Custom R9 290 Cards Expected Before Custom R9 290Xs
Custom coolers for the R9 290 will come out anywhere between mid-December and early January. Custom R9 290X's will follow.
When the Radeon R9 290 and the R9 290X launched, it quickly became apparent that they were very powerful cards. Unfortunately, they were also rather noisy and designed to run at 95 C. Luckily, our test proved that with decent cooling, the cards have the potential to run a lot quieter and cooler. Of course, this required an aftermarket cooler, and not everyone is prepared to void their warranty in this way.
We all know that the AIBs will eventually come out with their own cooling solutions, though there has been a big lack of clarity as to when that will be. Sources have told the German website ComputerBase.de when this might happen, and sadly, it seems there is a good chance Santa won't be able to help you out.
The report indicates that the Radeon R9 290 with custom cooling solutions is expected to hit around mid/late December, or early next year. Also, it seems that the R9 290X cards with custom cooling solutions will follow later. One of the sources told ComputerBase.de that it blames AMD for not providing the required data on time. Thus, manufacturers did not have enough time to make their own custom solutions.
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Nah. Cooling the card enough to prevent throttling will make it pretty much even with 780ti by itself. I think that AMD prevented custom cooling to make sure that results are more or less even across the board in introductory benchmarks. Wrong decision in my opinion.
and word is the delay is due to a shortage of supply of the 290X chips from AMD for manufacturers to tweak/playwith
If AMD wasn't holding back OEMs, the coolers would probably be out already. Nvidia's cards certainly got custom cooling solutions early, and even if they didn't, at least Nvidia's cooler isn't a plastic turd with the worst fan ever designed in the history of mankind.
http://store.nzxt.com/NZXT-KRAKEN-G10-GPU-BRACKET-p/rl-krg10.htm
Review of Kraken G10 on 290x. 50ºC drop in load temps. 21% drop in noise levels.
http://www.legitreviews.com/nzxt-kraken-g10-gpu-water-cooler-review-on-an-amd-radeon-r9-290x_130344
The thing is, as an actual owner of the thing, it is not as noisy as the reviews make out. It is not great or anywhere near as good as the NVidia reference, but it is not unbearable or that audible once you close the case and have your sound on, And of course us reference owners might be the only ones who had the chance to unlock to a fully working R9 290X!
[Throttling intensifies]
Saving the money right now to get full loop & block, and hoping the price will drop in few month...
Plenty of parts will be upgraded as will the power setup, so until the layout is set the cooling solution can not be finalized. Just what will future testing show?
The idea of converting a reference board to a 290X is intriguing though.