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

[Boomstick777]

if the non-reference 780's drop to £450 then I think the choice isn't anywhere near as clear cut and I would be inclined to lean the other way until non-ref 290x's come out.

^^ This, sensible comment. The 290X has fastest raw out of the box performance but has sacrificed to much to get there. Heat / Noise / Temps / Power use. A price drop to £400 of the GTX 780 and AMD would struggle to sell the 290X at it's RRP imho.

The non reference 290X's and GTX 780 ti will be worth waiting for imho. Prices will change between now and then as well.

290X is great for competition though but this is AMD's last ditch effort on 28nm so they will have to sit on their hands for what NVIDIA bring. They do love to steal AMD's thunder.

I think the 290 depending on price will make NVIDIA a little bit uncomfortable though as it's going to seriously muddy the waters on the price to performance where the 770 lies. The Titan is already obsolete at $1000 and the 780Ti will compound that.

Agreed, we needed AMD to launch a competitive part to affect Nvidia's prices. The non ref 290X's will be very nice if heat output and temps are vastly reduced, but this ref card. No thanks. Hopefully Nvidia don't raise their prices

 

[SS-89]

You sure that was around launch? Don't recall GTX780 had games offers that worth that much back then, nor did it priced that low.

As for driver, I wasn't talking about Nvidia's, I was talking AMD's.

You never mentioned launch just that 'available for months' point which is subjective as I bought mine at the beginning of september and others bought in August at lower prices too which is in my mind around 2-3 months.

 

[RanxZy]

I've seen significantly higher prices in other places than ocuk as well so let's hope they lower them before everyone raises the base level.

 

[teppic]

Yeah the reference card is the one to avoid unless you use LN2 for cooling

The non reference cards could be amazing, look forward to seeing what Gigabyte come up with.

Well, the 7970 had a terrible (hot and noisy) reference cooler, but the custom ones gave equal or better performance with lower temps and far less noise. Watercooling or a replacement 3rd party air cooler for these reference cards will obviously mean all the looks/noise/temp stuff is basically irrelevant.

 

[LtMatt]

Just for info:
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/10/23/amd_radeon_r9_290x_video_card_review/16#.Umj0dKyUabo

Good find.

Kaap take note of the 4k part.

This is going to be the same situation we had with the 7950/70 vs 670/680. When the going gets tough at high res/details/AA/supersampling the bus size makes the difference.

R9 290X vs. TITAN

The R9 290X is performance comparable to the GeForce GTX TITAN at 2560x1600 (1600p) and lower (1080p.) In every game we played we were able to match the same gameplay experience as the GeForce GTX TITAN. That means that every game played the same between both video cards, the same performance, same in-game settings, and same smoothness. Performance in terms of frames per second was either right under, or right at TITAN FPS performance. The performance differences were so insignificant that those did not translate to any noticeable gameplay differences at all.

The situation changes when the Radeon R9 290X is pushed up to Ultra HD 4K display resolutions. Whatever magic AMD is doing at 4K, it is working. We found that the Radeon R9 290X was faster in every game compared to the GeForce GTX TITAN at 3840x2160. It wasn't just a little bit faster either, it was anywhere from 10-23% faster. This is a significant difference. At 4K resolutions, you need every bit of performance you can get to achieve playable performance at high in-game settings on a single video card. The Radeon R9 290X is clearly the card for Ultra HD 4K.

Saunce
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/10/23/amd_radeon_r9_290x_video_card_review/16#.Umj3FvkcSM9


Think thats the first time ive ever seen HardOCP and Pcper both give a Gold Award to an AMD card the 290X.

 

[Marine-RX179]

290X is great for competition though but this is AMD's last ditch effort on 28nm so they will have to sit on their hands for what NVIDIA bring. They do love to steal AMD's thunder.

I think the 290 depending on price will make NVIDIA a little bit uncomfortable though as it's going to seriously muddy the waters on the price to performance where the 770 lies. The Titan is already obsolete at $1000 and the 780Ti will compound that.

Nvidia could easily reclaim the crown by using old tricks of higher voltage, higher base and boost clock plus little CUDA core counts bumps for the sake of justification...but with the 290x being priced at only £430, the GTX780Ti would be meaningless if it was priced at above £500, even if it does beat the 290x by 3-5%.

Nobody is disagreeing that Nvidia is capable of great performing graphic cards, the problem is their overpricing, which turn people away.

 

[Scougar]

Yeah the reference card is the one to avoid unless you use LN2 for cooling

The non reference cards could be amazing, look forward to seeing what Gigabyte come up with.



