AMD's New Flagship Card: A Comprehensive Review of the R9 290X

The AMD Radeon R9 290X is a powerhouse of a graphics card that has been making waves in the enthusiast community. With its impressive features and specs, it's no wonder why many gamers are eager to get their hands on this card. In this article, we'll take a closer look at the R9 290X and explore its various features, performance, and benefits.

Stream Processors and Texture Units

The R9 290X boasts an impressive array of stream processors with 176 texture units, which translates to about 40% increase in processing power compared to the HD7970 GHz Edition. This is a significant boost that will be beneficial for high-resolution gaming and graphics-intensive applications. The card also features 4 GB of GDDR5 memory, which is a welcome upgrade over its predecessor.

Memory Breeze

The R9 290X comes equipped with a 512-bit memory bus, which should provide ample bandwidth for demanding games and applications. This feature is particularly useful for 4K gaming, where high memory bandwidth is crucial for smooth performance. The card's GDDR5 memory is also clocked at an impressive 850 MHz, making it one of the fastest memory interfaces on the market.

Power Consumption

Despite AMD's claims of a TDP of around 250 Watts, the R9 290X actually consumes more power than expected. This is due to its high-performance capabilities and aggressive design, which results in higher temperatures and heat output. The card draws power from an 8+6 pin connector and features multiple IO connectors for Infinity setups, including two DVI ports, an HDMI output, and a display port with Daisy chain support.

Cooling System

The R9 290X employs a blow-style cooler with integrated intake ventilation around the back of the card. This design allows for improved airflow and heat dissipation, which is essential for high-performance graphics cards like this one. However, it's worth noting that the cooler can be a bit restrictive in tight Crossfire situations.

Crossfire Integration

The R9 290X features AMD's new hardware DMA engine, which enables improved multicard interaction and higher bandwidth over the PCI Express bus. This feature should provide benefits for enthusiasts who plan to use multiple graphics cards together. The card also includes a switch at the top that allows users to toggle between silent and Uber modes.

Silent Mode

In silent mode, the R9 290X operates with reduced fan speeds, which can help reduce noise levels. However, this comes at the cost of slightly lower clock speeds due to thermal limitations. In contrast, the Uber mode allows for higher clock speeds and better cooling, making it ideal for enthusiasts who want maximum performance.

PowerTune Engine

The R9 290X features AMD's PowerTune engine, which helps optimize the card's performance by maintaining maximum utilization of the core when sufficient cooling is provided. This feature should help stabilize clock speeds and prevent thermal throttling, ensuring that the card runs at its optimal performance levels.

True Audio

One of the most exciting features of the R9 290X is True Audio, which allows the GPU to process audio elements instead of the CPU. This can lead to improved audio fidelity and detail in games, as more resources are allocated for audio processing from the GPU.

Performance Benchmarks

In benchmark tests, the R9 290X has demonstrated impressive performance, often rivaling that of the Nvidia Titan. In some cases, it even manages to outperform its competitor, making it an attractive option for gamers who want a powerful graphics card without breaking the bank.

Conclusion

The AMD Radeon R9 290X is a powerhouse of a graphics card that offers incredible performance and value for enthusiasts. With its impressive features, specs, and benefits, it's no wonder why many gamers are eager to get their hands on this card. While there are some concerns about noise levels, power consumption, and thermal output, the R9 290X is an excellent option for those who want a high-performance graphics card without sacrificing too much in terms of performance.

Value and Competition

The R9 290X has been priced competitively at $549, which makes it an attractive option for gamers who want a powerful graphics card without breaking the bank. However, its aggressive pricing structure may have implications for Nvidia's pricing strategy, as AMD aims to acquire a larger chunk of the enthusiast market.

