Hi there
OK I am in the very fortunate position to have tested nearly every model of 290 series card that is on the planet and we also sell pretty much every model. So I can do this without being bias and it is on the basis of which card I would buy for myself, I am an avid benchmarker, gamer and miner, so I shall cover all this criteria in my guide to each card:-
AMD Reference 290/290X
The good points are its built by AMD to their specifications, so there is zero corner cutting on components or 3rd parties thinking they know better, this card will perform. Some can also unlock and you can flash all models to the Asus 290X BIOS for some additional voltage should you need it, allowing greater overclocks for benchmarking. Hynix cards will clock higher by 100-200MHz on the memory on average, but are a rarity with only around 20% of reference cards using Hynix memory due to the fire Hynix had last year in their factory causing a shortage, so most reference cards are Elpida.
The bad points - It is loud and runs hot unless you have the fan set to noisy.
In short this card is great for benchmarkers as at 100% fan its cooler is one of the most powerful and it cools VRMs very well. It is also perfect for miners as well with two or three cards in a case, as they exhaust the hot air out.
Bad news these are now end of life, so the stock won't be around much longer on the 290's and then the 290X's shall also run out.
With an Asus BIOS you can expect 1150-1220MHz core overclocks and upto 6400MHz (Elpida) and 6800MHz (Hynix) memory clocks, upto being max possible, your mileage might vary. These clocks are for benchmarking, not gaming or 24/7 use, those should always be lower and lower voltage.
Mining Hash rate Hynix 290X - 875-950
Mining Hash rate Elpida 290X - 800-875
Mining Hash rate Hynix 290 - 850-925
Mining Hash rate Elpida 290 - 750-850
Asus DC2 290/290X
I have now tested this card, read my testing here:-
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18576594
In short one of the very best cooling solutions out there, for both raw power and very quiet as well, so top score for the cooling design.
Asus own PCB and mosfet pushed Elpida memory very well, seeing 6500MHz stable and core overclock was no different to a reference card at 1150-1200MHz.
An excellent card which could be perfect if you get one with Hynix memory for overclocking purposes.
Gigabyte WindForce OC 290/290X series
Gigabyte WindForce cards always prove to be very popular and the cooler has a reputation of being both reasonably power yet quiet at the same time and this card does not disappoint on that front.
However Gigabyte have made a few mistakes with this card, first and foremost is they seem to have chosen to exclusively more or less use Elpida for their memory supplier, so expect poorer memory overclocks and thirdly their custom PCB uses different VRM's and voltage control can be limited unless you know how to unlock them.
So this card is great if your a gamer, who wants to game in near silence, the Gigabyte card will perform this task very well.
If however your a miner or benchmarker, then move along, these cards are not the best for mining and it is a very bad idea to mine with more than two of these cards in the same system as the coolers are not powerful enough to handle the heat output of 3 or more cards in close proximity, they loose cooling ability fast when positioned closely to each other. Benchmarking wise the Elpida memory will hold you back.
In short if your gaming, its one of the better choices, but avoid for mining or overclocking use.
Expect overclocks for benchmarking in the region of 1125-1175MHz for the core and upto 6400MHz on the memory.
Mining Hash rate 290X - 775-875
Mining Hash rate 290 - 750-850
HIS 290/290X X2 Series
When I visited HIS nearly a year ago in Taiwan, my meeting went along the lines of please ditch the blue PCB in favour of black and start using black coolers/shrouds, to which they acknowledge.
So when I got the setup details for this card I cried a little inside, blue PCB and some kind of champaigne coloured shroud.
We expect it to perform and cool well in all areas, but are yet to test one, but the colour is real off putting, a big shame as I've being a fan of HIS for years and its an OcUK exclusive brand.
Stock ETA is unknown!
MSI 290/290X Gaming Series
The MSI 290X is one of the best cards we've tested, its cooling solution looks superb and is incredibly quiet, the only downside is it lacks real cooling ability due to the fans simply being too quiet even at 100% fan speed. The included backplate does a great job and also looks great, though it does heatsoak and as such heats any other cards up that might be near it more so than a card without a backplate, so be aware of this if running crossfire or mining with more than two.
With the Asus 290X BIOS this card with fan at 100% which is still not that loud, about equal to 45% on the reference cooler will hit anywhere between 1175-1240MHz on the core and they will do 6600-6800MHz on the memory. All MSI 290X Gamers seem to be equipped with Hynix memory, good move!
The 290 is also a great clocker, but the BIOS is pretty poor, so max voltage and maximum overclock are limited on the 290 model because of this and as such expect 1150-1200MHz core for benchmarking and upto 6200MHz on the memory.
