Gigabyte Radeon R9-290X WindForce 3X OC review

southamptonfc

2014-01-07 09:48

It's a beast but the 780ti is still the faster card on average because it will do a 20% overclock without breaking a sweat. You can't argue with the price though, at least £100 cheaper than a vanilla 780ti and if you're a BF4 nut, it should be a no-brainer, especially when mantle goes GA. Mantle really makes me want to go red in the future but I just can't forget the shocking driver experiences I had with them before, it makes it really hard to make the jump.

#4738556

elazul

2014-01-07 09:57

Hey guys nice review. Im still wondering what will be the price of the 290 windforce and how it compares to the killer of Sapphire R9290 Tri oc. Im buying my next computer in 2 weeks and i am wondering, the gigabyte card will surely be more expensive than the sapphire card which is now at 374 euros. Is it worth the extra bucks ? I mean the performances of the sapphire cooler and overall new card looks already amazing, I'm terrible at comparing reviews lol. what do you guys think.

#4738560

southamptonfc

2014-01-07 10:06

Hey guys nice review. Im still wondering what will be the price of the 290 windforce and how it compares to the killer of Sapphire R9290 Tri oc. Im buying my next computer in 2 weeks and i am wondering, the gigabyte card will surely be more expensive than the sapphire card which is now at 374 euros. Is it worth the extra bucks ? I mean the performances of the sapphire cooler and overall new card looks already amazing, I'm terrible at comparing reviews lol. what do you guys think.

Do you mean the 290 or 290x windforce? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/ have all 3 cards for sale (in GBP) to give you an idea of the price differences.

#4738575

elazul

2014-01-07 10:43

Talking about the r9 290 with no X. Im seeing this right now (3w).materiel.net/carte-graphique/gigabyte-gv-r929oc-4gd-ga-1-0-99150.html (3w).materiel.net/carte-graphique/sapphire-radeon-r9-290-tri-x-oc-uefi-4-go-99073.html which is a difference of almost 50 euros for the same card with different coolers. But on overclockers the price is £389 for the windforce and £379 for the Tri x cooler, that is just 10£ or differrence. Anyone can clear that out for me ? Which card is worth putting money in it.

#4738577

southamptonfc

2014-01-07 10:50

Talking about the r9 290 with no X.

On overclockers they are basically the same price. I assume you plan to overclock? You can't assume the highest overclock achieved in a review will be the same for you, every chip is different. I think both cards are just the reference design with custom coolers. To compare the 2 cards, you need to consider the temperature and noise produced by the 2 coolers. In general, the better your cooling, the more you will be able to overclock so if one card runs a lot cooler than the other, I would go with that. If one card runs a lot cooler than the other but it also a lot more noisy, you will have to decide which is more important to you.

#4738580

elazul

2014-01-07 10:51

Sorry i just updated my last post for you. Thanks for your reply.

#4738581

Deathchild

2014-01-07 10:51

It's a beast but the 780ti is still the faster card on average because it will do a 20% overclock without breaking a sweat. You can't argue with the price though, at least £100 cheaper than a vanilla 780ti and if you're a BF4 nut, it should be a no-brainer, especially when mantle goes GA. Mantle really makes me want to go red in the future but I just can't forget the shocking driver experiences I had with them before, it makes it really hard to make the jump.

So the 780 Ti is faster overclocked?

#4738586

southamptonfc

2014-01-07 11:01

So the 780 Ti is faster overclocked?

Yeah, in general but at least in BF4 the 290x is a clear winner. A reference design 780ti (already just in the lead in most games) will easily overclock by 20%, the Gigabyte 290x by about 13% according to the review.

#4738592

Koniakki

2014-01-07 11:23

Hilbert is this the new batch? I read that Gigabyte recalled the 290X WF3 because of a design flaw.

#4738596

hemigidius

2014-01-07 11:27

It's a beast but the 780ti is still the faster card on average because it will do a 20% overclock without breaking a sweat. You can't argue with the price though, at least £100 cheaper than a vanilla 780ti and if you're a BF4 nut, it should be a no-brainer, especially when mantle goes GA. Mantle really makes me want to go red in the future but I just can't forget the shocking driver experiences I had with them before, it makes it really hard to make the jump.

