Anandtech advises against R9 290 because of it's noise levels

[Tataffe]

So Anandtech advises against the R9 290, saying that it's extreme noise levels outweigh it's outstanding price/performance ratio.

 

The problem is that while the 290 is a fantastic card and a fantastic story on a price/performance basis, in chasing that victory AMD has thrown caution into the wind and thrown out any kind of balance between performance and noise. At 57.2dB the 290 is a loud card. A very loud card. An unreasonably loud card. AMD has quite simply prioritized performance over noise, and these high noise levels are the price of doing so.

 

To get right to the point then, this is one of a handful of cards we’ve ever had to recommend against. The performance for the price is stunning, but we cannot in good faith recommend a card this loud when any other card is going to be significantly quieter. There comes a point where a video card is simply too loud for what it does, and with the 290 AMD has reached it.

 

My opinion: Wait for the cheapest reference card, then mount a custom cooler to it. Should still deliver a better price/performance ratio than 290X or 780.

 

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7481/the-amd-radeon-r9-290-review/

[AlwaysFSX]

Everyone is complaining about the noise and they do this every time new cards launch, why not just wait for non-reference coolers to come out like always?

[Testmann]

Some people don't care about noise. Performance is performance.

[LAwLz]

Holy crap it is hotter and louder than the 480. Really hope that the non-reference cards fixes this but I wouldn't bet my life on it.

[nishank93]

Big deal. The only reasons you'd buy a reference card is [a] you want it NOWWWWWWW!! you want to water-cool it, which removes the noise/heat problem anyway.

[JaeDee884]

well in Australia the 780 comes in at a price of 599 and the 290x is 659

Considering the better overclocking and noise and performance when overclocked of the 780. why would you get a 290x?
I was interested in 290x until the temps noise was shown. Yes i'm going to be watercooling when i upgrade but i'm limited to 4x120 for a dual GPU rig, and the 290x just runs to hot for me to put in such a small loop and feel comfortable

[Ookami]

They havent heard my (dead now) GTX560 DirectCuII playing the song of her people. It was like Justin Bieber teamed up with One Direction and Tokyo Hotel...

[nokturrduk84]

Aftermaket coolers gonna fix this issue.

[Rekx]

Everyone is complaining about the noise and they do this every time new cards launch, why not just wait for non-reference coolers to come out like always?

I am. Waiting for Direct CU coolers. But i am also pretty exsited for the 780 ti to come out.

[D3MON]

 

Radeon R9 290 Relative Performance 290: 47% Fan Speed (Default) 290: 40% Fan Speed 290: ~34% Fan Speed 100% 88% 78%

I don't like the stock cooler, but then again you could sell some games and buy a waterblock if that matters to you...or a case.

they never did say what thier sound testing methodology was and we know slick uses an open test bench. (if anyone knows how to downsize pics im all ears).

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7481/the-amd-radeon-r9-290-review/16
that said it overclocks like a beast, 1075mhz on only 1.18v, most people push upto 1300mv through thier cards.

[That Norwegian Guy]

AMD setting new records in bad priorities. What a turd. Gotta love the comments as well, with people yelling about how aftermarket coolers will fix all it's problems - yet there's barely any headroom on this card.

[mr moose]

AMD setting new records in bad priorities. What a turd. Gotta love the comments as well, with people yelling about how aftermarket coolers will fix all it's problems - yet there's barely any headroom on this card.

Not only that but why would you buy  something that needs fixing?  You wouldn't buy a brand new car if you had to replace the radiator with an aftermarket one, No one would buy a brand new airconditioner if you had to upgrade the fan.  same with GPU's why buy a new one and then spend more money fixing a poor design?

[Tr3vor]

Not only that but why would you buy  something that needs fixing?  You wouldn't buy a brand new car if you had to replace the radiator with an aftermarket one, No one would buy a brand new airconditioner if you had to upgrade the fan.  same with GPU's why buy a new one and then spend more money fixing a poor design?

 

Why buy a PC case if you have to mod it to do what you want it to?

Yawn.

 

Wait for non reference coolers and you won't have to fix it anyway.

[eshbop]

Not only that but why would you buy  something that needs fixing?  You wouldn't buy a brand new car if you had to replace the radiator with an aftermarket one, No one would buy a brand new airconditioner if you had to upgrade the fan.  same with GPU's why buy a new one and then spend more money fixing a poor design?

So you're going to use the stock heatsink when you buy a -K series CPU then?

 

 

Holy crap it is hotter and louder than the 480. Really hope that the non-reference cards fixes this but I wouldn't bet my life on it.

When has a non reference card ever made it worse?

[Hulk]

I hate to be a rude but isn't this a 'review' and not 'news'? Nevermind

[qwertywarrior]

sooo AMD just did a 480 ?

