Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in
Your question
Solved

R9 290 or 290x?

Tags:
  • GPUs
  • R9 290
  • AMD
  • R9 290X
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
Share
July 23, 2014 7:46:14 PM

Im planning on purchasing a new high end gpu in the very very near future. I've decided to go with the r9 290(x) but I don't understand what the actual difference is between the two. Is it worth the extra $100-150 to get the X? Or should I save money and get the non x?
Thanks

More about : 290 290x

July 23, 2014 7:51:05 PM

They're both very powerful cards, the 290X is noticeably more powerful and its quite a bit more expensive and runs pretty hot, the R9 290 is somewhat less powerful, but it runs cooler and is cheaper. In most peoples eyes, the extra 150$ for the 290X is worth it, but I would say get which one fits in your budget, their both good cards.
m
0
l
a b À AMD
July 23, 2014 8:03:33 PM

I don't see the 290x at $550 ....especially not when the MSI 780 Ti is half as loud at 30 dbA, is 16% faster at stock, overclocks way better and is $600 every other week on newegg for the last 10 weeks..... no don't run and look, this is an off week and it's now $700. :)  . At $700 I'm not a buyer, but at $600 my credit card company tightens their sphincter a little.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_780_Ti_Gamin...

I also don't see the 290x, when the 780 overclocked "bawlz to the wall" (BTTW) is faster and $110 cheaper than the 290x overclocked BTTW at both 1920 and 2560 resolutions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djvZaHHU4I8 (see 8:00 mark)

$440 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$550 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

And even at the 4% advantage the 290x has over the 780 at stock speeds, 4% ain't worth $110.

On the other hand, the 290 is ridiculously priced right now at $350 (Giga) to $370 (MSI) and is only 5% slower (see above techpowerup link) than the 290x. $180 for 5%, no I just don't see it.
m
0
l
Related resources
July 23, 2014 8:08:19 PM

I feel like i understated the R9 290's performance, its very powerful the 5% performance difference is in fact true.
m
0
l
July 23, 2014 11:22:30 PM

I want the chip that will last me for a few years. The 780 TI is powerful but the r9 290x isn't that far behind if not equal or ahead in some cases. I guess it depends on what deal I can find. What chip will last longer?
m
0
l
July 23, 2014 11:34:50 PM

Their is a clear advantage in terms of performance between the R9 290X and the 780 ti, the 780 ti IS more powerful and by a fair margin to, (when the 290X is ahead due to game optimization, it's lead is very small) if it's between those two cards, and you don't care about price, 780 ti hands down, it's quitter, cooler, more powerful and nVidia drivers are less fragile than AMD drivers.
m
0
l
July 23, 2014 11:40:12 PM

290 is nearly identical to 290X - it's the same GPU with 10% of it disabled and slightly downclocked.

This chart gives a very good idea how 290 goes vs 290X: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-290-and-2...

The point is if you are buying a custom cooled and factory overclocked 290 (which is how most non-reference models come), then you will have at worst 7% difference vs similarly custom cooled and factory overclocked 290X.

100-150% for 7% difference? Not worth it.


My personal story - I got 290X Tri-X and before I had 290 (non-X) Tri-X - the difference is about 4-5% in benchmarks. I had to return non-X one since it had boot issues with it's HDMI connector and I added some $$ for 290X... Honestly, not worth it.
m
0
l
July 23, 2014 11:50:18 PM

Thats true but it comes down to the question of is the price/performance ratio there? Most 780ti's are in the $700 range. the ti has 2880 cuda cores and the 290x has 2816 stream processors 4gb vs 3gb of vram and the price difference of $100 some bucks.
what are the max tdp on these gpus?
m
0
l

Best solution

July 24, 2014 12:00:28 AM

Cuda Core != Steam Processor

Different technologies, different implementation, different clocks - comparing those by number is pointless.

Case in point 780Ti is on average about 7-15% faster than 290X (depending on the board quality you buy - more power more money of course), while 290X is on average 4-7% faster than 290 (again depends on a model).

So realistically if you take the cheapest 780Ti and compare it to custom cooled Radeon R9 290 (not expensive at all, like $20-$30 more than stock 290 and it's actually worth it for cooling at least) - the difference will be like 15%.

Noticeable, but not really enough to warrant dumping like $200 extra AT ALL.

290X vs 780Ti the difference is even smaller as I said - if you are shitting money, then sure take 780Ti, Titan Black, Titan Z, SLI them for all it matters - the sky is the limit.

If you look for the best performance per $ then AMD is the way to go really.
Share
a b À AMD
July 24, 2014 7:59:26 AM

The 290 is sound deal but I just can't see the 290x.

Again, the best 780 Ti on the market other than the Classy has been $600 every other week on newegg. Why would you consider a $700 louder, slower one when the best one can be had for $600 ?

16% performance difference, half as loud, much more overclocking headroom for a 9% increase in cost.... I call that a "no brainer". But how long will MSI be doing this who knows ? Been running this every other week deal for about 10 weeks now.

