AMD Radeon R9 290X Launch

[mr moose]

 the API would increase the draw calls available to the GPU. That's it really on the PC side of things. it's a 9x draw call performance increase but that doesn't mean 9x FPS.

 

If the improvements come on the software side (which is what Mantle is + future driver improvements) the it can be improved. The 95oC (when compared to the ~80oC of 780) is a consequence of having 20% less area to dissipate heat to the vapour chamber & heat sink. The after market coolers will improve this by 5-15C depending on the cooler.

 

Within the confines of 28nm, if AMD were to go the GK110 route and throw size at the problem they would of got a faster, cooler GPU. But it also would be much closer to Titan priced.

It will be interesting to see where this ends. 

[beebskadoo]

If the improvements come on the software side (which is what Mantle is + future driver improvements) the it can be improved. The 95oC (when compared to the ~80oC of 780) is a consequence of having 20% less area to dissipate heat to the vapour chamber & heat sink. The after market coolers will improve this by 5-15C depending on the cooler.

 

Within the confines of 28nm, if AMD were to go the GK110 route and throw size at the problem they would of got a faster, cooler GPU. But it also would be much closer to Titan priced.

Well the 95C is hurting the performance of the cards. They throttle 150mhz after 5 minutes of gameplay due to the heat limitations. It's a losing battle with that stock cooler, it simply can't handle that chip.

The aftermarket coolers should help alleviate this but I don't think these cards will be as good of overclockers as the 7970's

One reason that the 780 OC kills the 290X, because the 780's cooler can handle it and the GPU is just cooler in general.

[beebskadoo]

It will be interesting to see where this ends. 

I don't think Mantle will be the be all and end all when it comes to gaming.

DirectX is the issue, there is a lot of bloated code for legacy devices.

OpenGL is better but not perfect.

MS doesn't care about improving DirectX on the PC side of things because they're pushing XBOXONE rather than gaming PC.

Interesting predicament indeed....

[eshbop]

Well the 95C is hurting the performance of the cards. They throttle 150mhz after 5 minutes of gameplay due to the heat limitations. It's a losing battle with that stock cooler, it simply can't handle that chip.

The aftermarket coolers should help alleviate this but I don't think these cards will be as good of overclockers as the 7970's

One reason that the 780 OC kills the 290X, because the 780's cooler can handle it and the GPU is just cooler in general.

Yeah you are right. The chip runs hot, but personally (and I'd assume a lot of people are like this) I wouldn't buy a reference card unless I was watercooling. With after market coolers there may be a 5-10% improvement with the clocks staying higher (which is the difference between running the card cold and after it's warmed up).

 

I'm keen to see the results again when we have custom coolers and after drivers mature a bit.

[beebskadoo]

Yeah you are right. The chip runs hot, but personally (and I'd assume a lot of people are like this) I wouldn't buy a reference card unless I was watercooling. But with after market coolers there could be a 5-10% improvement with the clocks staying higher.

 

I'm keen to see the results again when we have custom coolers and after drivers mature a bit.

No doubt the driver improvements will happen, but It's just a bad start for AMD with this launch.

[Adaraas]

Well, after all this, still a Nvidia guy.

 

95C is too hot.  Cheap cooler, pretty much settled my card choosing for quite a while.

 

Maybe when I get my Water cooling setup, but till then, nope.

[Jamdude]

Turns out Overclockers UK were charging £45 for Battlefield 4 to be included with the Asus 290X.

 

Is there any news about an Asus Matrix 290X?

[Blake]

guys, all the customer coolers will do is make it run cooler, which will make the driver push closer to 100%, making it faster.

 

I sense the cards with customer coolers slapping on an OC sticker and adding 10% to the price.

 

Hmmm, I wonder is AC is going to refresh the accelero xtreme 3, I could do with about a tonne of aluminium and fans hanging of my GPU (also FYI this is the best air cooler I have every used).

[Jamdude]

290X with an EK waterblock is available for preorder now: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-054-TL&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

[Eroda]

it lifts at about 2:01pm Brisbane time, so that would be god know what in WA.

12:01PM we mirror EDT exactly

 

 

Yeah you are right. The chip runs hot, but personally (and I'd assume a lot of people are like this) I wouldn't buy a reference card unless I was watercooling. With after market coolers there may be a 5-10% improvement with the clocks staying higher (which is the difference between running the card cold and after it's warmed up).

 

I'm keen to see the results again when we have custom coolers and after drivers mature a bit.

 

yeah drivers will be the key here, i expect them to be battling more with the titan by march

[Blake]

 

12:01PM we mirror EDT exactly

your late... by a day, also we do not they are UTC -4 wel are UTC+10 or somthing

[Eroda]

12am EDT = 12pm AWST (Perth)