AMD R9 290 – GTX 780 Level Performance at $450 (279,66 GBP)

[R3X]

Still an awesome card and perfect for that gap since 290x is very pricey...

We all know give it 6-12 months and newer and faster and more efficient cards will arrive

Hopefully on MM get some 300 quid 780s !

 

[Marine-RX179]

IT WON'T BE UNDER £300 or £300!

R280X is £220 - £280.

R290X is £420 - £500

R290 which offers more or less R290X performance and better when overclocked shall be priced to fit between the above in a logical manner.

£349 Inc. VAT IF WE ARE LUCKY, expecting it to be higher to be honest.


Even if the rumour of $449 MSRP is correct, the UK price would work as follows:-

$449 / 1.60 = £280.63 + TAXES & SHIPPING etc.

So the very best price in the UK would be £337.20 Inc. VAT, we rarely get the best price and hence £349 Inc if we are lucky.


To be frank at £379 it will blitz of the shelves like crazy, this thing has R290X performance ability and beyond when overclocked putting it above Titan performance. £379 would be a bargain, anything lower and it will just sell even more mental.

If we are talking purely about performance to price point then yes I would agree, but the problem with the 290 series the performance of the stock cooler is huge mentality brick wall that's kinda putting people off; combining this with the fact that GTX780s are now at £400 with 3 games, the 290 at £350-£380 simply doesn't look appeal enough.

IMO AMD need to either:
a) help manufacturers bring out custom cooler version asap
b) launch the 290 at sub £350
c) bring out a decent Never Settle bundle

If AMD is doing none of the above, then I think it would be very hard to see the 290 "flying off the shelf" at £350-£370.

I never thought I would say this, but AMD's cheap stock cooler really does come back and bite them in the rear...

 

[teppic]

Well, the 290X cards are all completely sold out, so despite the high price and the cooler they're shifting. It suggests the 290s will sell out too when they're ~£100 cheaper.

 

[RavenXXX2]

Well, the 290X cards are all completely sold out, so despite the high price and the cooler they're shifting. It suggests the 290s will sell out too when they're ~£100 cheaper.

There has been hardly any 290x in stock so a sell out is no surprise with very limited numbers.

 

[Gibbo]

A 780 with a slight OC has titan and 290x performance so this 290 with a reference cooler is going to be hardsell versus the 780 with non ref cooling and free games.

Doubt it!

R290X sold out at £515
This will be a super easy sell at around £350ish with or without games.

 

[JediFragger]

Reference cooler is reallllly putting me off the R290 to be honest. I think nVidia are going to sell a TON of 780s, esp at the new nice price points and BF4 launch imminent

 

[Gibbo]

If we are talking purely about performance to price point then yes I would agree, but the problem with the 290 series the performance of the stock cooler is huge mentality brick wall that's kinda putting people off; combining this with the fact that GTX780s are now at £400 with 3 games, the 290 at £350-£380 simply doesn't look appeal enough.

IMO AMD need to either:
a) help manufacturers bring out custom cooler version asap
b) launch the 290 at sub £350
c) bring out a decent Never Settle bundle

If AMD is doing none of the above, then I think it would be very hard to see the 290 "flying off the shelf" at £350-£370.

I never thought I would say this, but AMD's cheap stock cooler really does come back and bite them in the rear...

a) AMD don't do this, board partners already have coolers, first batches of stock AMD sell the board partner a complete solution. Soon AMD will sell board partners just GPU and maybe memory, then board partner builds card with customer cooler, approx. 4 weeks too wait.
b) £339.99 at very best but most likely to be £360ish, it will still fly off the shelf at £380, for people buying stock cards the R290/R290X are quicker than stock GTX 780 and 90% of customers don't overclock their cards, they just want something quick out the box at stock speeds.
c) I am sure they will and soon.

 

[teppic]

There has been hardly any 290x in stock so a sell out is no surprise with very limited numbers.

I think ocuk had a few hundred?

 

[SiDeards73]

a) AMD don't do this, board partners already have coolers, first batches of stock AMD sell the board partner a complete solution. Soon AMD will sell board partners just GPU and maybe memory, then board partner builds card with customer cooler, approx. 4 weeks too wait.
b) £339.99 at very best but most likely to be £360ish, it will still fly off the shelf at £380, for people buying stock cards the R290/R290X are quicker than stock GTX 780 and 90% of customers don't overclock their cards, they just want something quick out the box at stock speeds.
c) I am sure they will and soon.

Sounds to me like you know a lot more than we dont Gibbo seriously though, would love to see a competively priced 290 with a decent games bundle, say £350-£370. Im saving my cash now til we know for sure!

 

[Gripen90]

Since monday we have in Denmark seen prices of £370 for the Sapphire R9-290 non-x. I think UK prices would hover around the £355~360 mark for some of the cheapest versions.

R9-280X cards have plummeted down to £217 (Powercolor R9-280X).

 

[Gibbo]

Since monday we have in Denmark seen prices of £370 for the Sapphire R9-290 non-x. I think UK prices would hover around the £355~360 mark for some of the cheapest versions.

R9-280X cards have plummeted down to £217 (Powercolor R9-280X).

They've always being that price.

We've being selling the much better MSI Gaming Edition 280X for £229 on specials since launch.

Powercolour/VTX is not as good brand as MSI quality or warranty wise, hence slightly cheaper, but these are the prices they have being for weeks, no plummeting happening like you say.

 

[Gripen90]

They've always being that price.

We've being selling the much better MSI Gaming Edition 280X for £229 on specials since launch.

Powercolour/VTX is not as good brand as MSI quality or warranty wise, hence slightly cheaper, but these are the prices they have being for weeks, no plummeting happening like you say.

Hmm ok. In Denmark the MSI gaming card is £260 and Gigabyte windforce £250. But the prices for Sapphire Toxic OC are precisely the same, however the Asus Matrix Platinum is cheaper set at £315.

Oh well - guess the prices are almost the same

Btw Powercolor, HiS, Sapphire were ATi's board manufacturers long before ATi gave green light to licens productions under their own brand names (happened back in late 2001 with Radeon 7500/8500). I wouldn't call these low quality cards since they've been in the ATi/AMD card business for a longer time than most other companies. Some may produce better solutions with higher grade components...

 

[Gibbo]

Hmm ok. In Denmark the MSI gaming card is £260 and Gigabyte windforce £250. But the prices for Sapphire Toxic OC are precisely the same, however the Asus Matrix Platinum is cheaper set at £315.

Oh well - guess the prices are almost the same

Btw Powercolor, HiS, Sapphire were ATi's board manufacturers long before ATi gave green light to licens productions under their own brand names (happened back in late 2001 with Radeon 7500/8500). I wouldn't call these low quality cards since they've been in the ATi/AMD card business for a longer time than most other companies. Some may produce better solutions with higher grade components...

Of course TUL (Powercolor & VTX3D) have being with AMD for a very long time.

Palit have also being with NVIDIA for a very long time.

Does it makes them the best? NO it does not.

Fact is MSI make better designed cards than PowerColor full stop.

Tell me how many world records do Powercolour have, mmmmm like none, because they don't over-design their cards, they design them to hit price points which means they source lower-cost items to hit price points.

Normally if something if cheaper, there is a good reason why.

 

[Gripen90]

I think we both agree. My point is just that eventhough they are cheap it doesn't mean they are 'low quality ' (aka bad) in a negative manner. As you say Powercolor have always balanced between price/performance and to keep costs at a minimum...but that doesn't make them bad as such