AMD Begins Massive Wave of Price Cuts on R9 290x and 290

[deathjester]

I have a reference 290 from XFX that overclocks to 1180MHz compared the stock 947MHz. I have the fan curve modified to be a little bit more aggressive so it stays around 80 C

 

What would you say the power draw is on it. Think I would be ok with a 4770k with the stock clocks on the GPU on a CX 600M? 46A 12v.

 

I have my CPU lowered to 4.3 at 1.15v atm. Could keep it there. Not like I need the 4.5 oclock for any game lol. 

 

The PSU recommendations for these cards are all over the place. Is there anything official with the amps on the 12v? 

[Dietrichw]

What would you say the power draw is on it. Think I would be ok with a 4770k with the stock clocks on the GPU on a CX 600M? 46A 12v.

 

I have my CPU lowered to 4.3 at 1.15v atm. Could keep it there. Not like I need the 4.5 oclock for any game lol. 

 

The PSU recommendations for these cards are all over the place. Is there anything official with the amps on the 12v? 

idk, I just know it runs with a 7850k APU on a CX600 PSU.

[carolkarine]

I already ordered a 970, but otherwise  iwould pick up a 290x

 

NOTE: the gigabyte 290 and 290x are the SAME PRICE ON AMAZON. make sure you pick the right one if you do get one

[Sakkura]

Well at least AMD doesn't release drivers that actually KILL cards.

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/544882/geforce-drivers/official-nvidia-320-18-whql-display-driver-feedback-thread-released-5-23-13-/62

http://modcrash.com/nvidia-display-driver-damaging-gpus/

http://community.futuremark.com/forum/showthread.php?175532-DO-Not-install-Nvidia-320-18-killing-gpu-s

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/nvidia-320-18-drivers-killing-gpus.185046/page-2

 

I don't think that was ever confirmed. It was confirmed way back in the day with the 196.75 driver though. Those were the days...

[Techhog]

They do, but honestly GPU overclocking for gaming makes a 1-3 fps difference so I dont get the point really

If you overclock like 5%, sure...

[patrickjp93]

290x would beat it, the 290 and 780 where tied basically.

It's not so cut and dry. The 980 beats out the 780TI, and the 970 beats the 780 with a modest overclock. The 290x will require a good overclock to beat it, and we're currently on Nvidia's release drivers for these cards.

[Trik'Stari]

The Gigabyte 970 is one hell of a card.  That Sapphire I linked is close. It is damn near a push. Yeah you are set on PSU.

 

Sapphires make very good R9 290's. One is 370 and not in stock anywhere and the other is 289. All comes down to cost/features/budget. They are both going to perform great and have good temps. One thing to consider is if you plan to add a second one? That might put it in favor of the GTX 970. 2 r9 290's MIGHT run well on that PSU depending on CPU voltage and everything else. 2 970's would with ease. 

 

If you have the lanes to add another card and are considering it later? Yeah I would prob grab the 970. Good luck finding one in stock though. I haven't had any luck yet finding the Gigabyte in stock. Hell now I am considering this Sapphire. I am just running one card and I don't plan on going 2.

 

I am just a little worried if my CX600M will run the Sapphire and my 4770k OC. If I knew for sure it would run with no problem I would prob grab this thing. CX is the budget series PSU so I am a little leery of it.

Well I only have a 4690k, but I do have an sli capable motherboard. I would like to SLI once star citizen comes out, but right now I guess my biggest concern needs to be a decent monitor, since I'm playing on a 30inch 768p 60hz TV lol. I just don't know what to replace it with since I feel like going down to a 23 inch 144hz 1080p monitor will still feel like a downgrade rather than an upgrade (because of size)

[Fetzie]

I don't think that was ever confirmed. It was confirmed way back in the day with the 196.75 driver though. Those were the days...

 

I personally know two people that got hit by the 320.18 driver.

