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[H] PowerColor PCS+ R9 290X Video Card Review

Final8y

Final8y

Final8y

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Joined
7 May 2006
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London, Ealing
Introduction

PowerColor is a leading supplier of AMD graphics and was established by TUL Corporation in 1997. PowerColor is best known for its production of AMD based video cards, but also specializes in producing cases, power supplies, and other computing accessories. PowerColor strives to provide quality products while maintaining a competitive cost and quality customer service.

On our test bench today is the PowerColor PCS+ R9 290X (AXR9 290X 4GBD5-PPDHE) video card.

Why AMD Radeon R9 290X Now?

It may seem odd evaluating an AMD Radeon R9 290X GPU based video card after a year and a half since this GPU launched. However, this GPU is still AMD's current flagship high-end fastest single-GPU it currently offers. However, what has changed over time is that the pricing has come down a lot, making it a potential excellent value versus the competition.

The original MSRP of the AMD Radeon R9 290X was $549. Current pricing on AMD Radeon R9 290X now has pricing as long as $299 after $20 MIR. Even the regular price on AMD R9 290X GPU based video cards ranges from $320 to $349 now.

This new pricing range has now put the AMD Radeon R9 290X in competition with NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 970 on pricing. The GeForce GTX 970 has an MSRP of $349, right in-line with the now current pricing on AMD Radeon R9 290X GPU based video cards. Pricing has also fallen a bit on GTX 970 based video cards, for example the one we evaluated previously is now $323 after $10 MIR. This pricing is still right in range with current AMD R9 290X pricing.

Given the controversy over the fact of the GeForce GTX 970 utilizing only 3.5GB of VRAM for high speed data, and reserving the last 512MB for low speed data, the AMD Radeon R9 290X has become an enthusiast alternative. The AMD Radeon R9 290X can utilize all of its 4GB of VRAM without speed degradation. The AMD Radeon R9 290X has become a popular alternative comparing these two GPUs, and so now is the perfect time to evaluate the value of R9 290X versus GTX 970. We are going to use a new PowerColor PCS+ overclocked R9 290X and compare it with GTX 970 also overclocked.
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http://www.hardocp.com/article/2015/03/30/powercolor_pcs_r9_290x_video_card_review/1
 
A nice balanced review.

I'm surprised the factory overclocked 290X PCS+ only pulled 10 Watts more than the factory overclocked 970 and only 55 Watts more than the stock 980.
 
The PCS+ (both 290 and 290x) are great cards. Not trying to troll or something, but hasn't it been mentioned that PCS has little to no supply on 290-290x chips and have seized production?
 
gerardfraser said:
It is amazing how good the R9 290x is still even after 1 1/2 years.Selling my Titan X and going back to R9 290X.Yep really am selling my Titan X.
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lol troll :D

Selling would be a silly move! You must still be within your 14 days so send it back for a refund. However..........

troll ;)
 
The 290X really is a great card imo. My only problem with AMD is the poor Crossfire support (which I need due to running 4k).

Until that changes drastically then I won't be back... :(
 
africanos23 said:
Got a post up in the Wanted section of MM...

you don't have enough posts for MM :(
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I live in Canada no need for MM UK.



lol troll

Selling would be a silly move! You must still be within your 14 days so send it back for a refund. However..........

troll
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LOL.Yes I am still within 14 day thing.I would never return a video card that works great.I would feel bad doing that.

I do love my AMD cards a whole bunch.More so than my Nvidia cards.
 
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