Perhaps I'm feeding the trolls, but I'm sick of people who hate on the 290 and the 290x because they dont understand it.
Let me preface this by saying that I sold my 780 ti and my 7970 in exchange for 2 r9 290s.
To address the heat and noise issues of the reference r9 290. To many people's surprise I'm going to say that the heat is not a big issue. at 70 percent fan speeds the 290s run at 85-90c. At 75 percent fan speed I can run 2 290s at under 90c. The 780 ti is the same temps at load at 70 percent. The main issue is the noise. They sound like vacuum cleaners.
The problem can be easily fixed with non reference designs or watercooling. Rarely anyone keeps the reference design. The reason that I bought the reference design is because I plan to water cool and it's much easier to find water blocks for reference designs.
Now for gaming. I have compared the performance between the 780 ti and the r9 290 in gaming. I can tell you that the performance difference in BF4 is substantial. There is on average a 10 fps difference with the 780 ti coming out on top while playing BF4 on high at 1440p. Is 10 fps worth the $300 difference?
Another thing that people fail to understand is that there are still no official drivers for the r9 290/290x. The drivers are still in beta. I've checked my usage in bf4 and the gpu load readings go from anywhere from 60-80 percent. That means the games/drivers aren't even fully optimized for the new 290/290x's yet. Just imagine the performance when that number goes towards the 90s. In addition, the introduction of aftermarket coolers will only increase the performance of the 290/290x's and allow for some overclockability and even higher performance.
Now, the real reason for my buying 290s: Cryptocurrency mining. In the past month with 2 r9 290s I have made over $800 (mined when difficulty was low, cashed out when value soared). The 290/290x's are the best scrypt (not SHA-26, like bitcoin) mining hardware on the planet. Mine do close to 900khash each with the proper settings. There is in fact a reason why the r9 290/290x's are outselling the 780s and the 780 ti's. I have since been able to afford to buy yet another 290 and plan to water cool as soon as the 290 blocks go back in stock.
As for availability, google small local shops as I have been able to find brand new DCu2, msi and gigabyte r9 280s for $325 new and r9 290s for $480 new (had to reserve one though).
The r9 290/290x's are PHENOMENAL cards and I don't have any regrets selling my brand new 780 ti to buy them. It hasn't even begin to perform at it's maximum. In my eyes, if you are in the market for a high end gpu, there is no reason to get any other card than the 290.
I don't hate the 290 and 290x, I just think that they are not the best card to buy. The GTX 780 with a decent nonreference cooler is about 520$, the Lowest R9290 price with a nonreference cooler is 580$. Couple this with the fact that the 780 tends to beat the R9 290 in most games, and the higher power draw of the R9 290, I just don't see a reason to buy them. Yes the R9 290 was launched at 400$, yet the cryptocurrency craze has driver the price up hugely.
Nvidia's cards also now have shadowplay which is amazing, in the fact that I don't have to record 24/7 to capture that epic 360 720 1337 backwards wallbang quick hard drag leet scope kill i just got on that dude.
If AMD's prices were still at where they launched the 290/290x, then instead of replacing my HD7870 (which died after a year and they wouldn't send me a replacement) with a GTX 780, then I'd have bought a 290. Yet the prices went up, and the 780 was then the more sensible buy.
I don't really understand where you get those insane prices from... The R9 290 has gone up in price but the reference is still considerably cheaper than even the cheapest 780 at $440 vs $492
Admittedly, if you're buying a non reference 290 then you're going to have to shell out some more money but that's just because they have launched in Europe before the US and I'm sure that the price will drop to tolerable levels once more stock comes in.
i picked up the 290 because it was a great value at 10% less performance than the $500 290x for a hundred dollars less. also banking on mantle and true audio. it mean, it's pretty damn good right now using direct-x, imagine when it can utilize mantle + my 8 core 8350. system is gona be beast.
Apparently, AMD sent golden review samples out to be benchmarked, and they were 14% faster than retail samples. Additionally, the retail samples were very poor at overclocking. Shown in Anandtech, and many of the other review sites confirmed this. AMD have denied this - of course they would!
