Sapphire Radeon R9 290 Tri-X OC Review: Our First Custom Cooled 290
by Ryan Smith on December 24, 2013 3:45 PM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
- AMD
- Radeon
- Sapphire
- Radeon 200
Gaming Performance
Diving into our performance benchmarks, we’ll be running light on the commentary here due to the fact that there’s really not much to say about the gaming performance of the 290 Tri-X OC. Sapphire’s 6% core overclock and 4% memory overclock translates into a real world performance difference of 3% on average. This makes the 290 Tri-X OC a bit faster than a reference 290, but it doesn’t otherwise change the relative rankings of various cards. At most this slightly extends the lead over the GTX 780 to 9% and wipes out the 290X quiet mode’s marginal lead over the 290.
In the end the difference is slight enough that the bulk of the interest in this card should rightfully be on the card’s cooler, and ultimately whether that cooler justifies the $50 premium.
On a quick note looking at Rome, as one of the games the 290X throttles in the most, this is also the game where the Sapphire 290 Tri-X OC takes the largest lead over the 290X. The 6% performance lead here reflects on the fact
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Ryan Smith - Thursday, December 26, 2013 - link
Huh. I had thought I had fixed that. Thanks!Duelix - Thursday, December 26, 2013 - link
Can't wait for a Direct CU II model from Asus. A R9 290 with a decent cooler is stupid fast for the money. Take that, Nvidia!hoboville - Thursday, December 26, 2013 - link
It's really amazing how on some games the 780 Ti is 10-20% faster, and then slower in others. If that performance were consistent across all game titles, the 780 Ti might just be worth the price.Then again, $700 card vs $450 card means it costs more than 50% more! What can you say then other than: if you have the budget for a 780 Ti, save another $250 bucks and get a 2nd 290.
Brent20 - Tuesday, December 31, 2013 - link
The problem with that thinking is the AMD cards do NOT sell for $450, ANYWHERE. They are selling for 50% OVER retail price.r13j13r13 - Thursday, December 26, 2013 - link
me orgasmeoooooooooo pero con la con la version 290x iguala a la 780 tirandinspace - Friday, December 27, 2013 - link
"Sapphire is essentially charging $50 for a better cooler..."It's worth noting that what with the voiding of the warranty that follows installing an aftermarket cooling solution on a reference card the $50 premium Sapphire is charging is probably worth it in the long run.
toyotabedzrock - Friday, December 27, 2013 - link
The almost perfect scaling of performance with the over clock is interesting. If AMD would allow them to do the same with the 290x it would allow them to outright beat the 780 ti.ggathagan - Monday, December 30, 2013 - link
An important note for owners of cases that rotate the motherboard 90 degrees (Silverstone Fortress 2, etc...):The Asus DirectCU, the HIS IceQ X² and the MSI FrozrII lines orient the heatsink fins in a way that can take advantage of the bottom-to-top airflow of those cases.
Custom cooled solutions from Sapphire, EVGA, XFX, Gigabyte and MSI all orient the cooling fins of the heatsink perpendicular to the airflow in such cases.
Mopar63 - Tuesday, December 31, 2013 - link
This sounds like it might matter but it does not. The fins are oriented so they are essentially across the airflow of any case design. The air flow however is not enough to be an issue against the direct air pressure of the GPU fans and the exhaust is then whisked away by the air flow currents of the case.If there was ANY difference in temps it might be 1 or 2 C at the MOST.
Brent20 - Tuesday, December 31, 2013 - link
If you want the review to be fair, I think its time that all these AMD reviews reflect the REAL inflated price that the card sells for when comparing it to the competition, which is about 50% over retail value.AMD will die off as a gaming card company as long as they continue to cater to the "mining" users. Mark my words. Why buy a card for 50% over retail, and a card that is rarely in stock anywhere.
They need to put something in to block mining use. They may make big bucks off it now, but in the long run its going to hurt their "gaming" business badly.
Perhaps they could block the mining in the gaming card and make a separate card for mining and sell it at quadruple the price. As the miners appear willing to pay any price for it.