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PowerColor PCS+ R9 290X Review: Cool, Quiet, And Priced Right
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1. Third-Party Cooling And An Attractive Price?

Recently, we published MSI R9 290X Lightning Review: The Right Way To Cool Hawaii. In that piece, we decided that MSI's cooling solution was among the best we've seen for AMD's Hawaii GPU; it was only a shame that the R9 290X Lightning was selling at such a steep premium. All the while, we had an eye on another graphics card that was bumping around at the bottom of Newegg's price list, and yet topped by what looked like a comparably-capable cooler: PowerColor's PCS+ AXR9 290X.

And now that we have it in our lab, we can compare both 2.5-slot boards to each other. The match-up is an exciting one, for not only is PowerColor's option $100 less expensive (Update: Actually, $150 now), but it's also significantly lighter. Can the PCS+ AXR9 290X really stand up to the flagship R9 290X Lightning for less money?

With prices on all Radeon R9 290Xes coming back down to more palatable levels, it's time to get a little more excited about the quickest Hawaii-based boards. Better still, a lot of them rectify AMD's hot, noisy reference cooler with competent third-party thermal solutions.

Technical Specs in Comparison

First, let’s take a look at this card's most important specs. Its GPU is set to a factory-overclocked ceiling of 1050 MHz. As with other Hawaii-based implementations, this number is an "up to" rating, meaning it can be made to drop if the chip doesn't get enough cooling under load. That 1050 MHz peak puts PowerColor's PCS+ in the upper-mid-range of 290X cards, though; its core and memory clock rates match Asus' R9290X-DC2OC-4GD5.

In the pages to come, we'll measure the PCS+ AXR9 290X's power consumption and determine whether its theoretical performance translates to the real world. But first, have a look at its specs:

Model
GPU Clock (MHz)
Memory Clock (MHz)
Memory Bandwidth (GB/s)
Pixel Fillrate (GPixel/s)
Texture Fillrate (GTexel/s)
Asus R9290X-DC2OC-4GD5 R9 290X DirectCU II OC1050
1350
345.6
67.2
184.8
Sapphire Tri-X OC R9 290X1040
1300
332.8
66.6
183.0
Gigabyte GV-R929XOC-4GD R9 290X Windforce OC1040
1250
320.0
66.6
183.0
HIS R9 290X IceQ X² Turbo1060
1350
345.6
67.8
186.6
MSI R9 290X Gaming 4G1040
1250
320
66.6
183
MSI R9 290X Lightning1080
1250
320
69.1
190.1
PowerColor PCS+ R9 290X1050
1350
345.6
67.2
184.4
2. Take A Tour Of The PCS+ R9 290X

Front and Rear Views

The front of PowerColor's card is dominated by three commonly-controlled 76 mm fans.

The back plate braces the PCB and ensures it doesn’t flex. However, there is no mounting frame on top of the board, probably to save weight and cut cost.

Heat Sink and PCB

The visually impressive cooler sports a massive copper heat sink, from which four 8 mm heat pipes lead to the cooling fins at the right side of the card. There's a second block of cooling fins on top of the heat sink, and this radiator is attached by a single semi-circular heat pipe.

The DC-DC converters have aluminum heat sinks of their own, while the memory packages make contact with the main heat sink through thermal adhesive.

Side Views

Looking down from the top of the PowerColor PCS+ R9 290X, you mostly see the heat sink's cooling fins, heat pipes, and the 6- and 8-pin power connectors.

The bottom yields a better view of how the heat pipes connect to PowerColor's sink.

Due to the vertical arrangement of the cooling fins, peeking in from the side of the card doesn't reveal much aside from a fan connector and a few board components.

Slot Panel

The card sports a two-slot rear panel, even though the PCS+ R9 290X is thicker than two expansion slots. A three-slot I/O bracket might have been better for the sake of stability.