Even though these cards are a reference PCB, MSI have used a different VRM which does not seem quite as good as that found on AMD reference cards, but is by no means poor, as can be seen from the overclocks.
Where this cards excels, well the hint is in the name, its a truly superb card for gaming on, one or two in crossfire will give you a great experience and do so quietly with some stonking performance. This card really is a perfect choice for anyone gaming!
It is also a great miner, but do be aware with three things will get hot, as the backplates heatsoak, so for miners keep them far apart and aim for a maximum of two in a PC or three at most.
As already mentioned its a good benching card too, MSI done a top job! TOP PLAYER, TOP CHOICE!
Mining Hash rate 290X - 875-950
Mining Hash rate 290 - 825-925
Powercolor PCS+ 290/290X Series
I can't comment too much on this one, I am yet to test it or hear any feedback, but the marketing spiel sounds good, the cooler certainly looks great with plenty of ability. Powercolor tend to stick with AMD spec and components so expect a solid all round card. I hope to test one in the near future at which time I shall report back.
Sapphire 290/290X Tri-X series
In short the best card I've tested yet, why?
Its an AMD reference board with AMD components, so AMD VRM, AMD Direfet and Hynix memory. Sapphire have kept the PCB as AMD intended, so good on them!
The cooler is huge, this card is very long, were talking 7990 long, so make sure you can fit it in before buying one. The cooler is more powerful than any other cooler I've ever tested, it even beats the reference cooler at 100% fan by some margin, like 20c+ and the fans can push huge amounts of air if you set them to 80% or higher. OK its not as quiet as a WindForce or an MSI Gaming, but its damn close, but what it can do is outperform their coolers maximum ability by a good 15c+
As such the Sapphire Tri-X cards are perfect cards for overclockers, benchmarkers and miners. Its also a superb gaming card, but I'd say the MSI / Gigabyte are better suited as they cost less, take up less room and are a little quieter.
In my testing I was able to achieve 1260MHz core, WOW!
and wait for it 7000MHz memory, I did not cherry picking, this was one card I took from stock and its a monster, but looking at reviews and feedback from owners, the overclocks look exceptional. Also Sapphire Trixx software allows upto +200mv which no doubt explains the huge overclock a little too. But even at such high clock speeds with the fan at 100% the cooler kept everything below 70c, even when mining. I've not seen any card cool this well with such clocks and big amounts of voltage.
Their 290 is also just as good, hitting 1250MHz area on core and 6600-6800MHz on the memory, Sapphire write really good BIOS's it seems as their cards clock so well and get superb mining hash rates.
Onto mining this is the only card which had no heat issues at all, even with three cards all closely next to each other mining away, infact the cooler was so good the hottest card got upto like 73c and the other two remained below 70c, that's a superb achievement.
Again Sapphire seem to be only using Hynix memory!
Hash rate 290X - 950-1000
Hash rate 290 - 875-950
This is my favourite 290/290X card yet!
XFX Custom 290/290X series
OK we don't sell XFX, that's another story, lets talk about their card!
What I will say I think this has to be one of the finest looking cards on the market, the black/chrome looks superb and I love the LED on the XFX logo, it is really smart.
Now the bad news, people are having issues with mining on these, feedback on mining forums is XFX are using not so good VRM's which can cause heat and poor performance issues. So a card to avoid if your mining.
Also you never see XFX break any world records or benchmarks, this again probably boils down to using poor VRM's.
As a gaming card it is fine, so certainly one to consider, especially with the superb looks, but if your mining or benchmarking, don't bother.
I've being as fair as possible and I'd buy the cards depending on what my primary usage was, so:-
AMD Reference Cooler: Mining with two or three in an enclosed case or benchmarking.
Asus DC2: Let me confirm the memory overclock first, otherwise it would have to be for 3yr warranty, as if it clocks poor and due to its price I'd simply not buy it.
Gigabyte WindForce: Where low noise and near silence is a priority, along with gaming.
HIS X2: Quiet, good cooling, so mining and gaming, but damn aweful colour scheme.
MSI Gaming: Gaming and where low noise is important, also mining if only using 1 or 2 cards.
Powercolor: Yet to be tested!
Sapphire Tri-X: My favourite, perfect card for mining and benchmarking, pretty damn good for gaming too. To think they put this cooler on 280 and 270's too.
XFX: For looks, stunning card visually, but all the other cards I'd choose over this as looks are not a priority for me.
I hope this guide helps others when choosing and maybe gives you some valuable information to help with your buying decision whether it be from OcUK or anywhere else. Any questions feel free to ask and I shall update the thread with the Asus results next week.
