TTL's R9 290X Review.

[SkilledRebuilds]

Different system setups, different locations = varied ambient temps.

Results will always vary.

[Opsilon]

Oh forget the temps, and the stupid cooler, too many mixed reviews, and it looks like the 290x is awesome only at 4k, now wtf is that all about?

Price is great, we need aftermarket coolers, i would not even take a titan with the stupid reference coolers ( personal opinion, don't really care how good it looks if it has sub par performance )

This should annihilate titans and 780's, but it does not... i'm glad AMD did well but come on this should have been the titan killer

 

Even LTT review showed that the 780 can beat it ( i don't like the way they test since overclocking is not a guarantee and every chip can be different, and i have seen a lot of reviews that support this, the only performance you can count 100% is the one you get with the card you buy ), this is not good enough, this better be a bad driver.

 

 

 

Hey guys,

 

All of you saying that the performance is above the 780.... Have you already seen the Linus review?? Is down in EVERY bench.

overclocking is not a guarantee so every chip can perform differently and oc...that is why the 780 won, and that is why 7900 cards beat the gtx 600 cards, bad overclockers, i have seen versions of both camps that can annihilate every card Slick and Linus tested, and they oc to the max.

 

And can someone pls explain, how the hell can a card win at 4k, but lose at lower resolutions, what is up with that? i can get the 3 gb memory vs 4gb, but come on, does this mean that the chip itself is actually not that good, and that it's redeeming feature is the memory bandwidth? This mantle better be amazing, because if this does not end up being good, we will again have the same scenario we had a year ago with NV not giving a damn about anything AMD does...

[Sotti]

Their results compare overclocked to overlocked results, they really should have compared stock to stock (or both.

they didn't even specify what clocks were used for each card, IMHO that isn't good data to go by.

 

Yeah, of course, you spend 600 bucks in a card, and then you don't even use the tools NVIDIA give you to OC the card.

 

As Linus pointed out a lot of times their overclocks are safe ones, guarantees most of cards get there. I'm pretty sure my 780's SC (OCed) go well above that results and mines aren't good overclockers.

 

And is not fair to compare a high clocked card (as the 290X seems to be at stock given that temperatures and null capacities to be OCed) with an stock-with-a-lot-of-room card.

 

I can't see the point saying the Linus reviews are pointless. I think they are so real life.

 

REad you guys!

[Opsilon]

Yeah, of course, you spend 600 bucks in a card, and then you don't even use the tools NVIDIA give you to OC the card.

 

As Linus pointed out a lot of times their overclocks are safe ones, guarantees most of cards get there. I'm pretty sure my 780's SC (OCed) go well above that results and mines aren't good overclockers.

 

And is not fair to compare a high clocked card (as the 290X seems to be at stock given that temperatures and null capacities to be OCed) with an stock-with-a-lot-of-room card.

 

I can't see the point saying the Linus reviews are pointless. I think they are so real life.

 

REad you guys!

Slick said their overclocks are to the max in the video... so you can't take that 100% into account, every chip is different... 

[Wulfgar]

Everyone should wait until the aftermarket cards start coming out, as well as people putting them under water in a custom loop. I don't mind TTL's opinions on the aesthetics of the cooler, however, I think he made a mistake of making it the first 10 minutes of his review. It's too early in the game for a definite opinion on this, give it a bit of time.

[ThreePinkApples]

I don't see the problem with it running on 95 degrees, shouldn't be a problem *shrug*

[ACatWithThumbs]

Slick said their overclocks are to the max in the video... so you can't take that 100% into account, every chip is different... 

The 780 overclocks it self without touching it, because of GPU boost 2 it's easy to get 1Ghz and if you have luck you can get it up to 1,2ghz)

And AMD clearly OC the card a fair comparision would to run both at 95c and look wich is faster and then the 780 would win.

Or put down the temp of the R9-290X to 80c and then the peformance would be really bad.

So Linus benchmark is fine.