Overall, the R9 290X is an excellent choice for enthusiasts who want high-performance graphics capabilities at an affordable price. With its impressive features and benefits, it's no wonder why many gamers are eager to get their hands on this card.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey guys this is Dimitri with herac Knuck and welcome back to another review now we're going to take a look today at the highly anticipated Flagship graphics card from AMD this is the AMD Radeon R9 290x now earlier rumors have stirred up the hype for this being the Titan killer so let's find out if the 290x lives up to the rumored expectations now first of all amd's pricing on the new R series gpus is extremely competitive and many Gamers and enthusiasts alike will find amd's aggressive pricing strategy pretty beneficial as the 290x is released at $549 this is $100 cheaper than nvidia's GTX 780 and almost half the cost of the Titan this is a huge Game Changer in the industry and we're going to have to wait to see what type of price drops are to Acure from the green side if any but this is also a huge step for AMD given now we have a card that not only outperforms the Titan but also is significantly cheaper than the competition and aside from extremely competitive price point the R9 290x incorporates all the latest Technologies from AMD including mantle true audio DirectX 11.2 and an updated powertune engine all features in sort of their infancy stages at the moment and only time will tell with revealing their true benefits now compared to the rest of the lineup the 290x has at 2,800 116 stream processors with 176 texture units which when compared to the hd7970 GHz Edition uh in theory means about 40% increase in processing power it features 4 GB of gddr5 memory for high resolution crunching with a 512-bit memory buz for that 4K that's been slowly penetrating the market base clock of 850 MHz with potential of reaching the 1 GHz Mark which is absolutely highest the R9 290x will reach given its thermal and power conditions also this is a power hungry card despite amd's claims of TDP to be around 250 Watts now this reference design is good looking with the radon branding and the red stripes uh no glowing logos here unfortunately this is a blow style cooler with integrated intake ventilation around the back of the card that would certainly come in useful in tight Crossfire situations and notice there no Crossfire fingers and what the AMD has done here is incorporated a new hardware dma engine for multicard interaction which carries benefits such as improved latencies and higher bandwidth over the PCI Express bus now despite the high waters draw the 290x is powered through an 8 plus 6 pin connector and feature a multitude of appropriate IO connectors for Infinity setups including two DVI ports an HDMI output and a display port with Daisy chain support meaning you can run six displays out of this single card now the R9 290x includes a switch at the top where the Cross Fire fingers would be that allows the car to operate at either silent or Uber mode with better cooling provided in the ladder with 55% fan speed this consequently allows user flexibility for better performance or a more silent operation and the new powertune engine helps the car to maintain maximum utilization of the core provid provided their sufficient cooling now the car temperatures in either mode reach 94° C but the Uber mode allows more Headroom for higher clock speeds because the heat is removed quicker and powertune essentially helps to stabilize the clock speeds to an appropriate level based on the thermal capacity of the core now this leaves the Temptation for even better performance once non-reference coolers and eventually water blocks enter the market another exciting feature incorporated into the card is true audio which allows the GPU instead of the CPU to process audio elements in the game and therefore release the limited CPU resources assigned for audio this in terms helps uh game developers and helps to improve audio Fidelity and detail with more resources allocated for audio processing from the GPU now the real big question here is how does it perform in games and looking at benchmarks the R9 290x comes on top or just below the Titan in the Uber mode while the silent mode allows slightly lower clocks due to Thermal capacity now for a car that's almost half the price of the Titan the results speak for themselves and this is an absolute Powerhouse and brings an incredible price to Performance ratio that many gamers will appreciate at $549 the compromise however here is three-fold first is acustics with this being the loudest card within the lineup for most Gamers though who like to blast out the volume and their spe speakers or usually wear headphones this really shouldn't be a problem second are the temperatures with a 94° c threshold not only does this bring up concerns of life expectancy of the core due to such massive heat but you also have to take into account for the overall case temperatures this will affect and lastly the power draw of the 29x is incredibly high for a single core GPU the card is targeted for enthusiasts so it's not really an issue of having a weak power supply but your power bill will consequently be higher and that is just something to keep in mind and I would like to conclude by saying that AMD has introduced some serious competition to Nvidia that feature a lot of new tech like mantle true audio DirectX 11.2 capability and powertune to keep clock speeds in balance with a thermal threshold and consequently do all the heavy lifting on making sure the core is fully utilized we have the two modes silent and Uber are beneficial IAL for us of preference and the capable performance out of this card is truly impressive given the price AMD has made it moo and now I'm very eager to see how this will affect nvidia's pricing structure but of course we are dealing with louder operation higher and worrying temperatures and whopping power consumption that all add up to one big pile of concerns but I still think that the 290x is a huge step for AMD that aims to acquire a larger chunk of the Enthusiast Mar Market with incredibly aggressive pricing and Titan killing results and we're giving you the hog's damn good and damn good value award now what do you guys think of this move from AMD and what does this mean for the