The AMD R9 290 (non x) Thread

=XDC=FluphyBunny · 31 Oct 2013 at 08:56

They need to get the card out sooner than later plus it needs to be sub£350 after nvidia's price cuts. The performance seems to be there now lets hope for a nice surprise on the price.

Steampunk · 31 Oct 2013 at 09:58

I think AMD have learned that if you release a card with poor drivers, then that low benchmark score on launch day follows them around like a bad smell.

It doesn't matter how much driver releases improve performance over the following weeks, websites don't re-bench, and it's the old scores that keep coming up in the comparison charts.

Hopefully this at least means the R290 is better than we were expecting thanks to Nvidia's big price cuts forcing AMD to go an extra mile.

Martini1991 · 31 Oct 2013 at 10:01

Steampunk said:
I think AMD have learned that if you release a card with poor drivers, then that low benchmark score on launch day follows them around like a bad smell.

It doesn't matter how much driver releases improve performance over the following weeks, websites don't re-bench, and it's the old scores that keep coming up in the comparison charts.

Hopefully this at least means the R290 is better than we were expecting thanks to Nvidia's big price cuts forcing AMD to go an extra mile.

But then they've got a situation where the R290X results are already out, if they make the R290 seem too good, it'll hit R290X sales.

Steampunk · 31 Oct 2013 at 10:05

Martini1991 said:
But then they've got a situation where the R290X results are already out, if they make the R290 seem too good, it'll hit R290X sales.

And I'm pretty sure they will sell a lot of 290X from the people that want "the best", but AMD always have that 6950/7950 sweet-spot where you get more bang for your buck. R290 addresses a different price segment than R290X, so AMD won't care if they lose one R290X sale if they sell three R290s instead. ie R290 is competing against Nvidia's card in that same price segment, not against R290X in a higher price bracket.

Martini1991 · 31 Oct 2013 at 10:07

What'd you mean not official results?
The R290X reviews have been out for a week, they're about as official as it gets

flopper · 31 Oct 2013 at 11:56

Martini1991 said:
But then they've got a situation where the R290X results are already out, if they make the R290 seem too good, it'll hit R290X sales.

never been an issue for the 7970 series or the 5870 series etc...
both will sell like hotcakes.

Martini1991 · 31 Oct 2013 at 12:09

flopper said:
never been an issue for the 7970 series or the 5870 series etc...
both will sell like hotcakes.

Neither of them had their second tier card delayed for driver improvements.

Steampunk · 31 Oct 2013 at 13:30

Martini1991 said:
Neither of them had their second tier card delayed for driver improvements.

By a couple of weeks. Let's keep things in perspective here.

Martini1991 · 31 Oct 2013 at 13:31

Steampunk said:
By a couple of weeks. Let's keep things in perspective here.

The R290 is delayed about 6 days.
:confused:

Coming out under 2 weeks after the R290X.

Steampunk · 31 Oct 2013 at 13:51

Martini1991 said:
The R290 is delayed about 6 days.

Coming out under 2 weeks after the R290X.

I'm also counting the original week between the 290X release and the first 290 release date, so yes, two weeks difference between the two cards. Not a big deal.

Martini1991 · 31 Oct 2013 at 13:55

Steampunk said:
I'm also counting the original week between the 290X release and the first 290 release date, so yes, two weeks difference between the two cards. Not a big deal.

I think you've gotten the wrong end of the stick entirely.
It's less than two weeks from the R290X to the R290 which is quite quick.

The driver is the reason for delay as they're improving the performance of it, but the results of the R290X are already out and about, so if they increase it too much, and they use R290X launch day results, it's possible to have the R290 closer than what it actually is to the R290X.

Say how a stock 7950GHZ edition today would be better than a GHZ 7970 on launch day drivers.

svensonbanks · 4 Nov 2013 at 00:58

Is this card coming out today?
I am really dying into buying a new GPU.. Been waiting over a couple of months now

sin · 4 Nov 2013 at 01:20

Card comes out the 5th

Final8y · 4 Nov 2013 at 05:52

Steampunk said:
I think AMD have learned that if you release a card with poor drivers, then that low benchmark score on launch day follows them around like a bad smell.

It doesn't matter how much driver releases improve performance over the following weeks, websites don't re-bench, and it's the old scores that keep coming up in the comparison charts.

Hopefully this at least means the R290 is better than we were expecting thanks to Nvidia's big price cuts forcing AMD to go an extra mile.

When the R9 290 gets benched the R9 290x will get re benched also with the new drivers.

Orangey · 5 Nov 2013 at 06:16

Got 2 MSIs coming along with blocks. Will be out thursday so probably won't be able to play much until weekend.

Still, it's happening!! :cool:

thewanted · 5 Nov 2013 at 06:52

I'd love to see some Battlefield 4 benchmarks. I've got a Sapphire 290 on the way, but very tempted to order another today.

hedgey · 5 Nov 2013 at 07:08

as good as it looks id hold on this before the custom cards come out. 57dB is VERY loud.

nitram100 · 5 Nov 2013 at 08:02

Not going near these with that cooler. My room in summer increases by 12- 13 degrees, this reference card would not be able to handle it.

Yaayuh! · 5 Nov 2013 at 08:17

=XDC=FluphyBunny said:
They need to get the card out sooner than later plus it needs to be sub£350 after nvidia's price cuts. The performance seems to be there now lets hope for a nice surprise on the price.

Only £319.99 inc VAT

Boomstick777 · 5 Nov 2013 at 08:55

That lil 290 looks like a beast, (No idea why AMD use such poor cooling :confused:

) but get that card under water and one hell of fast card, bang for buck wise can't be beaten.