 

[wansie]

Just saw that review, it's the worst! it's just him bitching about how it doesn't feel expensive and how hot it is, but AMD already came out and said that the temperatures are nothing to worry, also when non-reference cards come out they will be beast! Check Tom's Hardware review, the 290X beats the 780 and Titan at everything and it's at 73% usage now just imagine it with Mantle, even if it is the slightest bump in performance it will ridicule Nvidia's solutions! and it's $100 cheaper!! Unbelievable!

I totally agree with the fact that TTL didn't stop bitching, I couldn't watch it through (His rushkid video was beter though). But if I had to buy a $600 card now I would still pick a 780, cause looks are a factor for me. And since the rumor is that there won't be aftermarket coolers until december maybe even 2014... that's a pretty long time to wait considering we've been waiting for a while now... I do hope if we all shout loud enough that amd will allow after market coolers faster. And I'm really, really, reeeaaally curious for watercooling OC performance. Should be pretty amazing.

[Sotti]

The 780 overclocks it self without touching it, because of GPU boost 2 it's easy to get 1Ghz and if you have luck you can get it up to 1,2ghz)

And AMD clearly OC the card a fair comparision would to run both at 95c and look wich is faster and then the 780 would win.

Or put down the temp of the R9-290X to 80c and then the peformance would be really bad.

So Linus benchmark is fine.

 

 

Actually mines goes beyond 1.1 Ghz out of the box and beyond 1.2 with EVGA Precision.

[RaphYkun]

The 290X is a beast!

I am disappointed however in the thermals 95C is too damn high!

'Oh but AMD made the GPU to run that hot, it's fine' NO IT"S NOT! What about your whole system? It's gonna be an oven in some cases! 

except the reference cooler exhausts heat out the back only (it's sealed and won't let stuff into your case) so yea there might be some leakage, but it really shouldn't affect your whole system. This is actually partially why it's worse than aftermarket coolers for large cases as there is no extra airflow to move that heat away.

[SkilledRebuilds]

Best bet if grabbing one of these is point a high-speed low-noise fan at the 290x intake, the average core clock drop off may not be as bad, although I'm sure it will still hit 95*c before it gets to longterm coreclock speeds of over 950mhz.

[Exotath]

Well it is a nice card, but not enough for me to ditch my 780. If it had been two months ago I'd have bought it hands down no brainer.

 

I was kinda hoping for a bit more of a lead in 1080/1440 performance also.

[Opsilon]

The 780 overclocks it self without touching it, because of GPU boost 2 it's easy to get 1Ghz and if you have luck you can get it up to 1,2ghz)

And AMD clearly OC the card a fair comparision would to run both at 95c and look wich is faster and then the 780 would win.

Or put down the temp of the R9-290X to 80c and then the peformance would be really bad.

So Linus benchmark is fine.

I know how GPU boost works, i have a gtx 670, and the reason i don't like the way Linus and Slick benchmark is the fact that they do not use custom fan profiles, Nvidia kepler cards start to decrease boost after 70°C by 13 mhz every 5°C , and every card they tested did pass 80°C so count how much boost was lost. the only "right" way to test Kepler gpu-s  is not letting them pass 70°C, do your own test and you will see...

 

Chance to get 1,2 ghz out of every 780 out there is slim, i mean my gtx 670 max boost is 1150 overclocked, over 1200 in furmark, but it crashes in unigine after i pass 1150, the reviews of my card said it can go higher, i can do a bios hack to get more voltage, but the card is still on warranty , i can see you got a 670 that can OC better, well that is just my point, not every chip can oc to the same level...

 

The 780 wins in 1080p and 2,5K, but other benchmarks show the 290x beats the Kepler cards at 4k, not to mention these are early drivers, so this might be early driver AMD curse, those will improve.

 

I am not saying anyone who tested is wrong with the cards they have, but that is my point, since not every card can OC to the same level the only fair comparison is to test them on stock, this is fair for both sides, they should give us both stock and oc benchmarks.