[shunkan]

I never understood people that buy cards like that without a plan to water-cool it later on. I value comfort over performance hence why I always wait for aftermarket cards. My 670 is incredible, always quiet, great performance, 60C max under load. GPUs are not smarphones, there is no reason to buy them on launch or even pre-orded them. 

[mr moose]

Why buy a PC case if you have to mod it to do what you want it to?

Yawn.

 

Wait for non reference coolers and you won't have to fix it anyway.

That analogy does not work, I did not have to mod my case in order to get it functioning suitably.   Why would I want to wait for a non-reference design to "fix it" when nvidia already has a card that is fixed?

 

So you're going to use the stock heatsink when you buy a -K series CPU then?

 

 

Yes, I only buy pc parts that can do the job they are intended for, I did not pay for an aftermarket cooler because the stock one intel designed works fine.

 

 

Why buy a card that requires you to unnecessarily spend more money and effort in order to get it to perform just like another card that already performs better out of the box?

[Derangel]

[H]ardOCP is saying the exact opposite, that at the default fan speeds the card is not loud and it does not become loud until the 60-65% mark.

[Guest]

No offense but geeze, noise?

Is there any whinier reason?

[eshbop]

Yes, I only buy pc parts that can do the job they are intended for, I did not pay for an aftermarket cooler because the stock one intel designed works fine.

 

 

Why buy a card that requires you to unnecessarily spend more money and effort in order to get it to perform just like another card that already performs better out of the box?

I wouldn't say Intel stock heatsinks work as intended on -K series CPUs. They are going to hold back your overclock on a product that is designed to be overclocked, simply as that.

 

If we are talking about comparing reference cards. 1) It still turns out to be cheaper (out of the box the 290 is equal to the 290x due the the faster fan profile which keeps it's clock speed consistently closer to it's maximum, and this makes it on par or slightly ahead of a stock 780). 2) You use headphones while gaming so noise is a none issue. 3) The card has features you prefer to what the other card offers.

 

If we compare non reference cards, then you're spending more money either way. The new Asus DCUII cooler keeps a 780 ~14C cooler and quieter than the reference, the same cooler on a 290/x can only keep it cooler, quieter or both (though not as cool and quiet as the 780) assuming the 95C is only a result of these Hawaii chips inherently running hot. If the 290/x reference cooler is in fact worse than than the reference 780 cooler the DCUII cooler (or any other for that matter) will appear to perform relatively better on the 290/x. Either way, I don't see a scenario where any of the decent non-reference coolers will be having noise and heat being called out nearly as much as they are currently, unless you are concerned with the heat dumped into the case. But if you are looking at a $400-$600 graphics card (or more depending on where you live) you should probably have a case with decent air flow anyway.

[Exotath]

I for one care about noise...oh wait....aftermarket coolers. Problem solved.

[xAcid9]

Doesn't people buy reference AMD card to watercool and overclock them to the max?  :mellow:  

[mr moose]

I wouldn't say Intel stock heatsinks work as intended on -K series CPUs. They are going to hold back your overclock on a product that is designed to be overclocked, simply as that.

 

If we are talking about comparing reference cards. 1) It still turns out to be cheaper (out of the box the 290 is equal to the 290x due the the faster fan profile which keeps it's clock speed consistently closer to it's maximum, and this makes it on par or slightly ahead of a stock 780). 2) You use headphones while gaming so noise is a none issue. 3) The card has features you prefer to what the other card offers.

 

If we compare non reference cards, then you're spending more money either way. The new Asus DCUII cooler keeps a 780 ~14C cooler and quieter than the reference, the same cooler on a 290/x can only keep it cooler, quieter or both (though not as cool and quiet as the 780) assuming the 95C is only a result of these Hawaii chips inherently running hot. If the 290/x reference cooler is in fact worse than than the reference 780 cooler the DCUII cooler (or any other for that matter) will appear to perform relatively better on the 290/x. Either way, I don't see a scenario where any of the decent non-reference coolers will be having noise and heat being called out nearly as much as they are currently, unless you are concerned with the heat dumped into the case. But if you are looking at a $400-$600 graphics card (or more depending on where you live) you should probably have a case with decent air flow anyway.

The stock cooler works for me I don't overclock. I don't need to, I bought a CPU that is faster enough to do all the things I do.

 

The GTX780 is $30 more than the r9 290x so the whole price comparison thing means nothing to me. Id rather a cooler and quieter card out of the box for an extra $30 with the potential to overclock (if I wanted) without need for aftermarket gear.

[eshbop]

The stock cooler works for me I don't overclock. I don't need to, I bought a CPU that is faster enough to do all the things I do.

 

The GTX780 is $30 more than the r9 290x so the whole price comparison thing means nothing to me. Id rather a cooler and quieter card out of the box for an extra $30 with the potential to overclock (if I wanted) without need for aftermarket gear.

If you want reference that's what you want, can't argue with that.