AMD R9 290X Review

[Tripp]

SuB, the point of mantle is to reduce CPU load by allowing developers to issue commands directly to the graphics card without the need of CPU babysitting.

And why would anyone in their right mind build a gaming rig with AMD CPU.

nothing wrong with AMD cpu's for gaming rigs, so i assume you are trolling

 

[SeekaX]

nothing wrong with AMD cpu's for gaming rigs, so i assume you are trolling

what is single threading performance

 

[Tripp]

what is single threading performance

games are going towards support for more cores, and the single threaded performance is not that bad. if you have a real problem with the single threaded performance, overclock the FSB rather than the multiplier.so at the price of AMD mobo and cpu's along with the performance, they're really great for gaming rigs thats how i see it anyway

 

[Damien c]

And why would anyone in their right mind build a gaming rig with AMD CPU.

I have just built my grandad a gaming pc using a AMD FM2 cpu, simply because it's fine for the games he plays which are the Call Of Duty games and some of the Battlefield games.

I combined that cpu with a GTX660, which next year will be replaced by a R9 280x when I upgrade my dad's pc, when I upgrade mine.

The simple thing is that for just gaming AMD cpu's are more than adequate, and even for video editing etc AMD cpu's are fine.

Personally I use Intel because I prefer the extra performance from them, and I don't mind paying the extra for it but if I didn't have the option of paying the extra for a Intel cpu then I would happily use AMD in my pc.

 

[d3rrial]

Yes, all these poor lost souls, may the invisible pink unicorn be with them.

 

[SieB]

what is single threading performance

Something AMD CPUs don't do very well.

But for gaming where most of the performance comes from the GPU, CPU performances doesn't matter as much. Which is why AMD CPUs are great bang for your buck when it comes to a gaming rig.
Especially with next gen games which are all going to be optimized on and for 8 core AMD CPUs.

Sure Intel CPUs are faster and have better multithread/core performance but for gaming AMD CPUs are fine and in some cases better.

 

[Dark NighT]

God that cooler is such a mess, 95 degrees operating temperature and 15 minutes to cool back down to idle is a disgrace, on top of that the summer has just passed so next year expect even more fan noise or throttling because of the hot weather.

A rightfull shame amd, i had hoped you would beat the 780, and fair enough it does here and there for a reasonable price, but that cooler, im going to have to tell friends to stay away from it untill 3rd party coolers are on them cards.

 

[barnsley]

what is single threading performance

Obsolete soon I hope. ;D

Jokes aside, no problems with games that use single threads on my rig, even ARMA2 is no issue for me. Piledriver is much more adequate in terms of single thread performance. Do not get me wrong, its still no where near as good as the majority of i series but its fine. Didn't you used to have the 4100? I remember you didn't exactly like that chip...

 

[dalewakelin]

Hehe the age old debate after a new line has been released by AMD opcorn:

At 95° they need a pot noodle attachment... After market coolers and PCBs should hopefully solve the problem but even then it will still be pretty hot

 

[d3rrial]

SieB I think you underestimate just how much a CPU has to do in a game, JUST to supply the GPU with sufficient work. I know that it's easy to think that more cores means more power but that just isn't the case. Many operations and standard workflows rely heavily on single thread performance, which AMD CPUs just don't have. To be fair: Hyperthreading is a joke.

 

[barnsley]

SieB I think you underestimate just how much a CPU has to do in a game, JUST to supply the GPU with sufficient work. I know that it's easy to think that more cores means more power but that just isn't the case. Many operations and standard workflows rely heavily on single thread performance, which AMD CPUs just don't have. To be fair: Hyperthreading is a joke.

The thing is, games are starting to move out of using a small number of cores. The 8350 does exceptionally well in Battlefield 3 and 4, keeping up with the i7 3770k and the i5. The main thing people seem to forget is that AMD cpus are excellent bang for the buck (except those terrible 9590/9370 cpus). Point in hand the 6300 is the same price as an i3. In games that support the cores (more and more will start to due to the next generation of consoles, hopefully) the 6300 is better performing. Rendering and video editing is where the CPUS fall down though, sadly. Streaming on the other hand is actually quite good on the 8series.

 

[badtaylorx]

tom, you almost seem angry in this review....something seems off

 

[SeekaX]

games are going towards support for more cores, and the single threaded performance is not that bad. if you have a real problem with the single threaded performance, overclock the FSB rather than the multiplier.so at the price of AMD mobo and cpu's along with the performance, they're really great for gaming rigs thats how i see it anyway

Something AMD CPUs don't do very well.

But for gaming where most of the performance comes from the GPU, CPU performances doesn't matter as much. Which is why AMD CPUs are great bang for your buck when it comes to a gaming rig.
Especially with next gen games which are all going to be optimized on and for 8 core AMD CPUs.

Sure Intel CPUs are faster and have better multithread/core performance but for gaming AMD CPUs are fine and in some cases better.

games are going towards multithreading but at the moment they are not using it quite as much as singlethreading and that won't change until i will upgrade anyways.
that god f*cking damn FX4100 bottlenecked me in every game i played (10 fps in bf4 beta, 10fps in planetside 2, etc.), it performs worse than a first gen i3. definitely not gonna bother anymore with AMD CPUs, and i know you will now argue with the 8320, but to be honest it's pathetic that AMD needs twice the core count and a higher clock rate to achieve what an i5 for the same price does.
i will not support the underdog for the sake of being different, i will only invest in quality parts and AMD is producing none atm. The only positive experience i had with AMD was the HD6870 which was the only AMD part i've ever owned that didn't have a shitload of issues and performed well.

