The AMD Radeon R9 290 Review
by Ryan Smith on November 5, 2013 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
- AMD
- Radeon
- Hawaii
- Radeon 200
Total War: Rome 2
The second strategy game in our benchmark suite, Total War: Rome 2 is the latest game in the Total War franchise. Total War games have traditionally been a mix of CPU and GPU bottlenecks, so it takes a good system on both ends of the equation to do well here. In this case the game comes with a built-in benchmark that plays out over a forested area with a large number of units, definitely stressing the GPU in particular.
For this game in particular we’ve also gone and turned down the shadows to medium. Rome’s shadows are extremely CPU intensive (as opposed to GPU intensive), so this keeps us from CPU bottlenecking nearly as easily.
Rome is another game that sees the 290X significantly throttle, and as such it’s another game the 290 has little trouble catching up in. At 2560 the two cards are essentially tied, each enjoying a 5% lead over the GTX 780. Elsewhere the 290 beats the 280X by 27% and the GTX 770 by 30%. Even the 7950B gets left behind to a significant extent, with the 290 beating it by 58%.
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HisDivineOrder - Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - link
Unless the cards heat up your water so much you start watching your CPU get too hot for whatever overclock you've got. ;)What will you do then? Weep? Shake your head? Get another radiator? You might want to give them their own loop.
techkitsune - Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - link
Three Delta Fans. 9,000 RPM. -64dBA. If those don't keep whatever I have attached to them nice and cool, there's something wrong with them, there's a blockage in the lines/block/radiator, or I screwed up applying the thermal paste. :) Also, CPU always comes first in the loop since it's the lower power device versus a GPU. If anything, the CPU would be heating the GPU.faster - Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - link
I agree. With this chip set to run at 95C, it is going to put abnormally high load on any cooling loop stressing the other components. Best to have its own dedicated water cooling loop.techkitsune - Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - link
" Best to have its own dedicated water cooling loop."Given how low-power newer CPUs are, no, it makes sense to have the CPU first in the loop as running a second loop does nothing regarding your reservoir temperatures, you're still drawing from the same cooling source.
I do liquid cooling with 1,000w pieces in form factors far smaller than that GPU (try 1,000w in 30mm x 30mm.)
DMCalloway - Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - link
.... and what?.... put it in the closet? LOLDMCalloway - Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - link
.... and everyone knows those fans are whisper quiet. In essence what's the difference here? ; )The Von Matrices - Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - link
You can't rate a card on speculation on what a custom card would be. You have to rate it for what it is now, and the product being sold today is unacceptably loud. There will be separate reviews for custom cards in the future and they will be judged on their own merits.techkitsune - Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - link
" the product being sold today is unacceptably loud."One of my Delta fans is almost twice as loud as one of these GPUs with reference coolers at max speed. You're still looking at the raised indoor voice level of noise, I have three Deltas.
HisDivineOrder - Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - link
We all know Delta fans are loud. Delta black fans are loudest. They are also unacceptably loud for the majority of users.techkitsune - Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - link
Delta blacks are not the loudest. I've got some 80mm and 120mm impeller fans that can fit in a case, and do sound like jet engines, -83dBA at the high end. You can find just about anything in China! :)