I'm sure which camp you're referring to, but I bought my GTX 780 for £450 all those months ago at launch. If Nvidia drop the price to £400, AMD will be in trouble getting their RRP.

But the prices are not that way now, and we cannot predict what will happen. If the 780 reduces in price and the 290X doesn't, then I'd suggest the 780 is the better purchase.

Also, AMD are in the same position as Nvidia were with the GTX 480 (hot and loud) and they need to do something to remedy that. I think it could be a massive turn off for people.

Also.. it's clear the card DOES overclock well, it's just we need the tools to do it.

(good price on your 780 btw )

 

[RavenXXX2]

When the third party 290x coolers arrive then you will see the true performance with better temps and quieter operation.

 

[Suarez7]

If they drop the 780 to £450 and you game at 1080p then that will be the card to get. Considering I've seen £480 deals on 780's recently I think the price drop might put them around £430, it's nvidia though so who knows!

 

[teppic]

If they drop the 780 to £450 and you game at 1080p then that will be the card to get. Considering I've seen £480 deals on 780's recently I think the price drop might put them around £430, it's nvidia though so who knows!

Why? Until we've got comparisons with more mature drivers and with aftermarket coolers it'd be far too premature to say the 780 is better in any way, even at the same price.

 

[flopper]

No I agree it's a fantastic card!

amazing yup

I've seen significantly higher prices in other places than ocuk as well so let's hope they lower them before everyone raises the base level.

540euro here for 290x atm with one having 480euro.

Nvidia could easily reclaim the crown by using old tricks of higher voltage, higher base and boost clock plus little CUDA core counts bumps for the sake of justification...but with the 290x being priced at only £430, the GTX780Ti would be meaningless if it was priced at above £500, even if it does beat the 290x by 3-5%.

Nobody is disagreeing that Nvidia is capable of great performing graphic cards, the problem is their overpricing, which turn people away.

Yea one reason I dont buy Apple stuff just add perception of value with design which btw a lot of girls like.
I can have 2x290x for the price of One Titan. just amazing value atm.

 

[Silent_Scone]

Think thats the first time ive ever seen HardOCP and Pcper both give a Gold Award to an AMD card the 290X.

I'm actually looking forward to playing with one . First time in a while for an AMD card

I was really tempted to up my order again to at least two but I'm holding fire till NV come forward

 

[Scougar]

Why? Until we've got comparisons with more mature drivers and with aftermarket coolers it'd be far too premature to say the 780 is better in any way, even at the same price.

Careful with logic.....

 

[Gibbo]

Why? Until we've got comparisons with more mature drivers and with aftermarket coolers it'd be far too premature to say the 780 is better in any way, even at the same price.

This.
NVIDIA and their board partners have had nearly a year to perfect driver performance and custom designs of the card.

I know for a fact than an MSI Lightning R290X will do 1300ish on the stock cooler, put that under water and your closing onto 1400MHz potentially.

Then add driver updates to increase performance further.

Fact is it is early days for Hawaii and with time it will only pull further ahead.

Remember 780Ti is still GK110.

 

[LtMatt]

I know for a fact than an MSI Lightning R290X will do 1300ish on the stock cooler, put that under water and your closing onto 1400MHz potentially.

A 290X at 1300mhz is going to be tough to beat i reckon. You'd probably need a 780-titan to be at 1400-1450 to compete.

 

[Silent_Scone]

Funny thing is I probably won't touch the card till after the weekend as Batman is out.

Batman without PhysX is like toast without apple sauce

 

[gpuerrilla]

Nobody is disagreeing that Nvidia is capable of great performing graphic cards, the problem is their overpricing, which turn people away.

This. As mentioned earlier the best thing for all now that AMD are competing in the same performance bracket should hopefully drive them prices down to sensible levels again.

 

[Ian Evey]

I'm actually looking forward to playing with one . First time in a while for an AMD card

I was really tempted to up my order again to at least two but I'm holding fire till NV come forward

Fire is what would concern me if i was getting 2x 290x

 

[dave_beast]

This.
NVIDIA and their board partners have had nearly a year to perfect driver performance and custom designs of the card.

I know for a fact than an MSI Lightning R290X will do 1300ish on the stock cooler, put that under water and your closing onto 1400MHz potentially.

Then add driver updates to increase performance further.

Fact is it is early days for Hawaii and with time it will only pull further ahead.

Remember 780Ti is still GK110.

 

[LeJosh]

I do wonder the resale value of Titan now that these have released: people could sell a titan and get a 290x; or two if Titan has held its value.