Display outputs match what you get from pretty much every Hawaii-based board. There are two dual-link DVI-D connectors, one HDMI port, and a full-sized DisplayPort interface. That combination is more than sufficient for any number of multi-screen arrays. Just be aware that the use of DVI-D means analog output is no longer supported.

3. Box Contents, Dimensions, And Weight

Box Contents

PowerColor does not include many accessories. Its box contains one driver CD and a 6-to-8-pin PCIe power adapter. But why bother with accessories that most customers don't even need? I prefer an aggressive price tag to a big bundle every single time.

Lab Note about the Dimensions

The dimensions reported here don't necessarily match the manufacturer's official technical specifications. Rather, we measure them by hand to assure they're correct. The image and chart below should help illustrate what each measurement actually means. Auxiliary PCI Express power connectors are not included; they have to be added depending on the power plug and cable design.

Dimensions Comparison

While the PowerColor PCS+ R9 290X is a 2.5-slot card, and consequently requires that you set aside three expansion slots to accommodate it, the board's 4.3" height is the lowest we've ever seen from a Radeon R9 290X. The PCS+'s other dimensions confirm that this card is indeed massive, though.

ModelsLength (L)Height (H)Depth (D1)Depth (D2)
Asus R9290X-DC2OC-4GD5 R9 290X DirectCU II OC11.3”5.6”1.5”0.16”
Sapphire Tri-X OC R9 290X12.0”4.5”1.5”0.16”
Gigabyte GV-R929XOC-4GD R9 290X Windforce OC11.1”4.8”1.5”0.16”
HIS R9 290X IceQ X² Turbo11.7”5.3”1.4”0.16”
MSI R9 290X Gaming 4G11.0”4.7”1.5”0.24”
MSI R9 290X Lightning12.0”4.8”2.1”0.20”
PowerColor PCS+ R9 290X11.6”4.3”1.8”0.23”

Weight

The weight of a card might be interesting if you're trying to figure out if any additional support is needed, or to calculate the amount of stress your motherboard might be under in a CrossFire-based setup. Compared to its impressive volume, however, the PCS+ R9 290X is actually quite light. In fact, only HIS' slim card is lighter.

Models
Asus R9290X-DC2OC-4GD5 R9 290X DirectCU II OC2.5 lbs
Sapphire Tri-X OC R9 290X2.3 lbs
Gigabyte GV-R929XOC-4GD R9 290X Windforce OC2.3 lbs
HIS R9 290X IceQ X² Turbo2.2 lbs
MSI R9 290X Gaming 4G2.3 lbs
MSI R9 290X Lightning3.5 lbs
PowerColor PCS+ R9 290X2.24 lbs
4. Gaming Performance

Test System and Benchmarks

We ran four carefully selected benchmarks at the highest quality settings, then normalized and added the individual results, which yields a performance index for each card.

System
Intel Core i7-4930K (Ivy Bridge-E), Overclocked to 4 GHz
Asus Rampage IV Black Edition, X79 Express
32 GB Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR3-2133
Enermax TLC 240 Closed-Loop Liquid Cooler
1 x 512 GB Samsung 840 Pro
Power Supply:
Corsair AX860i
Operating System:
Windows 8.1
Drivers:
AMD Catalyst 14.2 Beta
Nvidia GeForce 334.89
Benchmarks:
Metro Last Light
Bioshock Infinite
Battlefield 4 (Single-Player)
Crysis 3 DX11

Performance Rating

In order to achieve realistic and comparable results, we heat up the cards prior to benchmarking, subjecting them to a 3D load that takes their GPU temperatures up to a steady state. This creates a level playing field for factory-overclocked cards.

PowerColor's card delivers impressive results, placing third behind the higher-clocked MSI R9 290X Lightning and HIS R9 290X IceQ X². Differences between the cards are small though, and almost certainly not worth a $100 difference to enthusiasts better-served putting that money into a larger SSD or faster processor.