And for those who manually overclock, because the 290x is very aggressively overclocked in the box, the MSI 780 has much more OC headroom and is again faster, half as loud and $110 cheaper than the 290x.

m
0
l
July 24, 2014 10:38:02 AM

I Agree about what you said about the 780 ti, and if your going to pay that much for a graphics, your no longer considering price to performance, at that price range you start paying big amounts for small performance improvements, the 290x's performance improvement over the 290 is quite small however, but like I said if your buying cards at that price range, price to performance/rationale goes out the window for sheer performance, even if the improvement isn't huge.
m
0
l
July 24, 2014 11:45:25 AM

Yes, basically R9 290 (non-X) is the sanity threshold, after that you simply start paying too much for too little returns. If money is not a concern, go on with it, otherwise a nice custom cooled 290 non-X should be a perfect stopping point.
m
0
l
a b À AMD
July 24, 2014 9:34:50 PM

zoog18 said:
I Agree about what you said about the 780 ti, and if your going to pay that much for a graphics, your no longer considering price to performance, at that price range you start paying big amounts for small performance improvements, the 290x's performance improvement over the 290 is quite small however, but like I said if your buying cards at that price range, price to performance/rationale goes out the window for sheer performance, even if the improvement isn't huge.


Im missing something ....

Stock cards
$600 MSI 780 Ti
$550 290x w/ nice cooler

16% performance increase for 9% more cost puts the price / performance crown squarely with the 780 Ti.

The 290 makes sense at it's price threshold as does the 780 ....s till the 780 Ti at $600 is a good deal.

Better deals coming should recent rumors hold and the 880 drops this quarter....the 290x's release saved me $400.
m
0
l
July 24, 2014 11:27:42 PM

Yes the 780 ti is better price to performance, what I was saying is that even though its price to performance ratio is better than R9 290x's its still a lot worse than say a 760 or R9 280x, also the most recent rumours I've scene concerning the 800 series is that they will be released October/November (seems more probably November from what I've read) this year, or early 2015. Also, recent rumours point to the 880 and 870 using the GM204 GPU, which is the equivalent of todays GK104, which is from what I've read is speculated to be released in autumn, what somewhat disappoints though, is that GM210, GK110's successor will be released sometime in 2015, and with it will come a more powerful 880 and Titan-esque GPU, which leaves the autumn maxwell release a bit unexciting for me at least.
m
0
l
July 25, 2014 2:40:41 AM

Gaidax said:
290 is nearly identical to 290X - it's the same GPU with 10% of it disabled and slightly downclocked.

This chart gives a very good idea how 290 goes vs 290X: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-290-and-2...

The point is if you are buying a custom cooled and factory overclocked 290 (which is how most non-reference models come), then you will have at worst 7% difference vs similarly custom cooled and factory overclocked 290X.

100-150% for 7% difference? Not worth it.


My personal story - I got 290X Tri-X and before I had 290 (non-X) Tri-X - the difference is about 4-5% in benchmarks. I had to return non-X one since it had boot issues with it's HDMI connector and I added some $$ for 290X... Honestly, not worth it.


I agree, the difference is not that great between them. you can get a good 290 for 380-399$. comes down to what your going to use it for and do you need that little extra boost. what are you using this for primarily?

m
0
l
July 25, 2014 4:30:20 AM

JackNaylorPE said:
zoog18 said:
I Agree about what you said about the 780 ti, and if your going to pay that much for a graphics, your no longer considering price to performance, at that price range you start paying big amounts for small performance improvements, the 290x's performance improvement over the 290 is quite small however, but like I said if your buying cards at that price range, price to performance/rationale goes out the window for sheer performance, even if the improvement isn't huge.


Im missing something ....

Stock cards
$600 MSI 780 Ti
$550 290x w/ nice cooler

16% performance increase for 9% more cost puts the price / performance crown squarely with the 780 Ti.

The 290 makes sense at it's price threshold as does the 780 ....s till the 780 Ti at $600 is a good deal.

Better deals coming should recent rumors hold and the 880 drops this quarter....the 290x's release saved me $400.


It is a moot point again, because a kickass custom R9 290 costs around $400 (For example 290 Tri-X OC - nearly identical to 290X stock due to factory overclock and has an awesome cooler - $409 on Newegg) and matches 290X performance, so basically you need to dump $200 for the said 16% performance boost... in a better perspective - you pay 50% more for 16% better performance in your case.

This is also why either 290X and 780Ti are not a good deals - massive price jump with minimal performance returns over 290 for example.
m
0
l
July 25, 2014 4:35:41 AM

Gaidax said:
JackNaylorPE said:
zoog18 said:
I Agree about what you said about the 780 ti, and if your going to pay that much for a graphics, your no longer considering price to performance, at that price range you start paying big amounts for small performance improvements, the 290x's performance improvement over the 290 is quite small however, but like I said if your buying cards at that price range, price to performance/rationale goes out the window for sheer performance, even if the improvement isn't huge.


Im missing something ....

Stock cards
$600 MSI 780 Ti
$550 290x w/ nice cooler

16% performance increase for 9% more cost puts the price / performance crown squarely with the 780 Ti.

The 290 makes sense at it's price threshold as does the 780 ....s till the 780 Ti at $600 is a good deal.

Better deals coming should recent rumors hold and the 880 drops this quarter....the 290x's release saved me $400.


It is a moot point again, because a kickass custom R9 290 costs around $400 (For example 290 Tri-X OC - nearly identical to 290X stock due to factory overclock and has an awesome cooler - $409 on Newegg) and matches 290X performance, so basically you need to dump $200 for the said 16% performance boost... in a better perspective - you pay 50% more for 16% better performance in your case.


of all the X and non X cards I have seen in the AMD R9 series the non X card is always the better deal. pretty much the difference between them ends up being a few more stream processors around 10%, a few more TAUs and little quicker clock. In all of these I have seen better cooled OC versions for still a bit less with almost the same performance.

m
0
l
!