OK I am in the very fortunate position to have tested nearly every model of 290 series card that is on the planet and we also sell pretty much every model. So I can do this without being bias and it is on the basis of which card I would buy for myself, I am an avid benchmarker, gamer and miner, so I shall cover all this criteria in my guide to each card:-
AMD Reference 290/290X
The good points are its built by AMD to their specifications, so there is zero corner cutting on components or 3rd parties thinking they know better, this card will perform. Some can also unlock and you can flash all models to the Asus 290X BIOS for some additional voltage should you need it, allowing greater overclocks for benchmarking. Hynix cards will clock higher by 100-200MHz on the memory on average, but are a rarity with only around 20% of reference cards using Hynix memory due to the fire Hynix had last year in their factory causing a shortage, so most reference cards are Elpida.
The bad points - It is loud and runs hot unless you have the fan set to noisy.
In short this card is great for benchmarkers as at 100% fan its cooler is one of the most powerful and it cools VRMs very well. It is also perfect for miners as well with two or three cards in a case, as they exhaust the hot air out.
Bad news these are now end of life, so the stock won't be around much longer on the 290's and then the 290X's shall also run out.
With an Asus BIOS you can expect 1150-1220MHz core overclocks and upto 6400MHz (Elpida) and 6800MHz (Hynix) memory clocks, upto being max possible, your mileage might vary. These clocks are for benchmarking, not gaming or 24/7 use, those should always be lower and lower voltage.
Mining Hash rate Hynix 290X - 875-950
Mining Hash rate Elpida 290X - 800-875
Mining Hash rate Hynix 290 - 850-925
Mining Hash rate Elpida 290 - 750-850
Asus DC2 290/290X
I have now tested this card, read my testing here:-
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18576594
In short one of the very best cooling solutions out there, for both raw power and very quiet as well, so top score for the cooling design.
Asus own PCB and mosfet pushed Elpida memory very well, seeing 6500MHz stable and core overclock was no different to a reference card at 1150-1200MHz.
An excellent card which could be perfect if you get one with Hynix memory for overclocking purposes.
Gigabyte WindForce OC 290/290X series
Gigabyte WindForce cards always prove to be very popular and the cooler has a reputation of being both reasonably power yet quiet at the same time and this card does not disappoint on that front.
However Gigabyte have made a few mistakes with this card, first and foremost is they seem to have chosen to exclusively more or less use Elpida for their memory supplier, so expect poorer memory overclocks and thirdly their custom PCB uses different VRM's and voltage control can be limited unless you know how to unlock them.
So this card is great if your a gamer, who wants to game in near silence, the Gigabyte card will perform this task very well.
If however your a miner or benchmarker, then move along, these cards are not the best for mining and it is a very bad idea to mine with more than two of these cards in the same system as the coolers are not powerful enough to handle the heat output of 3 or more cards in close proximity, they loose cooling ability fast when positioned closely to each other. Benchmarking wise the Elpida memory will hold you back.
In short if your gaming, its one of the better choices, but avoid for mining or overclocking use.
Expect overclocks for benchmarking in the region of 1125-1175MHz for the core and upto 6400MHz on the memory.
Mining Hash rate 290X - 775-875
Mining Hash rate 290 - 750-850
HIS 290/290X X2 Series
When I visited HIS nearly a year ago in Taiwan, my meeting went along the lines of please ditch the blue PCB in favour of black and start using black coolers/shrouds, to which they acknowledge.
So when I got the setup details for this card I cried a little inside, blue PCB and some kind of champaigne coloured shroud.
We expect it to perform and cool well in all areas, but are yet to test one, but the colour is real off putting, a big shame as I've being a fan of HIS for years and its an OcUK exclusive brand.
Stock ETA is unknown!
MSI 290/290X Gaming Series
The MSI 290X is one of the best cards we've tested, its cooling solution looks superb and is incredibly quiet, the only downside is it lacks real cooling ability due to the fans simply being too quiet even at 100% fan speed. The included backplate does a great job and also looks great, though it does heatsoak and as such heats any other cards up that might be near it more so than a card without a backplate, so be aware of this if running crossfire or mining with more than two.
With the Asus 290X BIOS this card with fan at 100% which is still not that loud, about equal to 45% on the reference cooler will hit anywhere between 1175-1240MHz on the core and they will do 6600-6800MHz on the memory. All MSI 290X Gamers seem to be equipped with Hynix memory, good move!
The 290 is also a great clocker, but the BIOS is pretty poor, so max voltage and maximum overclock are limited on the 290 model because of this and as such expect 1150-1200MHz core for benchmarking and upto 6200MHz on the memory.
