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** SAPPHIRE R290 PRO REVIEW & 1000+ IN STOCK!! **

Best advice regarding the 290 series, IGNORE all none owners of the cards, its getting really old seeing people who clearly don't own the cards (and quite possible never even used/heard one) tell people how they sound and how they run.

The 290 cards are NOT as loud as the NONE owners are telling people, I have no allegiance to amd or nvidia if one is price/performance better I will buy it, right now 290 = best price/performance I bought it. Last 4 years, 2x480's, 1x570, 2x6950's, 1x7970, 2x670, 2x7950 and 1x290. Some ref design some not.

Is the 290 quiet? NO

Is the 290 like a reference 7970 or reference 480? YES pretty damn similar!

Is the 290 like hearing a vacuum as people who don't own the card seem to suggest? NO

Is the 290 fantastic for the money compared to all available options? YES

End of stupidity, no silly charts or bias/bribes or rumours or fanboyism just actual use of the product in question.
 
Here's a question guys.....

I currently have a 6950, which is almost the same in size to the 290 Pro - I have found a few reviews online that say the fan rpm at 47% is 2650rpm - If I put my fan on my 6950 to 47% it almost works out to be the same in RPM.

Therefore, is it fair to say that the fan speed/noise generated with a 6950 is comparable to a 290 ? My 6950, is the same reference design also.....

If so, I dont really consider it 'loud' at all - I will be in possession of a 290 in the next 2 days regardless - I was just wondering if it was a fair comparison......?

-Vinny-
 
Your 6950 isn't the exact same reference design as the 290, the squirrel cage fan on the 6 series cards is smaller than the one on the 290 cards mate so its unlikely a fair comparison.
 
Ok, it was fuzzy logic - but seemed a logical comparison at the time...

Any ideas how they compare, as I see you have owned both - I run my fan on my 6950 at 60% which is almost 4000 rpm, sound is not a major factor as I game with headphones on...

Just wondering what to expect - I do not believe half of the articles I read online, and would rather hear of exacting reviews from consumers that actually own the cards themselves !

Cheers !

-Vinny-
 
Well I had a pair of reference 6950's in crossfire they were pretty loud but I had to have them close together, having never run them in a single card setup I cant say for sure how they would compare, but I think pretty much all the reference cards produce noise that isnt too far apart under load if your ok with the 6950 noise levels I'm confident you will be fine with the 290.
 
vUNREALv said:
Well I had a pair of reference 6950's in crossfire they were pretty loud but I had to have them close together, having never run them in a single card setup I cant say for sure how they would compare, but I think pretty much all the reference cards produce noise that isnt too far apart under load if your ok with the 6950 noise levels I'm confident you will be fine with the 290.
Click to expand...

Thanks mate !!!

Will get mine ordered, and will let you know the outcome !

-Vinny-
 
That sounds high for idle :(

I have 2 DVi and 1 HDMi connected running eyefinity, right now mine is sat at 41c, I've got all 3 screens on 1 firefox and 1 media player, here is a screenshot,
 
That's very different to mine as you can see from the screenshot above, I'm using the latest drivers 13.11 beta 9.2 the fan is sat at 20% while im browsing here, I took that screenshot less than half an hour ago.
 
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Not sure what all the fuss about noise was for ... Idle i cannot even hear the card over my stock intel cooler/PSU/case fans .. while playing i have Headphones so even at full whack it would make no difference i can't hear anything ....
 
I don't game with headphones and don't find the card too loud, neither does my wife watching tv next to me, keep it up to 50% fan speed in a case and its fine above that yes its loud.
 
Gibbo said:
Fine, no warranty stickers and they allow OcUK customers to do this. Of course if you slip with the screw driver and kill it, your warranty is void, so be careful.
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regarding Sapphire gpu's warranty when watercooling.
Is this exclusively only to OcUK customers?
I was not able to find any statement regarding Sapphire warranty during water, only company that officially supports warranty is EVGA.

Maybe Sapphire is one of those companies that does not mind if customers watercool?
I'm carefuly going to remove cooler/install waterblock on my Sapphire R9 290, hopefuly the warranty is covered,

Gibbo said:
...first post...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comparison to Titan, CF Asus DCII top 280x and other cards.

I wish you had also benched some real games to get a picture in real world, I'm not a bencher and are more eager to know how it fares in games like Crysis 3, metro LL, BF3, BF4 and other games.

Looks like 2x DCII TOP 280x is about 18-20% faster vs R9 290@c1220m6400.

Obviously thats a good trade off as you get to avoid crossfire/sli stuff...
Seems like the DCII TOP 280x is clocked at 1070mhz, so I guess it is about 4-7% faster the 7970GHZ

Gibbo said:
I do have to agree, even though I am the one selling them.

Yes R290X is faster, but it varies from 6-10%, and both cards have more or less identical overclocking headroom. But the price difference is 30%, the R290 Pro is a clear victor in value for money. :)
Click to expand...

Actually from looks of it I think generaly R9 290X OC about 100mhz more, so the difference is about 10-14%.
Still I'm getting the 290 because of price difference.
 
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