Sapphire Radeon R9 290 pictured and ‘tested’

[Youbetternot]

Sapphire R9 290(non x) TESTED!

Sapphire Radeon R9 290

Sapphire’s R9 290 looks exactly the same as their 290X, that includes 6+8-pin power connectors and missing CrossFire fingers, but that’s not surprising of course.

We are pretty much familiar with the rest of the design. Sapphire was the only manufacturer to put more stickers on the cooler, rather than only on the fan. The label clearly states that we are looking at non-X model, which is also confirmed by the stickers at the back. You can also spot the BIOS switch, proving that R9 290 will support Uber and Quiet modes too.

AMD Radeon R9 290 will be released on October 31st.

 

 

3Dmark 11 (Extreme Preset)

AMD Radeon R9 290 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780

3Dmark Fire Strike (Extreme Preset)

AMD Radeon R9 290 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780

source: http://videocardz.com/47333/sapphire-radeon-r9-290-pictured-tested

 

More benchmarks: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/69615-radeon-r9-290-performance-figures-leaked-beats-gtx-780/

[theroflcopta]

looks very nice. Might choose this for a build I'm planning for my brother for Christmas : D

[Zeal]

Is that a small metal brace supporting the cooler on the bottom left hand side of the card, near the I/O ports?

[Bluejay0]

Is that a small metal brace supporting the cooler on the bottom left hand side of the card, near the I/O ports?

I see that too. Might be to keep the card in line.

[Youbetternot]

I see that too. Might be to keep the card in line.

Probably is, we may have to find out if LinusTech or anyone else have any ideas what it is for

[Derangel]

I'm not usually a fan of stickers on coolers, but the graphic on that card actually looks pretty nice. It really adds to the look of the shroud without being too flashy. Anyway, all the leaked benches for this card have got me excited. Can't really trust videocardz.com very much, but I can't help but get really interested. I just sold my 670s so I'm running on onboard video until I buy a new card. I am going to try to wait until Thursday and try to snag one right away if the performance and price are as good as it seems.

[Zeal]

Probably is, we may have to find out if LinusTech or anyone else have any ideas what it is for

I just googled r9 290x and saw it's on there too.

Seems to me it's just a brace that works as a support for the DVI port while the plastic shroud sits comfortably on it too.

[Trommenissen]

An as usual they have to put ugly stickers all over the cooler D:

[Youbetternot]

An as usual they have to put ugly stickers all over the cooler D:

They are not ugly, I like the stickers on there. That's just my opinion and taste.

[Youbetternot]

I just googled r9 290x and saw it's on there too.

Seems to me it's just a brace that works as a support for the DVI port while the plastic shroud sits comfortably on it too.

Ahh I see, basically pretty much designed the same

[Guest]

Ewww Stickers...

[Bluejay0]

Probably is, we may have to find out if LinusTech or anyone else have any ideas what it is for

 

True. Might be a supporting bracket as nowadays cards are heavy. AMD might have taken this into consideration or should I say, "Sapphire" took it. From the looks of it, Asus has a supporting bracket on the back of their cards too.

 

 

As you can see, Asus has the same approach by adding it in a support bracket, that's along the side connected to the I/O

[atomicmonkey101]

gross... could have at least made it different

[PapaRhino]

You can crossfire these with 7970s, correct?

[Inkz]

You can crossfire these with 7970s, correct?

No, that would be a 280x. This is a 290.

[Common_Courtesy]

... Stickers. What is this, 2006?

[delet my acc pls]

You can crossfire these with 7970s, correct?

No yould could crossfire R9-280x and 7970

[Wesley]

looks like 290 will be my new dual GPU setup

[Zeal]

No yould could crossfire R9-280x and 7970

Well, AMD has always allowed crossfire with previous (same tier) generation cards.

Not sure how this'll work now that the newer r9 290(x)s don't need a XFire bridge.

[delet my acc pls]

It have to do with the architechture not the tier.

[MegaDave91]

Man that's cheesy.

[TechFan@ic]

Well, AMD has always allowed crossfire with previous (same tier) generation cards.

AMD never supported crossfire on different architectures.

The 280X & the 7970 both use the same Tahiti GPU, which is why they're crossfire compatible.

The R9 290 & 290X both use the Hawaii GPU, so they won't be crossfire compatible with anything else.

You can't crossfire a 6970 with a 5870, nor a 6970 with a 7970.

[Razarza]

What is with the GPU-Z screenshot? According to that my 7870 XT is faster.

[alicskysareblue]

its just the stock heat sink, waiting for the aftermarket cooloers

[Duvar]

Hey, here are more results https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=170679869806374&set=a.149311011943260.1073741827.136447289896299&type=1&theater