[hardocp] 4 Weeks with Radeon R9 290X CrossFire

Final8y · 13 Dec 2013 at 18:09

Introduction

As you might be aware we have spent a lot of time AMD?s new Radeon R9 290 and 290X GPUs lately. We have reviewed the R9 290X, we have reviewed the R9 290X in CrossFire, we have reviewed the R9 290, we have reviewed the R9 290X under Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, and this week we looked at realworld gaming using an SSD compared to a HDD....using an R9 290X.

The HardForum video card forums have abounded with discussions, debates, arguments, and all out flame wars about the Radeon R9 video cards. While much of that is run of the mill for video card enthusiasts postings on forums, I have to think that the "talk" about the R9 290X cards has been a bit more than we are used to surrounding "normal" GPU launches. Certainly one thing that did not help the situation was NVIDIA "launching" its GTX 780 Ti, in what seemed to me to be more of a desperate anti-R9 290X presentation complete with a large amount of FUD-a la mode. NVIDIA made sure to show the 290X performance in its "Quiet Mode" profile while explaining it to be a "jet engine" among other things in its "Uber Mode." NVIDIA knows something about loud video cards. We remember the FX 5800 clocking in at over 56dB a bit over 10 years ago, and the GTX 480 was even 1dB louder than that just three short years ago. I reference both these cards, not to be hostile towards NVIDIA, but rather because many enthusiasts have used these as points of reference. Quite frankly Brent and I had a lot of experience with both those GPUs so it is something we can chime in on. I personally used both those NVIDIA video cards for rather long periods of time in my personal systems for gaming and I used the GTX 480 in SLI for a good deal of time as well.

Seeing how we like to base our opinions on real world gaming experiences, I replaced the GTX Titan SLI in my personal gaming system (which is my everyday desktop system) with Radeon R9 290X CrossFire. Since I was still using an Intel 2600K, I thought it was time to finally upgrade to a PCIe Gen 3 system as well, so I installed the ASUS ROG Maximus VI Extreme motherboard we reviewed back in October.

This article is not meant to come off as "technical review." While there are some data points referenced, the body of this article is totally subjective. If we were sitting down having a few beers talking GPU tech, these are the things I would tell you...likely with more cursing though.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/12/13/4_weeks_radeon_r9_290x_crossfire#.UqtLw-LgyGM

LtMatt · 13 Dec 2013 at 18:14

Seems like a pretty honest article. Highlighting good and bad. #Respect

The last part was interesting.

The Bottom Line
My Radeon R9 290X CrossFire system produces more noise than my TITAN SLI rig did, but the sound does not bother me and, unless you are very sensitive, I doubt you would find it bothersome either. The Radeon R9 290X CrossFire produces a good bit more heat than my TITAN SLI rig as well. Not that the TITANs were cool, but the 290X cards run hot, there is just no other way to say it. Heat would likely be a bigger issue than sound if you are thinking of purchasing a Radeon R9 290X. You will definitely want a case setup with good airflow to keep your clocks up.

Am I going to pull 290X CrossFire out and put the TITANs back in? No. Radeon R9 290X CrossFire is a beast for gaming! I love it.

Mei · 13 Dec 2013 at 18:30

to be fair it is in a raven, that has some crazy good fans blowing on them
i saw mining rigs using that case and 4x290's
most other cases would struggle but thats like the perfect case for ref coolers

Boomstick777 · 13 Dec 2013 at 18:37

Hardocp on noise.

I am going to be short and succinct about the topic of noise as it applies to the R9 290X using its Uber Mode settings. It is not a "jet engine." It is not a "leaf blower." Nor is it a "dust buster." That is all *******. Can you ramp the fans way up and stick a video recorder next to it and make it sound like those? Yes. Is the R9 290X a quiet video card? No. If you are looking for a quiet video card then mark the R9 290X off your list unless you want to run in Quiet Mode. And quite frankly if you are going to do that, you would be better off saving your cash and buying the R9 290.

As referred to on page one, many have talked about the 290X being equivalent to a the FX 5800 or the GTX 480 of years gone by. Those people are wrong. The 290X in Uber Mode, with its fans spun up to maximum RPMs, are no where near the whining squall that either of those older cards produced. Both those NVIDIA cards clocked in at around 56dB at full load, where the 290X shows to 49dB at a distance of about 2 feet with my system fans fully engaged. These data points were not taken with the same parameters so these figures are not directly comparable. But I do know this, I have had all three of these cards installed in my personal systems and the 290X is not in the same ballpark at the FX 5800 or the GTX 480 in terms of sound profile.

LtMatt · 13 Dec 2013 at 18:41

Boomstick777 said:
Hardocp on noise.

Ha! I have to say though its spot on and ive had more reference cards than most. 50-55% is not loud at all.

Marine-RX179 · 13 Dec 2013 at 18:43

Boomstick777 said:
Hardocp on noise.

But I thought people that do not own the said cards knows more about their noise level than people that do? :confused:

In fact, they seem to be experts on the subject

Custom cooler cards on the way, so this is going to be old news soon anyway.