I'm exactly the other way around, running SLI gtx 770 and regret every singel moment getting these nvidia cards, driver and software problem one after another. Its never ending, for me i'm never getting nvidia again

#4738597

Hilbert Hagedoorn

Administrator

2014-01-07 11:34

Hilbert is this the new batch? I read that Gigabyte recalled the 290X WF3 because of a design flaw.

Yes, did you actually read the article ? Page 4 and the conclusion.

#4738605

elazul

2014-01-07 11:44

So what card would you go for guys ? The Sapphire Tri X or the Gigabyte Windforce ?

#4738607

Pale Rider

2014-01-07 11:49

Do you know if this is one of the cherry picked gpu's sent out only to the review sites? Or, is this card typical of off the shelf versions? This story has been out for a while now and just because AMD said they fixed it, doesn't mean that they actually did so. I'd hate to buy one or two of these cards only to find that they run significantly less than the ones sent to the review sites. My Titans don't run as well as those reviewed, so Nvidia is also suspect, as such, I really no longer know who can be trusted. The reviewers themselves don't know for a fact what they've been sent to review. I don't understand why the manufacturers cannot give review sites coupons so they can get such items themselves from any retailer. That way they would be reviewing exactly the product that we have to buy. I'd happily forego reading the very 1st reviews and wait for store bought samples to be reviewed before making my purchasing decisions. That's really the only way reviews can be fully trusted.

#4738610

Hilbert Hagedoorn

Administrator

2014-01-07 11:55

Do you know if this is one of the cherry picked gpu's sent out only to the review sites? Or, is this card typical of off the shelf versions? This story has been out for a while now and just because AMD said they fixed it, doesn't mean that they actually did so.

This was a production sample, not cherry picked.

#4738611

Hilbert Hagedoorn

Administrator

2014-01-07 11:56

So what card would you go for guys ? The Sapphire Tri X or the Gigabyte Windforce ?

Sapphire refuses to submit samples to Guru3D.com, so I don't know / can't comment on it really.

#4738638

Anarion

2014-01-07 13:02

Page 30:

Cooling & Noise Levels So where the reference cooled products are to be considered really average at 95 Degrees C, the WindForce 3X cooler does make its promises worthwhile on everything. This revision is a dual-slot solution looks great. The PCB is customized and I can spot merely quality components, lovely. Two subtle and silent fans combined with a hint of red makes this a good looking package alright. Great looking and very sturdy I must state as well, there is a metal plate at the top of the card so the card can not bend when seated horizontally in the PC. We measured a top stress temperature of 83 Degrees Con the card (Quiet mode), coming from 95 Degrees C on the reference coolers. Next to that, the card remains to be extremely silent in Quiet BIOS mode. So that is simply put a massive improvement over the reference cards.

Page 11:

ASUS Radeon R9 290X DCUII OC - The temperature under heavy game stress for the card stabilized at roughly 77 Degrees C, a lot better than 94 Degrees C for the reference model alright !

Small mistakes there. 😉

#4738640

Hilbert Hagedoorn

Administrator

2014-01-07 13:04

Small mistake there. 😉

Yeah that is already corrected 🙂

#4738767

LoccOtHaN

2014-01-07 15:52

Still its the Sweet Card for Gamers ;-) but R290 and Mod for R290X is the best choice for now ! and a nice bang for $$ NICE Still i'm waiting for XFX and Sapphire TOXIC !

#4738867

Koniakki

2014-01-07 17:50

Yes, did you actually read the article ? Page 4 and the conclusion.

Thank you Hilb. I was in a hurry for work and I kinda speed-read through it and missed the "fixed" part. And I also had side-by-side(2 broswer windows) the Palit 780Ti Jetstream review and was comparing page by page.. 😀

Do you know if this is one of the cherry picked gpu's sent out only to the review sites? Or, is this card typical of off the shelf versions?.....

This was a production sample, not cherry picked.

What the boss said.. :thumbup:

#4738872

elazul

2014-01-07 17:57

Hilbert do you plan on reviewing the R9 290 windforce at some point ? Cause no one has so far on the internet.