 

[d3rrial]

Back on Topic: R9 290X Review

Plastic vs. Metal: Metal is just so much better haptically. Also the color scheme lends itself to more variety in a case. Where the AMD Card is so full of red, you'd either need to paint it or remove the reference cooler if you want your rig to have another color scheme

 

[SeekaX]

Back on Topic: R9 290X Review

Plastic vs. Metal: Metal is just so much better haptically. Also the color scheme lends itself to more variety in a case. Where the AMD Card is so full of red, you'd either need to paint it or remove the reference cooler if you want your rig to have another color scheme

not just the reference cooler, even the PCB is red so you'd need to have a backplate and even then the pieces of red would bug me. also the metal adds a little bit of extra cooling capacity.

 

[barnsley]

games are going towards multithreading but at the moment they are not using it quite as much as singlethreading and that won't change until i will upgrade anyways.
that god f*cking damn FX4100 bottlenecked me in every game i played (10 fps in bf4 beta, 10fps in planetside 2, etc.), it performs worse than a first gen i3. definitely not gonna bother anymore with AMD CPUs, and i know you will now argue with the 8320, but to be honest it's pathetic that AMD needs twice the core count and a higher clock rate to achieve what an i5 for the same price does.
i will not support the underdog for the sake of being different, i will only invest in quality parts and AMD is producing none atm. The only positive experience i had with AMD was the HD6870 which was the only AMD part i've ever owned that didn't have a shitload of issues and performed well.

Ah we've had quite the differing experiences. Yeah the 4100 is poor, every bulldozer CPU was pants in my opinion (no offense to anyone who owns one obviously). In terms of pricing the 8320 is around £107.99 while the cheapest i5 I can find (i5-3330) is £125.99. That is i3 money for around i5 performance.

Now before people start calling me a fan boy, In terms of experience with intel I've actually had it good. Currently I own an i7-950 (£60 used, best budget cpu of all time , still need to get the mobo for it), an i3-550 (best i3s ever made, imo),core 2 duo (old laptop) and a i7-3537U (new laptop). I will also probably soon own another i7 due to me needing to record alot for tf2 matches (video render times on my 8 core is quite slow and I am lazy ).

I also probably mention that I've never had a good experience with Nvidia (poor excuses for drivers, poor cooling and poor build quality, admittedly that was evga's fault though.)and it has left a bad taste in my mouth because of it. I believe that I got my first AMD 'card (my 7870) at a good time, because I've had no driver issues to date and apart from one issue with cooling (thanks xfx) it has been faultless.

To sum this up, experience shapes all of our opinions. My experience with AMD has surprised me in terms of performance (I wasn't expecting much tbh however I get good performance in everything I play) and I'd like them to catch up to intel enough to cause intel to stop being so damn expensive. However your experience with AMD has been a hell hole so I understand why you don't like their products.

also back on topic, the cooler looks like something that you'd fit to a 7750, not a high end card. I think we can all agree it is much more thermaltake than Corsair in terms of looks. -sigh-

 

[Tripp]

not just the reference cooler, even the PCB is red so you'd need to have a backplate and even then the pieces of red would bug me. also the metal adds a little bit of extra cooling capacity.

the pcb is black

 

[SeekaX]

Ah we've had quite the differing experiences. Yeah the 4100 is poor, every bulldozer CPU was pants in my opinion (no offense to anyone who owns one obviously). In terms of pricing the 8320 is around £107.99 while the cheapest i5 I can find (i5-3330) is £125.99. That is i3 money for around i5 performance.

Now before people start calling me a fan boy, In terms of experience with intel I've actually had it good. Currently I own an i7-950 (£60 used, best budget cpu of all time , still need to get the mobo for it), an i3-550 (best i3s ever made, imo),core 2 duo (old laptop) and a i7-3537U (new laptop). I will also probably soon own another i7 due to me needing to record alot for tf2 matches (video render times on my 8 core is quite slow and I am lazy ).

I also probably mention that I've never had a good experience with Nvidia (poor excuses for drivers, poor cooling and poor build quality, admittedly that was evga's fault though.)and it has left a bad taste in my mouth because of it. I believe that I got my first AMD 'card (my 7870) at a good time, because I've had no driver issues to date and apart from one issue with cooling (thanks xfx) it has been faultless.

To sum this up, experience shapes all of our opinions. My experience with AMD has surprised me in terms of performance (I wasn't expecting much tbh however I get good performance in everything I play) and I'd like them to catch up to intel enough to cause intel to stop being so damn expensive. However your experience with AMD has been a hell hole so I understand why you don't like their products.

also back on topic, the cooler looks like something that you'd fit to a 7750, not a high end card.

oh you don't even know the full story yet. so i sat there about a year ago with my fx4100 HD6870 rig and thought "damn, that CPU is garbage, but i like the GPU, a 7950 is a good bit cheaper than a 670, so i'm gonna get an asus 7950 DCUII". got the card, amazing cooler, amazing benchmark results, loved it. started quake, artifacts. started cod4, artifacts. started BC2, 30fps at best, probably like 15fps average. so i returned it and got a replacement, which had the famous DCUII fault of having a poorly seated cooler which made it go up to 100% fan speed and 95 degrees right on boot, so i returned that one, got a replacement and it had the exact same issues as the first one. it absolutely boggled my mind how the 7950 couldn't deal with any games older than 3 years.
also my first CPU was some AMD CPU (don't know which model anymore) and it burned within a week and my cousin's laptop which had an AMD CPU burned within 3 months twice. so yea, that shaped my opinion.
conclusion for AMD in my opinon: parts for people who don't want to spend a whole lot of money and aren't interested in anything older than 3 years.

 

[d3rrial]

If the PCB was red, I would freak out.

 

[SeekaX]

the pcb is black

it seems so red-ish to me. must be my colorblindness, tricked by the overwhelming red of the rest. it's a weird black though.