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*** AMD Radeon R9 290 (PRO / NON-X) Benchmarks Thread ***

Soldato
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Too loud and too hot but fast is the general vibe I get from those reviews. If it wasn't for mantle and the fact that a lot of games will be utilizing it, BF4, Battlefront new Mass Effects etc I would pick up a 780 over this card in a heartbeat.
 
Associate
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22 Nov 2004
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When the aftermaket coolers are slapped on all will be good :)

most users probably have their case under the desk and have headphones on full whack while playing games (well i do anyway) so i don't think noise is that much of an issue as some would like to make out.
 
Associate
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When the aftermaket coolers are slapped on all will be good :)

most users probably have their case under the desk and have headphones on full whack while playing games (well i do anyway) so i don't think noise is that much of an issue as some would like to make out.

I'm so buy a 290 or X when the aftermarket coolers arrive. Just waiting to see the real difference between them with capable coolers.
 
OcUK Staff
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HI there

Disabled ULPS, got the office to freezing levels and re-ran at 1240/6400 :D

fmln.png
 
Associate
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These do look stonkingly good for the amount they cost.

I need to make my mind up now, wait for 3rd party coolers, get one now, or get a 2nd 7950 and a Corsair 540 case.

Are these cards actually as noisy as the reviews are making out, the heat doesn't bother me but I don't want it to sound like I have a vacuum cleaner in the room.
 
OcUK Staff
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It appears that tom's hardware didn't retest the 290x with the new drivers as the retail version is consistently worse than the 290.

Neither did I, but I did have a play and R290X is faster when drivers and PC are the same.

The new drivers give a nice boost in everything, particular in some games.
 
Soldato
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Pretty amazing performance I have to say for a little over £300. I'm very impressed. I think right now its a close call between this and the 780 (with the nvidia game bundle) especially if going under water. For air cooling the 780 will still attract more buyers imo. AIB cards and better coolers can not come fast enough for the 290 and 290X.
 
Associate
Joined
14 Oct 2004
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979
what does ULPS do?

Ultra-Low Power State - it should only activate when there is no output by putting the card into a very low powered mode. This often causes issues in a CF setup with one card going in and out of ULPS and has been reported to have a performance impact even in single card setups. It's a nice feature for those trying to save energy, but pointless imo for overclocked gaming machines.
 
Caporegime
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Personally I'd say disable it regardless and force a manual idle clock. Niether company seems able to make fault free power saving code, with downclocks during low load resulting in fps stutter.

Fair point but im not sure if disabling ULPS will stop a 290 from throttling. All ULPS does is turn off any 2nd/3rd/4th gpu when in 2d mode. It turns the gpu off completely, 0% fan speed and 0% power draw.
 
Associate
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22 Nov 2004
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Ultra-Low Power State - it should only activate when there is no output by putting the card into a very low powered mode. This often causes issues in a CF setup with one card going in and out of ULPS and has been reported to have a performance impact even in single card setups. It's a nice feature for those trying to save energy, but pointless imo for overclocked gaming machines.

Thanks for that
 
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