[Exotath]

I think it is great the card does better at 4K, but with 4K panels costing ~2500-3500 bucks....I just couldn't care any less about it.

[dark-D]

i find tom's review legit and on point. it amuses me that lots of people on different forums and social media are questioning the performance of a card from a reviewer that has the card on hand versus their opinion or made up numbers in their heads.

if you watched TTL for some time you will know that when 600 series were out, TTL was one of the few that said that 680 and 7970 are on the same performance when all the people said that 7970 was on par with 670 and 7950 was on par or weaker that 660ti .so don't accuse him of being bias.

also what is this nonsense that the looks, noise, temp, power consumption and the overclock don't matter. EVERYTHING MATTERS.

if you want Linus honest opinion on the new card watch the WAN show and wait for him or slick to slip up with their real opinion, they always do.

 

Off-topic:

- it is clear that america has the muscle car mentality and europe has the supercar mentality even in computers.

- if i was a reviewer i would have an universal waterblock on hand and test the 290x watercooled on release.

[Skymon Chuckles]

Personally, when AMD says the Card is designed to run at 95°C then that is find by me. If the card performs within its temperature limits I actually care more about power consumption than the temperature in a specific spot, because the Watts consumed equals the heat that needs to be dissipated. The 290x is a power hungry beast thus lots of heat ist produced and from this point of view I am actually happy that the reference cooler vents the majority of it to the outside and not inside the case.

 

I looked up a few webshops in the UK and tried to convert it in USD (even removing/adding VAT and BF4 Bundle costs) but I could not reproduce the price TTL mentioned. Aside from the heat, his whole argument was based on price, either price vs. looks, price vs. performance, price vs. overclockability, ... so I could not take his critisism seriosly.

 

I was also astonished that Linus/Slick use OC performance charts, which - for me - makes hardly any sense as each single card overclocks differently. It is just luck which one you get. Wouldn't it make more sense to compare the performance that is guaranteed if one buys a specific model? That said, it seems the 290x has not a lot of room left when it comes to OC. Also I expected it to perform better when compared to the 780, even when OC.

 

Linus' review was also loaded with facts which is what I prefer to the 10 minute rant about the asthetics as in the TTL review. No doubt, the Nvidia cards look way better, but 10 minutes ranting about it?

 

Overall, I did not feel the TTL's review was any good, little facts, no looking at the bigger picture, basically just 30 mins of ranting.

 

EDIT/FIX: confused LTT with TTL a couples of times

Edited October 24, 2013 by Skymon Chuckles

[Poocannon]

snip

I think the testing methodology of Linus and Slick has advantages and disatvanteges, on one side they are right, not overclocking is waste of money, on the other hand, what overclocks you can get comes more or less down to luck of the draw.

The temperatures are not good, not even close to good, but I'm still going to wait till aftermarkets appear, to really judge the power of this card.

[eshbop]

I think the testing methodology of Linus and Slick has advantages and disatvanteges, on one side they are right, not overclocking is waste of money, on the other hand, what overclocks you can get comes more or less down to luck of the draw.

And if the manufacturer cherry-picks the cards that they hand out to reviewers. In that video TTL says Nvidia do and it looks like AMD don't.

[Humbug]

Pardon my ignorance but who/what is TTL?

[Skymon Chuckles]

Pardon my ignorance but who/what is TTL?

Tiny Tom Logan - here he is clarifying a few inconsitencies he made in his 290x review:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OHKWMgBhvA&feature=c4-overview&list=UU_SN80_V2GymyCWM2oTYTeg

 

EDIT: fixed yet another typo

[TheMissxu]

Honestly, why would you review a GPU reference cooler? Really? Worth paying 100$ or 450$ more for a slightly better cooler?

 

It really sounds like slander (possibly even paid off by nvidia bad). This is a huge assumption with no evidence, but based on the state of other reviews, like TechpowerUp, PCPerspective, TomsHardware,  HardwareCanucks, LegitReviews     KitGuru, Sweclockers, and TechReport, he is being unreasonable towards the 290x. And what reviewer blatantly recommends a different product (remember he is even saying to pay more money!) during a review?!

