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
Crysis 3
Still one of our most punishing benchmarks, Crysis 3 needs no introduction. With Crysis 3, Crytek has gone back to trying to kill computers and still holds “most punishing shooter” title in our benchmark suite. Only in a handful of setups can we even run Crysis 3 at its highest (Very High) settings, and that’s still without AA. Crysis 1 was an excellent template for the kind of performance required to drive games for the next few years, and Crysis 3 looks to be much the same for 2013.
Crysis 3 happens to be another game that the 290X sees significant throttling at, and as such this is another game where the 290X and 290 are neck and neck. With all of a .4fps difference between the two, the two cards are essentially tied, once more showcasing how the 290X is held back in order to get reasonable acoustics, and how fast the 290 can go when it does the opposite and lets loose.
This also ends up being a very close matchup between the 290 and the GTX 780, with the 290 losing to the GTX 780 by just 1%, making for another practical tie. Which coincidentally will make our power and noise tests all the more meaningful, since this is the game we use for those tests.
Meanwhile compared to the GTX 770 and 280X, this is actually the narrowest victory for the 290. Despite the solid performance of the 290 and 290X, it beats the GTX 770 by just 11%. The margin of victory over the 280X however is closer to normal at 29%.
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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! :)