5. Power Draw: Test System And Methods

Test System and Measurement Method

We partnered up with HAMEG Instruments (Rohde & Schwarz) to implement a state-of-the-art test system for precise, short interval power and performance measurements.

Only modern lab instruments can keep up with the challenges that AMD’s Power Tune and Nvidia’s GPU Boost present (namely, huge swings in dynamic power consumption). We feed all relevant currents and voltages into a multi-channel 500 MHz oscilloscope (HAMEG HMO 3054), which can be remote-controlled and is able to retain the test data.

We measure the currents with three calibrated DC current clamp probes (HAMEG HZO50). Two of them, 3.3 and 12 V, take their readings at a custom-made riser card, which can reliably pass PCIe 3.0 signals, and one of them at a specially-modified PCIe power cable. All voltages are measured at the single-rail power supply, which we slightly modified to allow better access.

Our time resolution is now a mere 2 ms, which can measure and log all load transients incurred by AMD’s Power Tune and Nvidia’s GPU Boost. In order to keep the volume of data manageable, we limit the duration of a test run to two minutes.

Test MethodNo contact current measurement at the PCIe slot (Riser card)
No contact current measurement at the external PCIe power cable
Voltage measurement at the PSU
Test Equipment1 x HAMEG HMO 3054, 500 MHz four-channel oscilloscope
3 x HAMEG HZO50 current probe (1 mA - 30 A, 100 kHz, DC)
4 x HAMEG HZ355 (10:1 probe, 500 MHz)
1 x HAMEG HMC 8012 DSO
Test BenchMicrocool Banchetto 101
Power Supply
Corsair AX860i with slightly modified connectors

What Happens Within 100 ms?

A lot! We log the power draw with three probes at a 2 ms interval and pick a representative 100 ms window. Then we plot the resulting 50 data points in a graph.

Looking at the graph, you almost have to feel sorry for the power supply. Power draw through the PCIe power cables jumps from 140 to 352 W within a few milliseconds. You can't expect just any old generic PSU to cope with that. The two test points at the PCIe riser cards do not exhibit such drastic load changes.

We like that neither AMD nor Nvidia max out the PCIe slot connector's output rating, which is 75 W. Those auxiliary power cables bear the brunt of the load. Nor are there drastic load transients on the motherboard connector. All of this helps ensure system stability, benefiting multi-GPU setups in particular.

Now let's take a look at power consumption in real-world workloads.

6. Power Draw: Gaming, Web Browsing, And Idle

Measuring the Power Draw

The following diagrams contain a text header, which is followed by the actual measurement curves. In that header, you'll find the average and peak power draw on all three rails, along with the sum of those averages, giving us the total average and peak power consumption.

Total peak wattage is not simply the sum of the three individual peaks, but rather the total peak wattage observed within the 120-second sample window. That makes more sense than adding the peak wattages together, since it's unlikely that all three max out at the same moment.

Power Consumption during Gaming

These diagrams employ a logarithmic scale. The thick red line represents average total power draw at a time resolution of six seconds.

The average power consumption demonstrated by PowerColor's PCS+ R9 290X is 262 W, in line with what we expected. That's 3 W higher than the 30 MHz-faster MSI R9 290X Lightning. Approximately half of a watt can be attributed to the PowerColor card's memory, which operates at 1350 MHz, rather than 1250 MHz. But a few watts could be lost by less complex voltage regulation circuitry. 

Still, the differences are small. And while the PCS+ R9 290X may exhibit slightly higher power use, it also pulls about 10 W less from the motherboard slot than MSI's card.

Power Draw During Internet Surfing

People don’t spend all of their time gaming; typically, much more is spent browsing the Web. We simulate this workload with a static version of our home page, scrolling all the way down and back up again. While scrolling does make use of hardware acceleration, the power draw for that is quite benign.

Power Draw at Idle Load

Many people leave their PCs on all the time, making the power consumption of components at idle quite important. Measuring draw from the wall doesn't cut it if we want to isolate the graphics card, since there's no way to reliably factor out the rest of the platform.