[ivhyn]

I know how GPU boost works, i have a gtx 670, and the reason i don't like the way Linus and Slick benchmark is the fact that they do not use custom fan profiles, Nvidia kepler cards start to decrease boost after 70°C by 13 mhz every 5°C , and every card they tested did pass 80°C so count how much boost was lost. the only "right" way to test Kepler gpu-s  is not letting them pass 70°C, do your own test and you will see...

 

Chance to get 1,2 ghz out of every 780 out there is slim, i mean my gtx 670 max boost is 1150 overclocked, over 1200 in furmark, but it crashes in unigine after i pass 1150, the reviews of my card said it can go higher, i can do a bios hack to get more voltage, but the card is still on warranty , i can see you got a 670 that can OC better, well that is just my point, not every chip can oc to the same level...

1150? I hate silicone lottery too. My 670 is hella fast (1250MHz) but it oc's nowhere near as good as other GK104 cores. I hope my 7970 Matrix is a better overclocker.

 

I'm not very impressed with thermals and power draw. Taking the power bill into consideration, wouldn't a GTX 780 pay itself off after, say 1,5-2 years? Also, 95°C is way out of my comfort zone so aftermarket coolers can't come early enough.

[afa7336]

Honestly, why would you review a GPU reference cooler? Really? Worth paying 100$ or 450$ more for a slightly better cooler?

 

It really sounds like slander (possibly even paid off by nvidia bad). This is a huge assumption with no evidence, but based on the state of other reviews, like TechpowerUp, PCPerspective, TomsHardware,  HardwareCanucks, LegitReviews     KitGuru, Sweclockers, and TechReport, he is being unreasonable towards the 290x. And what reviewer blatantly recommends a different product (remember he is even saying to pay more money!) during a review?!

 

Upfront, I can't stand TTL, I don't subscribe to him, and have watched maybe a handful of his videos.

Anyway, why review a reference cooler? Well considering that is what AMD has released as their card, what should he or others review? It was the same with PCPer and others did with the 780 release and the Titan release. Kinda unfair to pounce now, imo.

 

I can't comment, as I really don't feel like sitting through his video, to the other things. And some of those others were nice, but not all nice.

[Bad2049]

Anyone notice that in Quiet and Uber Modes the fan never ran above 40/50%? That is the reason for the high temps and this is only a stock cooler. I'm posting a quote so people can look and see what should not be passed up when it comes to temp control... the fan speed.

 

 

AMD Radeon R9 290X 4GB Quiet Gaming Temperature:

 

 

AMD Radeon R9 290X 4GB Uber Gaming Temperature:

 

 

The temperature target of the AMD Radeon R9 290X is set to 95C by default, but GPU-Z showed that we were hitting 94C on both cards and not going over that temperature. Notice that with the Radeon R9 290X set to ‘Quiet’ mode the fan was spinning at 2100RPM or 40% and in ‘Uber’ mode we wthe ere hitting 2700 RPM at 50% fan speed. This is a bit odd as Uber mode has the fans set to go up to 55%.  AMD said that since we were not running at the full fan speed that we can either can either decrease target temperature or increase clocks a bit as there is still some fan headroom left.

 

Please read that last line as well.

[That Norwegian Guy]

Well then, if the GTX 780Ti inherits the old GTX 780 price, it'll actually be cheaper than the 290x here in Norway. Stores in Norway are listing the reference 290x at the same price as many aftermarket 780s.... Value proposition is probably better in NA, but not in the UK and Norway (that I know of so far) which is usually indicative of Europe altogether.

 

So waiting is a good option, you get to see both how aftermarket coolers perform on the 290x, you get user reviews from people who watercooled the 290x, and you get to see the 780Ti in action. All in 1-3 months of waiting. Buying anything now just seems idiotic.

 

As for the TTL review, everything he said is fair considering the sample he got.