AMD Radeon R9 290X with Hawaii GPU pictured, has 512-bit 4GB Memory

[LtMatt]

One thing to consider the titan/780 is a bigger die. More expensive to produce, worse yields. The 290 being 33% (or was it 30%?) smaller and having better yields should mean that in theory AMD can win any price war. They can go lower than Nvidia, if they choose to. That's how i see it with my undoubtedly limited knowledge. Please correct me if im wrong.

EDIT

Of course Nvidia will still sell at a higher price. But if they were to tackle AMD's cards with a price war, AMD can go lower. Yay or Nay?

 

[LtMatt]

On the transistor count the difference is nothing like 33%

The GTX 780 and 290X have about the same number of active transistors.

How does that affect what i said though Kaap?

AMD launch is like dickinson's real deal hehe

I hope its not as Orange! (no offence Orangey)

 

[LtMatt]

AMD released the 7970 at a very high price and it only just beat a GTX 580 and quite a few months later, they sort the drivers out and drop the price by half. Not very fair on the early adopters. I hope they don't do the same again with the 290X and release it with sub standard drivers.

The 290X launch drivers are already out Greg and they're very good.

 

[LtMatt]

They also improve performance on the HD 7k, and allow for better overclocking, and run cooler.

I require 1.194V for 1125/1500. Any less and i crash after a short while. I will test that theory using 1.188v I hope you're correct. If you're not i will be expecting compensation.

 

[LtMatt]

I require 1.194V for 1125/1500. Any less and i crash after a short while. I will test that theory using 1.188v I hope you're correct. If you're not i will be expecting compensation.

Well ill be damned. He's right folks. He's god damned right. Passed a 45 minute round of BF4 at lower voltage. Now to go one notch lower.

 

[LtMatt]

told ya.... ye have little faith in me

Now about to try 1.181v. If i can get it down 2 notches ill be delighted. Three notches and im going to praise the lord.

 

[LtMatt]

Are you only testing it in one game? You might find it works fine for one game but will crash in others.

I remember before when I thought drivers had improved my overclocks but eventually they would crash in certain games.

I tested the same voltage on previous drivers the day before and it crashed after 5 minutes so i think this has some merit. I have to say this is the first driver revision ive seen actually alter my voltage required. Up until now i always wrote it off as PEBKAC but maybe ill have to rethink that. Two notches and im sold on the theory.

 

[LtMatt]

Can't rule it out yet but if it passes two notches lower i think its safe to say its correct. Temps are lower too as has been reported elsewhere. Nothing dramatic, just 2-3C but for me it makes a big difference at the clocks im using.

 

[LtMatt]

so the R9 series drivers work with the 7k series?

Yep.

Feature Highlights of The AMD Catalyst 13.11 Beta Driver for Windows
Includes support for the new products:
AMD Radeon™ R9 280X
AMD Radeon R9 270X
AMD Radeon R7 260X
AMD Radeon R7 250
AMD Radeon R7 240

Performance improvements for the AMD Radeon HD 7000 Series in the following games:
Total War™: Rome 2 - improves performance up to 10%
Splinter Cell® Blacklist™ - improves performance up to 7% on single GPU and AMD CrossFire™ configurations
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim® - improves performance up to 9%

 

[LtMatt]

Still the 15th as far as i know.

 

[LtMatt]

Still the 15th as far as i know.

Is that the day BF4 Beta ends?

 

[LtMatt]

stuff you

You could be on to something major.

 

[LtMatt]

Still the 15th as far as i know.

Is that the day BF4 Beta ends?

stuff you

Good Grief...

 

[LtMatt]

Well, looking at the 7870 rebrand pricing (£170) it looks like AMD are def in the mood for a ****take

Its offering faster than 7950 stock performance so its not too bad actually. It has the Tahiti core but with 2gb/256bit bus. Basically a 7950 version of the 7870XT. If that makes sense.

 

[LtMatt]

But clock a 7950 and it'll kill it.
I didn't realise it was actually a 7870, I thought it was an LE.
It's still got 1280 shaders.

There's no defending the R270X.

AMD have lowered the price/performance from their older series and removed the games (Nvidia pretty much did the same, after the cheap 670's and 680's)

Ignore me, you're right.

 

[LtMatt]

Scrap my previous comment. It does appear to be either a 7870 or a7870XT from looking at a quick review.

 

[LtMatt]

Have you checked the shader count difference?
The 270x has 1280, the 7950 has 1792.

The 7870 LE has about 1500.

See my comment above.

 

[LtMatt]

Agh fair enough, mind unquoting me ? Looks like you're saying ignore me lol.

Don't forget a lot of reviews may have the 7950's at their stock 8XXMHZ result, and old results.

We need fresh ones to compare really.

Yes ive edited it again.

Most reviewers have their 7950 boost throttling and down clocking to 880mhz or lower.

 

[LtMatt]

Well that's truly frustrating.
It also makes no sense.

Now you've got a 7870 and a 7970 with nothing inbetween (In reality)

The 280X actually replaces the 7950 believe it or not. However it has the stream processors, compute units etc of the 7970. Dave Baumann from AMD confirmed as much. That's why its so cheap. You can get the 280X for £230. At pure reference its 50 mhz slower than 7970 ghz. However most 280X cards come clocked at 7970 ghz clocks 1050 mhz or higher for £250.

Spoiler

 

[LtMatt]

Your quoted image references the 290X not the 280X. He states the 290X is 50Mhz slower than the 7970 GE?

Crap.

Oh well. I guess the 280X is ok then and there is nothing in between the 270X and the 280X. But the price difference is only £50 i suppose.

Damn Sin, you're killing me here.