LtMatt · 13 Dec 2013 at 18:46

Marine-RX179 said:
But I thought people that do not own the said cards knows more about their noise level than people that do? In fact, they seem to be experts on the subject

Custom cooler cards on the way, so this is going to be old news soon anyway.

True dat Marine. Hows the 290 treating you? I hope the 5850 is on the Mantle piece. (no 'Mantle' pun intended)

Boomstick777 · 13 Dec 2013 at 18:50

Marine-RX179 said:
But I thought people that do not own the said cards knows more about their noise level than people that do? In fact, they seem to be experts on the subject

Custom cooler cards on the way, so this is going to be old news soon anyway.

Haha, I've owned GTX 480, HD 7970, GTX 780, 290X.

They were all to noisy for me

The 6990 is the king of noise somewhat understandably as it was a dual card, that is closely followed by the GTX 480..

Get thee under water where though belongs.

Mei · 13 Dec 2013 at 18:53

id buy a raven but the front is just so ugly to me

its like grownups designed the insides and left the outside styling to...well that guy from tech of tomorrow lol

arknor · 13 Dec 2013 at 18:56

Marine-RX179 said:
But I thought people that do not own the said cards knows more about their noise level than people that do? In fact, they seem to be experts on the subject

Custom cooler cards on the way, so this is going to be old news soon anyway.

even the 280's are loud as hell.

windforce x3 rev 1 is insane
asus dcuii is pretty loud still but much quieter than the above as it doesn't need the silly high rpm's and is pretty quiet up to around 80c.

they both blast heat out the side as well so sucks if you don't have a side fan.

some website did a test with and without a side fan and the difference was around 9-13c at load and that was with a single card

LtMatt · 13 Dec 2013 at 19:05

I couldn't resist tweeting the link to Roy, Brian Burke, (Nvidia's AMD Roy) as well as pcper's Ryan Shrout after he said the current great demand for AMD Gpu's is a bad thing.

Mei · 13 Dec 2013 at 19:08

why did he say its a bad thing?
prices?

LtMatt · 13 Dec 2013 at 19:10

Mei said:
why did he say its a bad thing?
prices?

He said because people will try Nvidia cards and realise all the awesome things Nvidia offer like Nvidia Shield, SLI and Geforce Experience. That was what he said. It looked like he was about to cry, no lie.

Someone posted a link in one of the threads here yesterday. Can't find it off hand but im on the case and will see if i can dig it up.

Gregster · 13 Dec 2013 at 19:14

If you are planning to take 290X cards and overclock these to hell and back, the fans can be obnoxiously loud and unpleasant when ramped above Uber Mode levels.

So don't overclock and you will be fine lol

Good read though

arknor · 13 Dec 2013 at 19:15

Mei said:
why did he say its a bad thing?
prices?

he seriously looks as if he's about to cry at the end

the doegcoin comment seems to push him over the edge

if anything people will see amds drivers aren't as crap as people claim all the time and stick with team red

LtMatt · 13 Dec 2013 at 19:16

Found it.

EDIT

Good find Arknor as well.

RavenXXX2 said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoWHbeDC0yQ

LtMatt said:
Funny to see how pcper make it a negative that there is great demand for AMD cards.

Th0nt said:
He's talking balltag. Like any guy with half a brain cant deduce that the cards are just great for mining - he reckons that due to their lack of availability people are going to get nvidia and stick with them as they suddenly like these features such as cuda, SLI, shield - LOL.

arknor said:
lol looks like hes about to start crying near the end

Gregster said:
So don't overclock and you will be fine lol

Good read though

Greg if you need to overclock 290 cards in crossfire while gaming you have a problem.

Mei · 13 Dec 2013 at 19:17

bcos amd cards are out of stock you mean?
oh thats the guy who does the videos with them 2 rly creepy looking guys who prolly not allowed nr schools
ew why even tweet him

i think its great aslong as they come with some big stock next year, they need to ramp it up ><

jkb · 13 Dec 2013 at 19:17

Boomstick777 said:
They were all to noisy for me The 6990 is the king of noise somewhat understandably as it was a dual card, that is closely followed by the GTX 480..

I said the same thing to my brother, I thought I was the only person in the world who finds the 290X quiet...but I was using a 6990

Rroff · 13 Dec 2013 at 19:18

Aaah damage control on the noise

- honestly I say I don't care about noise/heat aslong as the performance is there and coming from GTX470 SLI which is almost as bad as it gets for that but I wasn't sorry to get my hands on a GTX780 GHZ with the WF3 cooler.

And the honest truth is the 290X isn't so far behind those 470s for heat and noise if it gets warm. If the WF3 cooler works as well on the 290 as it does on the GHZ 780 though people are in for a treat.

TheRealDeal · 13 Dec 2013 at 19:19

arknor said:
he seriously looks as if he's about to cry at the end

the doegcoin comment seems to push him over the edge

if anything people will see amds drivers aren't as crap as people claim all the time and stick with team red

Was it this guy who sung this song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls2lC7DQFMI