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
Hitman: Absolution
The second-to-last game in our lineup is Hitman: Absolution. The latest game in Square Enix’s stealth-action series, Hitman: Absolution is a DirectX 11 based title that though a bit heavy on the CPU, can give most GPUs a run for their money. Furthermore it has a built-in benchmark, which gives it a level of standardization that fewer and fewer benchmarks possess.
With Hitman we finally see the 290X and 290 pull apart, but once more it’s to a fairly small degree. With the 290X not being as significantly throttled here the 290 trails by 4%, reducing it in status to the second fastest single-GPU card in this test. GTX 780 for its part isn’t too far behind and does pass 60fps, but we still see 290 beat it by 12%.
This also ends up being another situation where the 290 does well for itself compared to the GTX 770 and 280X. There it beats the GTX 770 by 42% and the 280X by 31%.
Moving on to minimum framerates, the performance situation shifts even more towards the 290’s favor. Now it’s once again ahead of the 290X, this time by 2fps or 3%, and the performance advantage over the GTX 780 grows to 23%.
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Tetracycloide - Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - link
I love you use steam surveys to justify comparing the cards at 1080p because "1080/1200p is running on 98.5% of our screens" and then reference a review that benchmarks based on bleeding edge overclocks of each GPU...geok1ng - Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - link
well, while it may be true that an overclocked 780 is about as fast as an overclocked 290/X, it is also true that under water a 290/x will blow away an OC 780, and that the cost of a waterblock more than compensates the price NVIDIA asks for a 780. it may well be true that most of 780 and 290 buyers are running it at 1080p, it only points towards how irrational/stupid enthusiasts can behave, i am speaking as a 1600p gamer whose games do not demand more than a 4870x2 but has upgraded to a 6950 and then to a 7950. There is one point in favor of the 290/X that all your whining can not deny: THESE CARDS ARE 4K GAMING READY. We are ending 2013, and buying a new card today may well mean that one will use it on a 4k display over the next 2 years.Galidou - Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - link
''buying a new card today may well mean that one will use it on a 4k display over the next 2 years''Or simply means that one will use it to continue maxing graphics no 1080p for the enxt 2 years... like if new gen consoles and games will not make graphics improve so 1080p will never ever be a challenging resolution for 2 years old graphics card... sigh...
Spunjji - Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - link
Sparks, dripping fire? Was it a GTX 590? Sorry, didn't watch the vid ;) Nothing quite like a fanboy making up the other side's arguments for them.swing848 - Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - link
It looks like you and Anand almost see eye to eye, GeForce fan boys. If I remember correctly the GeForce 480 [and 470] fan was very noisy in an effort to keep the HOT GPU from melting down, along with may be part of your motherboard.[IMG]http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p266/Swing848/A...[/IMG]
Fallen Kell - Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - link
Well, as long as your PC is in sound dampened closet with a usb extension cable and your dvi/hdmi cables comming out of it, yes, this is an amazing card. But I certainly wouldn't want something that is in the mid 50db range in my bedroom or office.Galidou - Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - link
Then wait for Asus or gigabyte cards with aftermarket coolers... comon you guys denying amazing cards because they have 2 weeks to be sold with a crappy cooler... COMON are you that stupid?yacoub35 - Wednesday, November 6, 2013 - link
7970 is still the best bang-for-the-buck right now. This card will be too, once it's been out for a year or so and has a price drop to $299.Galidou - Wednesday, November 6, 2013 - link
I've got to agree that the 7970 at the current price is the bargain hunter best deal. If you run 1080p monitor and even above, you REALLY can't go wrong. It usually performs better than GTX 770 and can be overclocked like... Anyway, you get the point.mgl888 - Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - link
Too much of the article was dedicated to noise.Personally, if it came down to saving $100 or having my GPU run loudly (but stably at factory speeds), I'd take the $100 savings any day.