What R9 290x to get?

[Jester196]

Hey guys, I'm thinking of upgrading my system a bit and decided to go for an R9 290x gpu. I was wondering what the best card would be as in manufacturer? (xfx, sapphire...)

At the moment I have an XFX HD 7950 DD and I love it, but I don't know what manufacturer would be best for one these new cards.

Also I have a XFX 550w PSU, so what PSU would use recommend for one of these cards, and what PSU would you recommend if I was to get 2 of these cards?

Thanks.

[Askew]

Sapphire Vapor-X is the premium R9 series cooler the Tri-X is second.

 

 

Your PSU will happily run one, but for a pair I'd suggest either a very good 750W or a good 850W

[Jester196]

Sapphire Vapor-X or Tri-X

 

Your PSU will happily run one, but for a pair I'd suggest either a very good 750W or a good 850W

That's good to hear about the PSU. I'll have a look at the sapphire cards.

Thanks for the reply.

[pbenologa]

That's good to hear about the PSU. I'll have a look at the sapphire cards.

Thanks for the reply.

Vapor X is the best 290x AFAIK. Get it.

[Katsu-K1L]

My opinion is to go with a R9 290 instead of the 290X because the difference is minimal between them and not worth the extra cash but make sure its from sapphire thou

[TechFan@ic]

The best 290X out there is the Lightning 290X, the vapor-X comes in a very close second.
There is no Lightning R9 290, which puts the 290 Vapor-X in a solid first place. The Sapphire Tri-X & PowerColor PCS+ are tied for third but the Tri-X is a dual slot while the PowerColor is a triple slot so the Tri-X gets my vote.
Every other R9 290 & 290X will trail behind the versions mentioned above.

[Jester196]

My opinion is to go with a R9 290 instead of the 290X because the difference is minimal between them and not worth the extra cash but make sure its from sapphire thou

  

Vapor X is the best 290x AFAIK. Get it.

Ok I think sapphire is the way to go haha

Thanks for the reply's

[JoshM]

  

Ok I think sapphire is the way to go haha

Thanks for the reply's

Yeah Sapphire is amazing

[TERAFLOP]

"The best 290X is a water cooled 290X"
Words of wisdom.

[Kukielka]

Do yourself a favor and get a R9-290 + a waterblock. Overclock 4% and you'll have equal performance.

[TERAFLOP]

Do yourself a favor and get a R9-290 + a waterblock. Overclock 4% and you'll have equal performance.

The R9 290X has 10% more stream processors and is clocked 5% higher. So you need a 15% overclock to match a stock 290X.

In the early benchmarks the 290 was very close to the 290X because of the thermal throttling of the 290X which doesn't occur in any non-reference 290X.

[dragoon20005]

^^ what he says

 

clock for clock for the 290 and 290X

 

the 290X will pull away in fps in all games

[Phllips]

Isnt the powercolor one the best? its a matter of 1 fps anyway so its the best looking in my opinion 

[dragoon20005]

Isnt the powercolor one the best? its a matter of 1 fps anyway so its the best looking in my opinion 

sapphire or PowerColor

 

but for the 290X

 

it will be the MSI Lightning 290X

[Kukielka]

The R9 290X has 10% more stream processors and is clocked 5% higher. So you need a 15% overclock to match a stock 290X.

In the early benchmarks the 290 was very close to the 290X because of the thermal throttling of the 290X which doesn't occur in any non-reference 290X.

 

Look up the "Flash to X-Version" Threads, even when watercooling (or running the fans at 100% for benching), succesfully flashing the card will result in a 4% perfomance increase.

[Tacitus]

Vapour-x > PCS+ = tri-x > everything else.

[kev507]

I was going to ask a similar question, I wanted to do crossfire 290X's in an MATX case. However, the Vapor-X's are more than two slots high, so which 290X would everyone recommend that is only 2 slots?

[Kukielka]

I was going to ask a similar question, I wanted to do crossfire 290X's in an MATX case. However, the Vapor-X's are more than two slots high, so which 290X would everyone recommend that is only 2 slots?

 

The Gigabyte one is a true 2 slot design, even the Tri-X is slightly wider.