Even though these cards are a reference PCB, MSI have used a different VRM which does not seem quite as good as that found on AMD reference cards, but is by no means poor, as can be seen from the overclocks.
Where this cards excels, well the hint is in the name, its a truly superb card for gaming on, one or two in crossfire will give you a great experience and do so quietly with some stonking performance. This card really is a perfect choice for anyone gaming!
It is also a great miner, but do be aware with three things will get hot, as the backplates heatsoak, so for miners keep them far apart and aim for a maximum of two in a PC or three at most.
As already mentioned its a good benching card too, MSI done a top job! TOP PLAYER, TOP CHOICE!
Mining Hash rate 290X - 875-950
Mining Hash rate 290 - 825-925
Powercolor PCS+ 290/290X Series
I can't comment too much on this one, I am yet to test it or hear any feedback, but the marketing spiel sounds good, the cooler certainly looks great with plenty of ability. Powercolor tend to stick with AMD spec and components so expect a solid all round card. I hope to test one in the near future at which time I shall report back.
Sapphire 290/290X Tri-X series
In short the best card I've tested yet, why?
Its an AMD reference board with AMD components, so AMD VRM, AMD Direfet and Hynix memory. Sapphire have kept the PCB as AMD intended, so good on them!
The cooler is huge, this card is very long, were talking 7990 long, so make sure you can fit it in before buying one. The cooler is more powerful than any other cooler I've ever tested, it even beats the reference cooler at 100% fan by some margin, like 20c+ and the fans can push huge amounts of air if you set them to 80% or higher. OK its not as quiet as a WindForce or an MSI Gaming, but its damn close, but what it can do is outperform their coolers maximum ability by a good 15c+
As such the Sapphire Tri-X cards are perfect cards for overclockers, benchmarkers and miners. Its also a superb gaming card, but I'd say the MSI / Gigabyte are better suited as they cost less, take up less room and are a little quieter.
In my testing I was able to achieve 1260MHz core, WOW!
and wait for it 7000MHz memory, I did not cherry picking, this was one card I took from stock and its a monster, but looking at reviews and feedback from owners, the overclocks look exceptional. Also Sapphire Trixx software allows upto +200mv which no doubt explains the huge overclock a little too. But even at such high clock speeds with the fan at 100% the cooler kept everything below 70c, even when mining. I've not seen any card cool this well with such clocks and big amounts of voltage.Their 290 is also just as good, hitting 1250MHz area on core and 6600-6800MHz on the memory, Sapphire write really good BIOS's it seems as their cards clock so well and get superb mining hash rates.
Onto mining this is the only card which had no heat issues at all, even with three cards all closely next to each other mining away, infact the cooler was so good the hottest card got upto like 73c and the other two remained below 70c, that's a superb achievement.
Again Sapphire seem to be only using Hynix memory!
Hash rate 290X - 950-1000
Hash rate 290 - 875-950
This is my favourite 290/290X card yet!
XFX Custom 290/290X series
OK we don't sell XFX, that's another story, lets talk about their card!
What I will say I think this has to be one of the finest looking cards on the market, the black/chrome looks superb and I love the LED on the XFX logo, it is really smart.
Now the bad news, people are having issues with mining on these, feedback on mining forums is XFX are using not so good VRM's which can cause heat and poor performance issues. So a card to avoid if your mining.
Also you never see XFX break any world records or benchmarks, this again probably boils down to using poor VRM's.
As a gaming card it is fine, so certainly one to consider, especially with the superb looks, but if your mining or benchmarking, don't bother.
I've being as fair as possible and I'd buy the cards depending on what my primary usage was, so:-
AMD Reference Cooler: Mining with two or three in an enclosed case or benchmarking.
Asus DC2: Let me confirm the memory overclock first, otherwise it would have to be for 3yr warranty, as if it clocks poor and due to its price I'd simply not buy it.
Gigabyte WindForce: Where low noise and near silence is a priority, along with gaming.
HIS X2: Quiet, good cooling, so mining and gaming, but damn aweful colour scheme.
MSI Gaming: Gaming and where low noise is important, also mining if only using 1 or 2 cards.
Powercolor: Yet to be tested!
Sapphire Tri-X: My favourite, perfect card for mining and benchmarking, pretty damn good for gaming too. To think they put this cooler on 280 and 270's too.
XFX: For looks, stunning card visually, but all the other cards I'd choose over this as looks are not a priority for me.
I hope this guide helps others when choosing and maybe gives you some valuable information to help with your buying decision whether it be from OcUK or anywhere else. Any questions feel free to ask and I shall update the thread with the Asus results next week.
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