason as if custom fan profiles cannot be made to increase the fan speed, as if Furmark is indicative of real world application, and as if no after-market R 290X will ever be for sale.

 

[exar333]

Its amazing how all the NV card owners are so upset by this launch..:hmm:

It has nothing to do with fanboism, IMHO. This launch has been wierd, uncoordinated, and just downright odd.

'Sort of NDA' information, but nothing official. No official specs and very little real performance. It look's great, but it could have (and should have) been handled much better.

AMD communication has been pretty poor on the whole 290x. Then you have the 290 vanilla, which has been mostly completely MIA. With how soon this card will be out, it's odd how it has been handled. Like AMD or not, it's been a strange launch.

 

[XiandreX]

I see you're gaming on a single 1080p monitor like me.Unless you plan to also upgrade the monitor,it doesn't make much sense.1080p gaming is already great on the 7970 and the gtx770.GPUs like the r290x,780 (ti or not) and Titan are overkill.For higher resolutions,I'd say it's worth upgrading.
That said,I'm buying one shortly after launch.The improvement over my current HD4650 is going to be a little more than dramatic.

If what you say is true... you are in for one heck of ride :biggrin:

 

[Pariah]

The fact that the card can keep cool under Furmark with the fan only at 40% speaks volumes for how great the HSF is.

How is 94 degrees C keeping cool? You got it wrong anyway, it hit 93 degrees with 43% fan speed running 3Dmark, not Furmark. Compared to hitting 52 degrees slightly overclocked with 100% fan speed. If silent mode increases GPU temps by 40 degrees then what's the point? You won't want to do any serious gaming with that and the fan shouldn't be do anything when you are watching movies or surfing the internet.

 

[KingFatty]

Maybe the 290X chip is assembled from millions of VRM chips assembled together to withstand up to 100C no problem?

 

[Skurge]

It has nothing to do with fanboism, IMHO. This launch has been wierd, uncoordinated, and just downright odd.

'Sort of NDA' information, but nothing official. No official specs and very little real performance. It look's great, but it could have (and should have) been handled much better.

AMD communication has been pretty poor on the whole 290x. Then you have the 290 vanilla, which has been mostly completely MIA. With how soon this card will be out, it's odd how it has been handled. Like AMD or not, it's been a strange launch.

To be Fair, all AMD did was announce the card and the pre-order date and kept quiet. I don't know how you can say it's been odd when they haven't said anything. People made it odd.

 

[Pariah]

To be Fair, all AMD did was announce the card and the pre-order date and kept quiet. I don't know how you can say it's been odd when they haven't said anything. People made it odd.

You don't think it is odd to make an official announcement about preorders starting while in the same announcement telling your customers that you won't be announcing a PRICE, final specs or performance numbers for weeks?

 

[tolis626]

If what you say is true... you are in for one heck of ride :biggrin:

Yep,it's true.My craze with smartphones and lack of money has kept me away from the PC world for quite long.Now that I decided to come back,I'm outdated.Terribly outdated.To the point that my father's PC,which sports some AMD processor (Likely a mid-range Phenom II if memory serves me well),an AMD 6850 and 8 gigs of RAM seemed light years ahead of my POS laptop.I can only imagine at this point what sort of improvements I'll see with my new PC.
Aaaand to post on the topic,it's indeed the weirdest launch of any PC component I can remember.Not that I remember many,but still it's weird.Bad thing is that it's kept me from buying my PC,as I kept postponing the purchase waiting for Hawaii.Good thing is,the hype machine did its job,people are salivating for more information,drooling over the R290x and NVidia got the kick in the butt they deserved for acting as if they're a monopoly.They may have the majority of the market share,but in my opinion that doesn't justify GPUs like the Titan costing an arm and a leg (And possibly a kidney).Now I hope that the 780ti edges the 290x,so that AMD will be forced to improve their drivers.

 

[itsmydamnation]

How is 94 degrees C keeping cool? You got it wrong anyway, it hit 93 degrees with 43% fan speed running 3Dmark, not Furmark. Compared to hitting 52 degrees slightly overclocked with 100% fan speed. If silent mode increases GPU temps by 40 degrees then what's the point? You won't want to do any serious gaming with that and the fan shouldn't be do anything when you are watching movies or surfing the internet.

Why do you care about cpu temperature? @100C the GPU's life is still going to be many times its practical life. my X800XTPE used to run @ 117C :whiste: for years! ( until it got replaced).

 

[Majcric]

It's pretty amazing how some people panic for no reason as if custom fan profiles cannot be made to increase the fan speed, as if Furmark is indicative of real world application, and as if no after-market R 290X will ever be for sale.

Indeed, custom fan profiles can help regulate the temperature but the question is what kind of noise are we talking in order to reach an adequate temp-range. As you say I'm very interested in seeing what the aftermarket coolers will bring to the table.