Summary
In this evaluation our goal was goal was to focus on XFX Radeon R9 290X Double Dissipation Edition CrossFire versus AMD Radeon R9 290X CrossFire and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti SLI. We will be doing further evaluation of the XFX cards in our follow-up.
We found that there were some shocking performance differences that favored the custom XFX R9 290X Double Dissipation cards greatly. We truly did not expect there to be as much performance differences as we saw today. The XFX R9 290X Double Dissipation video card are clocked at the "same" 1GHz frequency as the reference cards, so we didn’t expect the performance to be that far apart. Wow were we surprised.
XFX Radeon R9 290X Double Dissipation CrossFire decimated reference AMD Radeon R9 290X CrossFire cards in "Uber" mode. In every gaming situation the XFX R9 290X DD CrossFire cards were faster, in some cases a lot faster. The reason for this is simple, the reference AMD R9 290X video cards are throttling below 1GHz most of the time, which we have found to be much more the case in a CrossFire application. In some instances to great degrees, hundreds of MHz. This negatively impacts performance, especially in CrossFire. Uber mode is not a fast enough fan speed to keep the reference cards from throttling. (Interesting though, if R9 290X CrossFire is installed in a case that will focus on GPU airflow, such as the setup that Kyle used in his R9 290X usage article, this can be overcome.)
Article Image
The custom cooling on the XFX R9 290X Double Dissipation is robust enough to allow the GPU to maintain 1GHz at all times. In every game we played, in every scenario, and for extended lengths of time, 1GHz was the consistent frequency. This means performance is better simply because the XFX custom video cards are able to deliver the intended clock speed. It is sad that it takes a custom card though to provide what AMD intended in the first place. These custom XFX cards fix AMD’s R9 problems.
When we look at performance versus NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti SLI we also find the XFX R9 290X DD CrossFire coming out on top. This we did not expect. We figured GTX 780 Ti SLI might provide some faster performance in some cases. However, it really didn’t. When playing demanding games at high resolutions and aiming for those high in-game settings R9 290X CrossFire pulled through as the faster solution. When we cranked up AA settings, again R9 290X CrossFire pulled through. There wasn’t one scenario in our gaming experiences that GTX 780 Ti SLI was superior in gameplay experience to R9 290X CrossFire configuration from XFX.
Frame Pacing
Let’s talk about smoothness in gameplay in CrossFire versus SLI. With the AMD R9 290X series AMD fully supports Frame Pacing in Eyefinity and 4K. This option is enabled by default. Our feedback on this technology is that Frame Pacing works well to reduce choppiness and create a smooth and fluid gameplay experience with R9 290X CrossFire. We did not experience any choppiness or stuttering with R9 290X CrossFire like we do with the previous generation. There isn’t much to say on this topic anymore because with R9 290X CrossFire it just works, and it does a good job at it.
We only experienced one stuttering situation and that was with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti SLI in Far Cry 3 at 4K. This could simply be a bug, but we did experience it, and it did affect the in-game settings we were able to play at. Overall, the smoothness between SLI and CrossFire in every game seems to be on par now. We have no major complaints.
The Bottom Line
We have a lot of good to say about the XFX R9 290X Double Dissipation Edition video cards. If we could give an award to the "best looking" video card, it would be these from XFX. By far, these are the most visually appealing and modern looking video cards we’ve seen in a while. These XFX cards simply meld well with a clean and well cabled custom gaming rig. These video cards would look epic inside a case with a window. The lit up XFX logo is the icing on the cake.
Looks aside which may very well mean nothing to you, these video cards well built and perform exceptionally. The video cards are sturdy, and very slim. You will be surprised how slim and thin these are as you install these in your system. The copper heatpipes remove heat faster from the core and the fans keep the heatsinks cool with super quietness. For the MSRP price of $569 these video cards are an appealing offer. We cannot wait to see what overclocking potential lies inside with the unlocked voltage.
. As you say though, I've been burnt by XFX in the past as have a few others on here. It's all good as long as nothing goes wrong lol.
) launches. 