Following the release of the AMD Radeon R9 300 series of GPUs, Powercolor has released four new graphics cards geared for overclocking and high performance.
Powercolor released its flagship today, the PCS+ AMD Radeon R9 390X, which features a whopping 2816 stream processors clocked at 1060 MHz. Also released is the marginally slower PCS+ R9 390, which features a slightly reduced core count of 2560 stream processors clocked at 1010 MHz. Both of these GPUs contain 8 GB of GDDR5, connected to the GPU over a 512-bit memory interface, and operating at an effective clock speed of 6000 MHz.
Powercolor focused on improving efficiency and overclocking potential with these cards and opted to utilize a digital PWM in conjunction with an 8 phase (6+1+1) power design. These changes allow for improved power regulation that can reduce overall power consumption, in addition to performing better when overvolting and overclocking.
To further improve overclocking ability, the company utilizes a technology it calls PowlRstage, which is designed to increase power by 3-13 percent, which can help prevent an overclock from failing as a result of insufficient power.
Both GPUs utilize the same thermal design, which consists of an anodized backplate that helps cool and protect components, and a triple fan cooler. The GPU possesses Powercolor's Mute Fan technology, which slows the fans down and reduces noise when temperatures drop below 60 degrees Celsius. Beneath the fans sits a pure copper GPU block, connected to a nickel plated aluminum heat sink by three 6 mm and one 8 mm heat pipes.
The PCS+ AMD Radeon R9 380 features 1792 stream processors running at 980 MHz, connected to 4 GB of GDDR5 clocked at 5900 MHz by a 256 bit-wide memory bus. The last card of the bunch is the PCS+ AMD Radeon R7 370, containing 1024 stream processors clocked at 985 MHz, paired to 2 GB of GDDR5 operating at 5700 MHz by a 256-bit bus.
Both of these graphics cards feature similar power and cooling designs. Both adopt Ferrite Conducting Power (FCP) and multi-phase board designs to provide stable and efficient power regulation, in addition to utilizing PowerPAK SO-8, which is designed to help reduce voltage lost during conduction.
Powercolor opted for similar dual fan coolers, though the R7 370 utilizes 90 mm fans as opposed to the 80 mm fans on the R9 380, and the cards possess the same Mute Fan technology as the PCS+ R9 380(x). Under the fans of the PCS+ R9 380 sits a nickel-plated aluminum heat sink connected to the GPU block by two 8 mm and one 6 mm heat pipes.
The PCS+ R7 370 utilizes a slightly different thermal solution, however, instead using two U-shaped heatpipes that directly touch the GPU core. Powercolor claimed this method increases transfer rate by 20 percent compared to traditional methods.
| Model | Core Speed | Memory Speed | Memory | Memory Interface | Directx | CrossFire | Output |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCS+ R9 390X | 1060 MHz | 6000 MHz | 8 GB GDDR5 | 512-bit | 12 | Yes | DL DVI-D/DL DVI-D/HDMI/DP |
| PCS+ R9 390 | 1010 MHz | 6000 MHz | 8 GB GDDR5 | 512-bit | 12 | Yes | DL DVI-D/DL DVI-D/HDMI/DP |
| PCS+ R9 380 | 980 MHz | 5900 MHz | 4 GB GDDR5 | 256-bit | 12 | Yes | DL DVI-I/DL DVI-D/HDMI/DP |
| PCS+ R7 370 | 985 MHz | 5700 MHz | 2 GB GDDR5 | 256-bit | 12 | Yes | DL DVI-I/DL DVI-D/HDMI/DP |
All of these GPUs should be available from numerous online retailers starting today.
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