[patrickjp93]

Well I only have a 4690k, but I do have an sli capable motherboard. I would like to SLI once star citizen comes out, but right now I guess my biggest concern needs to be a decent monitor, since I'm playing on a 30inch 768p 60hz TV lol. I just don't know what to replace it with since I feel like going down to a 23 inch 144hz 1080p monitor will still feel like a downgrade rather than an upgrade (because of size)

Go to a 1200/1440/1600 monitor then.

[Mister Snow]

Well at least AMD doesn't release drivers that actually KILL cards.

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/544882/geforce-drivers/official-nvidia-320-18-whql-display-driver-feedback-thread-released-5-23-13-/62

http://modcrash.com/nvidia-display-driver-damaging-gpus/

http://community.futuremark.com/forum/showthread.php?175532-DO-Not-install-Nvidia-320-18-killing-gpu-s

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/nvidia-320-18-drivers-killing-gpus.185046/page-2

Again? There was a thing with ~190 drivers and 9xxx series cards where drivers failed to ramp up the fan and cards fried.

[deathjester]

How to tell the wife you just bought a 290 dollar Video card. Facebook!

 

 

 

Been a long time since I was on an AMD GPU. Price is right. Sick of waiting for the 970's to come in stock and looks like it will be fine on my CX 600M according to the anandtech article. 

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202080

 

Just couldn't pass it up. I think Nvidia DSR is nice, but I already know how to downsample. Hopefully AMD will create software soon that does the same thing. Anyways, thanks for the price cuts AMD. Old card wasn't cutting it on VRAM and it seems titles will be having this issue for awhile going forward.

 

Also having an Intel CPU/AMD GPU is awesome cus @$^# the fanboys. 

[mvitkun]

The MSI Gaming overclocks just as well as the Gigabyte G1 gaming from the reviews of read so far. Often hitting 1550mhz+ but even with that clock speed the overclocked Sapphire 290 was still faster. Remember most reviews pin the factory overclocked 970s against reference 290s and 290X and then they overclock the 970s even more on top of that and bench again. Apples for apples comparison, overclocking both custom cooled 290s and 970s I would be tthey're tied in 1080p, 290s would edge out at higher resolutions.

You just can't go around the fact that GM204 effictively has half the memory bus width of Hawaii. Also remember that overclocking the memory on the 512bit bus of the 290 and 290X would net double the bandwidth increase vs overclocking the memory on a 256bit bus of the 970/980.

At 4K the reference stock clocked GTX 970 gives the reference stock clocked R9 290X a run for its money. @

Batman Arkham Origins 3840x2160

GTX 970:43.1fps

R9 290X:44.6fps

Battlefield 4 3840x2160 

GTX 970:24.5FPS

R9 290X:24.9FPS

Far Cry 3 3840x2160

GTX 970:31.1FPS

R9 290X:29.8FPS

 

Grid 2

GTX 970:53.9FPS

R9 290X:55.3FPS

Metro Last Light 3840x2160

GTX 970:26.3FPS

R9 290X:27.5FPS

 

Tomb Raider 3840x2160

GTX 970:34.9FPS

R9 290X:37.4FPS

 

 

Watch Dogs 3840x2160

GTX 970:28.4FPS

R9 290X:29.2FPS

[Victorious Secret]

1. This is AWESOME for consumers. Just awesome. 

 

2. Does AMD hate earning money? Did they suddenly come across so much money they can afford to slash prices like this? 

[CreativeTHC]

I've seen some benchmakrs and the GTX 970 beats the R290x in 1080p and 4k and I am confuse cuz the cheapest grx 970 is around £260 and the cheapest R290x is around £300.. it is me or nvidia has a bug?! haha

[mvitkun]

I've seen some benchmakrs and the GTX 970 beats the R290x in 1080p and 4k and I am confuse cuz the cheapest grx 970 is around $260 and the cheapest R290x is around $300.. it is me or nvidia has a bug?! haha

Where did you see a GTX 970 for $260 or an R9 290X for $300?

[deathjester]

1. This is AWESOME for consumers. Just awesome. 

 

2. Does AMD hate earning money? Did they suddenly come across so much money they can afford to slash prices like this? 

 

What can they do? The 970 is pretty awesome for price/performance. Like you said? Customers win. The competition is great. We all win. Who loses? Consoles. Sony is probably banging their head on their desks atm and MS? Well they have PC locked up so they don't care.