Now, nobody could argue with the launch price of these cards. They did a great thing, adding competition. In the UK, the introduction of the R9s caused Nvidia's prices to fall, and the aftermarket 780s were actually cheaper than the 290x at launch. So the 780 would have been the better choice there, in my opinion.
However, if AMD have pulled the wool over everyone's eyes by sending people false information AND fitting it with a cooler which... could have been better? Then I think that is a disgusting move.
It's less to do with the R9 cards, and more hate for AMD. Which seems to be largely unheard of. But hey, I hate all companies equally if they are suspect of something. Before you all tear into me, AMD do a lot more good, by comparison.
Following that, I don't think I can truly appreciate the benchmarks that we are given. Always take them with a pinch of salt. Finally, I have to conclude that, in some areas, the 780 is going to be the better deal. It's not that I hate the 290/290x, but I could do better for the money and have fewer concerns.
And Nvidia hasn't done the same in the past? Come on dude, both parties are guilty of gilding the lily when it came to a certain product they wanted to sell really well. Even AMD and Intel CPUs have done the same. Quit being subjective and look objectively at things.
I didn't deny that. I think you need to re-read what I posted. I simply don't trust either side, and I am not about to kiss AMD's ass at every turn. Unlike some people >.>
I think I gave a balanced argument. We love to give companies a lot of hate for things they do wrong, but because it is AMD, I'm supposed to excuse them?
It's less to do with the R9 cards, and more hate for AMD. Which seems to be largely unheard of. But hey, I hate all companies equally if they are suspect of something. Before you all tear into me, AMD do a lot more good, by comparison.
Hate when a company does something wrong, and praise when a company does something good is about the least subjective thing here - in the sense that I do not discriminate. I pick whatever works best. Being an apologist would be more subjective, Batoriji.
Sending out golden cards as review samples is something that is done by almost every company. I'm not trying to kiss AMD's ass. I'm simply stating that the ridiculous claims of 100c temperatures and massive throttling issues are non existent with slightly higher fan speeds. Once the card is properly optimized, the thing will be a monster and competing with the 780 and 780 ti. It will likely be somewhere in between those two cards. And that's before the implementation of mantle, if mantle actually does anything at all.
Depending on where you are and the prices, if you're only gaming the 780 or the 780 ti might be the way to go in terms of price to performance. I'm just saying not to dismiss the r9 290/290x immediately like some forums seem to be doing.
Well, you asked why there was hate for these cards, and I told you. People have been disappointed with them following all the hype surrounding these cards. They were supposed to be much faster than the competition - all things considered, they aren't. I do not think AMD have delivered on their promises. Even if many of the problems, such as "throttling", have been fixed. The throttling was some software issue.
So yeah, some of the criticisms of the 290 series are no longer applicable. I agree, they should not be dismissed immediately. The non-reference designs, providing they are at an acceptable price point, should have every consideration.
Introducing a sub-par reference design at this price point was a piss poor strategy. It is hotter and louder than it needs to be. If you're paying $300+ for a card, every part of it should be quality. I really have to place my hands on my head and scream "what the hell were AMD thinking???". Yes, reference designs are easier to find waterblocks for, but the Titan cooler reference design is shipping at the same price point, and it is better in every way.
I maintain that this was more of a rant against AMD, rather than an attack on the cards themselves. But much of the appeal has been lost, because they are not super low cost saving alternatives - which was their intended design. It's a combination of poor reference design and broken promises that have people angry about the 290 series, or mixed feelings about it.
Hate it or not, the r9 290x and 290 are priced like the equivalent of 200USD less than the 780ti. If it weren't for the fact that switching to a full watercooled system requires quite the investment, and aftermarket coolers usually have to be imported, i'd get one right away.
In terms of pricing and the "technollogies" that Nvidia include in their products, i feel a bit ripped off whenever i see one.
(yes, i'm biased, i have a 7970 and a 7850, last nvidia product i got was a GTS250, which to this day still performs excellent btw, but it's still hard to find a properly priced nvidia product, at least here)