2x 290 Vapor-X or 2x 290X PCS+

[FCqt]

I just can't decide which combo would be best. I can get both of them at a very similar price.

 

2 x Powercolor Radeon R9 290X PCS+
1,065.73$

2 x SAPPHIRE VAPOR-X Radeon R9 290
1,046,35$

 

The Vapor-X is like the top R9 290 card that seem to perform very similar to r9 290x reference card in uber mode but no matter it is still a 290 and not a 290x. For 20$ more I could get 290X PCS+ instead, but I feel like the overall build quality and feature won't be as good as the 290 Vapor-X.

 

Which combo to get? :unsure:

 

[ericlee30]

I say the Vapor-X.

 

Edit: At first i thought they were both just the 290's.

 

 

I agree with @Shd0w2 go with the Powercolor 290X's if you can.

[Shd0w2]

I wouldn't normally reccomend a powercolor, but in this case, go for the 290x.

[VSG]

If those are the only two choices, I would go with the 290x option. Both coolers are good but no matter what anyone says the 290x is still ~10% faster on average clock to clock.

[xToFxREAPER]

personally i would get the vapor-x simply for the fact the powercolor card has an extra thick cooler which will heavily effect your temps and not in a good way either, if your going to be water cooling anyway then the powercolor card is the better choice

[TheDigitalRealm]

personally i would get the vapor-x simply for the fact the powercolor card has an extra thick cooler which will heavily effect your temps and not in a good way either, if your going to be water cooling anyway then the powercolor card is the better choice

 

What? It's bigger because it provides better cooling. Even in Crossfire, with enough air flow they'll definitely have enough breathing room.

[FCqt]

According to the review I red the Powercolor 290X PCS+ have the best cooling solution over any other 290x beside maybe the Lightning but with it's price range that's a bit irrelevant.

 

What scare me most about the Powercolor is that I red people saying their card "degraded" quickly, loosing performance overtime. Not sure if it's true or not but this is what made me reconsider getting the powercolor 290x in the first place.

The other 290x brand are also out of the equation cause in canada they are all around 550$USD+ while the Powercolor is at 460$USD

[dragoon20005]

According to the review I red the Powercolor 290X PCS+ have the best cooling solution over any other 290x beside maybe the Lightning but with it's price range that's a bit irrelevant.

 

What scare me most about the Powercolor is that I red people saying their card "degraded" quickly, loosing performance overtime. Not sure if it's true or not but this is what made me reconsider getting the powercolor 290x in the first place.

The other 290x brand are also out of the equation cause in canada they are all around 550$USD+ while the Powercolor is at 460$USD

ask @Sonefiler

[Sonefiler]

According to the review I red the Powercolor 290X PCS+ have the best cooling solution over any other 290x beside maybe the Lightning but with it's price range that's a bit irrelevant.

 

What scare me most about the Powercolor is that I red people saying their card "degraded" quickly, loosing performance overtime. Not sure if it's true or not but this is what made me reconsider getting the powercolor 290x in the first place.

The other 290x brand are also out of the equation cause in canada they are all around 550$USD+ while the Powercolor is at 460$USD

Mine isn't losing performnace...

It should be fine.

Just get it RMAd if need be, their support for PCS is good.

[Tacitus]

What are you using it for? It's unlikely you'll notice any real difference between two 290s and two 290xs.

 

I'd have to say the PCS+ option is better though, given the cards are faster.

[dragoon20005]

if he is asking about X-Fire setups 

 

he could be going for resolutions beyond 1440P or 4K

 

The 290X PCS+ combo will win hands down but 290s on water might come close in terms of performance

[FCqt]

Thanks for the answer everyone,

 

I'm getting the crossfire setup for a QNIX 1440p monitor and I'm aiming to reach at least 96 FPS in most games I'll play.

I also want to keep these card for as long as I can with the possibility of adding a third card and doing watercooling in future (GPU watercooling is at the bottom of my I want list though)

I'm not interested in 4K monitor as I want a IPS panel and it will require at least three card to run 4K smoothly.

 

I'm heading towards the PCS+ as it is

[Lays]

If you're planning on watercooling, make sure both cards have waterblocks available for them.

[GamerDude]

Wish all threads were this easy, easily the dual PowerColor R9 290X PCS+ would be the better choice. I have a pair of reference Sapphire R9 290X since launch (waited a month or so before going H2O) and there isn't a single game I cannot max out @1200P (excluding nVidia proprietary crap like PhysX), running 5760x1200 is a challenge even for these badboys, but I've not been disappointed thus far.

[AllstaRawR]

My only statement is that you need to watch temps if you're keeping them on air.

[xToFxREAPER]

What? It's bigger because it provides better cooling. Even in Crossfire, with enough air flow they'll definitely have enough breathing room.

in theory thats how it works but its not. My msi lightning edition 780's which are 2.5 slot coolers same as the powercolor cards in a corsair air 540 with large amounts of airflow still got to almost 85 degrees and r9 290x's run far hotter

[TheDigitalRealm]

in theory thats how it works but its not. My msi lightning edition 780's which are 2.5 slot coolers same as the powercolor cards in a corsair air 540 with large amounts of airflow still got to almost 85 degrees and r9 290x's run far hotter

I'm not sure if you noticed, but I'm running two R9 290X Lightnings...And I know for a fact that with adequate air flow, they stay at ~75 degrees after a few hours under Furmark.

[xToFxREAPER]

I'm not sure if you noticed, but I'm running two R9 290X Lightnings...And I know for a fact that with adequate air flow, they stay at ~75 degrees after a few hours under Furmark.

Ambient temps make a fair difference to, last time i ran my cards on air it was 30 degree + on average, either way yes i know they can stay cool with correct airflow, my airflow although as near to perfect as i could get at the time was choked by my radiator for my cpu