 

I did not expect to see one of the better brand 290's today for 289...

 

I about flipped my @$%@ when I did a pc part picker search and saw it. The Gigabyte is 269 I think on NCIX. I didn't like the reviews on it though. No offense to Gigabyte, they make great cards on other series. 

 

You know it is crazy when you see prices ranging like this on one product lol.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/sapphire-video-card-1003622sr

 

Mother f'in Xmas in October. 

[patrickjp93]

1. This is AWESOME for consumers. Just awesome. 

 

2. Does AMD hate earning money? Did they suddenly come across so much money they can afford to slash prices like this? 

Better to make 5% on a product than make 0 because you won't have a new release until next year while your competitor is now beating you in price/performance on the same performance levels and higher.

[CreativeTHC]

Where did you see a GTX 970 for $260 or an R9 290X for $300?

£* my bad!~

[eLucid]

Better late than never I suppose.

[deathjester]

I've seen some benchmakrs and the GTX 970 beats the R290x in 1080p and 4k and I am confuse cuz the cheapest grx 970 is around £260 and the cheapest R290x is around £300.. it is me or nvidia has a bug?! haha

 

??? The cheapest actual in stock 970 I have found was a plain jane MSI which doesn't OC for jack due to the power connectors. I almost bought that for 330 the other day at Microcenter and they sold out within minutes. The Gigabyte which I wanted, was not in stock anywhere (and believe me I checked a lot) and is 370. I have seen it marked up to 600 on some sites.

 

http://www.ncixus.com/products/?usaffiliateid=1000031504&sku=102012&vpn=GV-N970WF3OC-4GD&manufacture=Gigabyte

 

No I am not blaming Nvidia for this. The vendors will do what they can. If people are gonna buy it for this much? They can sell it for this much. Just because the list price on the Gigabyte is 370, doesn't mean you can actually buy it for that in the U.S. and who knows when you will be able to.

[mvitkun]

??? The cheapest actual in stock 970 I have found was a plain jane MSI which doesn't OC for jack due to the power connectors. I almost bought that for 330 the other day at Microcenter and they sold out within minutes. The Gigabyte which I wanted, was not in stock anywhere (and believe me I checked a lot) and is 370. I have seen it marked up to 600 on some sites.

In case you're still looking for the G1 Gaming it's has some that can be had this month for $380 at ShopBLT

And @CreativeTHC already said that he meant GBP not USD

[Misanthrope]

Yes! YES keep it coming! I am very tempted to go with a 290 instead of a 970

[mvitkun]

Yes! YES keep it coming! I am very tempted to go with a 290 instead of a 970

Sarcasm? or why?

[Misanthrope]

Sarcasm? or why?

 

Nope, I'm serious:

 

1) It's cheaper than the 970 at that price point

2) It's available now instead of making me wait months for it: remember that I am forced to import so it's either a 30% import tax + heavy fees for international shipping along with epic delays on delivery and no guarantees it will make it plus the possibility of getting an even more epic international RMA if I get a D.O.A. card which I can tell you from personal experience is not fucking fun at all.

 

So if there's local availability by the time I save enough for my GPU (About a month from now) then I'll go 970. If local price drops for the 290 apply by that date and (the most likely scenario) the 970 it's still not available locally I gotta go with what's available to me.

[patrickjp93]

Sarcasm? or why?

Some people just dislike Nvidia because of its business practices and keeping its ecosystem locked down and will do everything they can to avoid buying its products. 

 

EDIT: that wasn't the case in this instance, but still...

 

I dislike Intel as a company (despite being an inherited shareholder), but I have no choice on processors to buy because AMD is practically non-existent in the laptop world, and I need the high-performance in my CPU. It's the same for desktops. I buy the top-end and make it last 6-10 years. My 4960x will go all the way to Cannonlake and maybe a little beyond. And at that point maybe AMD will be good enough with the successor to Zen. A 4 teraflop APU will hold me practically forever.