Titan leave your comments down below and to read the full in-depth review click on the first link in the description and we'll see you in the next onehey guys this is Dimitri with herac Knuck and welcome back to another review now we're going to take a look today at the highly anticipated Flagship graphics card from AMD this is the AMD Radeon R9 290x now earlier rumors have stirred up the hype for this being the Titan killer so let's find out if the 290x lives up to the rumored expectations now first of all amd's pricing on the new R series gpus is extremely competitive and many Gamers and enthusiasts alike will find amd's aggressive pricing strategy pretty beneficial as the 290x is released at $549 this is $100 cheaper than nvidia's GTX 780 and almost half the cost of the Titan this is a huge Game Changer in the industry and we're going to have to wait to see what type of price drops are to Acure from the green side if any but this is also a huge step for AMD given now we have a card that not only outperforms the Titan but also is significantly cheaper than the competition and aside from extremely competitive price point the R9 290x incorporates all the latest Technologies from AMD including mantle true audio DirectX 11.2 and an updated powertune engine all features in sort of their infancy stages at the moment and only time will tell with revealing their true benefits now compared to the rest of the lineup the 290x has at 2,800 116 stream processors with 176 texture units which when compared to the hd7970 GHz Edition uh in theory means about 40% increase in processing power it features 4 GB of gddr5 memory for high resolution crunching with a 512-bit memory buz for that 4K that's been slowly penetrating the market base clock of 850 MHz with potential of reaching the 1 GHz Mark which is absolutely highest the R9 290x will reach given its thermal and power conditions also this is a power hungry card despite amd's claims of TDP to be around 250 Watts now this reference design is good looking with the radon branding and the red stripes uh no glowing logos here unfortunately this is a blow style cooler with integrated intake ventilation around the back of the card that would certainly come in useful in tight Crossfire situations and notice there no Crossfire fingers and what the AMD has done here is incorporated a new hardware dma engine for multicard interaction which carries benefits such as improved latencies and higher bandwidth over the PCI Express bus now despite the high waters draw the 290x is powered through an 8 plus 6 pin connector and feature a multitude of appropriate IO connectors for Infinity setups including two DVI ports an HDMI output and a display port with Daisy chain support meaning you can run six displays out of this single card now the R9 290x includes a switch at the top where the Cross Fire fingers would be that allows the car to operate at either silent or Uber mode with better cooling provided in the ladder with 55% fan speed this consequently allows user flexibility for better performance or a more silent operation and the new powertune engine helps the car to maintain maximum utilization of the core provid provided their sufficient cooling now the car temperatures in either mode reach 94° C but the Uber mode allows more Headroom for higher clock speeds because the heat is removed quicker and powertune essentially helps to stabilize the clock speeds to an appropriate level based on the thermal capacity of the core now this leaves the Temptation for even better performance once non-reference coolers and eventually water blocks enter the market another exciting feature incorporated into the card is true audio which allows the GPU instead of the CPU to process audio elements in the game and therefore release the limited CPU resources assigned for audio this in terms helps uh game developers and helps to improve audio Fidelity and detail with more resources allocated for audio processing from the GPU now the real big question here is how does it perform in games and looking at benchmarks the R9 290x comes on top or just below the Titan in the Uber mode while the silent mode allows slightly lower clocks due to Thermal capacity now for a car that's almost half the price of the Titan the results speak for themselves and this is an absolute Powerhouse and brings an incredible price to Performance ratio that many gamers will appreciate at $549 the compromise however here is three-fold first is acustics with this being the loudest card within the lineup for most Gamers though who like to blast out the volume and their spe speakers or usually wear headphones this really shouldn't be a problem second are the temperatures with a 94° c threshold not only does this bring up concerns of life expectancy of the core due to such massive heat but you also have to take into account for the overall case temperatures this will affect and lastly the power draw of the 29x is incredibly high for a single core GPU the card is targeted for enthusiasts so it's not really an issue of having a weak power supply but your power bill will consequently be higher and that is just something to keep in mind and I would like to conclude by saying that AMD has introduced some serious competition to Nvidia that feature a lot of new tech like mantle true audio DirectX 11.2 capability and powertune to keep clock speeds in balance with a thermal threshold and consequently do all the heavy lifting on making sure the core is fully utilized we have the two modes silent and Uber are beneficial IAL for us of preference and the capable performance out of this card is truly impressive given the price AMD has made it moo and now I'm very eager to see how this will affect nvidia's pricing structure but of course we are dealing with louder operation higher and worrying temperatures and whopping power consumption that all add up to one big pile of concerns but I still think that the 290x is a huge step for AMD that aims to acquire a larger chunk of the Enthusiast Mar Market with incredibly aggressive pricing and Titan killing results and we're giving you the hog's damn good and damn good value award now what do you guys think of this move from AMD and what does this mean for the Titan leave your comments down below and to read the full in-depth review click on the first link in the description and we'll see you in the next one\n"