Our state-of-the-art test equipment shows that this graphics card only draws 13.7 W at idle, which is less than our previous generation of lab instruments indicated:

7. Clock Rates, Temperature, And Sound Level

Achievable Clock Rates under Load

Subjected to a gaming load, PowerColor's card exhibits brief dips in its clock rate. They're typically pretty minor, though, and have little effect on performance.

Temperature Transients

During the same gaming load, PowerColor's PCS+ R9 290X hits a peak temperature of 74 °C (165 °F) after approximately eight minutes. Beyond, the board's thermal solution spins up to maintain a stable ceiling that doesn't get anywhere close to the 95 °C we're forced to endure by AMD's reference cooler.

The following table compares PowerColor's board to previously-tested competitors.

Models
Idle
Gaming, Open Test BenchVRM
Gaming, Closed Case
Asus R9290X-DC2OC-4GD5 R9 290X DirectCU II OC34 °C
76 °C
92 °C
84-85 °C
Sapphire Tri-X OC R9 290X35 °C
73 °C
85 °C
70-72 °C
Gigabyte GV-R929XOC-4GD R9 290X Windforce OC
Press Sample
34 °C
84 °C
86 °C
83 °C
Gigabyte GV-R929XOC-4GD R9 290X Windforce OC
Mass Production
34 °C
83 °C
87 °C
81 °C
HIS R9 290X IceQ X² Turbo35 °C
78 °C
70 °C
81-82 °C
MSI R9 290X Gaming 4G34 °C
76 °C
73 °C
75-76 °C
MSI R9 290X Lightning35 °C
70 °C80 °C
68-70 °C
PowerColor PCS+ R9 290X34 °C
74 °C82 °C
74 °C

Sound Level

Next, we measure the sound level of all cards in various use cases with a calibrated studio microphone positioned perpendicular to the center of the card 20 inches away.

How does PowerColor PCS+ R9 290X stack up? Its good cooling performance is achieved at the cost of increased fan noise, though it isn't as blatant as some of the other Radeon R9 290Xes we've tested.

Models
Idle
Gaming, Open Test BenchGaming, Closed Case
Asus R9290X-DC2OC-4GD5 R9 290X DirectCU II OC32.5 dB(A)
42.3 dB(A)
44.3 dB(A)
Sapphire Tri-X OC R9 290X32.1 dB(A)
40.9 dB(A)
42.8 dB(A)
Gigabyte GV-R929XOC-4GD R9 290X Windforce OC
Press Sample
30.9 dB(A)
41.5 dB(A)
43.6 dB(A)
Gigabyte GV-R929XOC-4GD R9 290X Windforce OC
Mass Production
30.9 dB(A)
39.6 dB(A)
43.2 dB(A)
HIS R9 290X IceQ X² Turbo31.2 dB(A)
46.2 dB(A)
48.8 dB(A)
MSI R9 290X Gaming 4G30.9 dB(A)
41.2 dB(A)
43.9 dB(A)
MSI R9 290X Lightning31.1 dB(A)
38.5 dB(A)
42.2 dB(A)
PowerColor PCS+ R9 290X31.3 dB(A)39.3 dB(A)
43.3 dB(A)

With that said, the sound levels are fairly close, so we encourage you to watch the videos and compare them yourself. After all, the spectral composition of the fan noise may differ from card to card, and personal preferences may vary as well.

MSI's R9 290X Lightning is slightly quieter than PowerColor's card, though the PCS+ R9 290X is tolerable enough.

PowerColor PCS+ R9 290X

Powercolor R9 290X PCS - Full Load - Gaming Loop

MSI R9 290X Lightning

MSI R9 290X Lightning - Full Load - Gaming Loop

Sapphire Tri-X OC R9 290X

Sapphire R9 290X Tri-X OC- Full Load - Gaming Loop

8. Solid Performance And Pricing Come Together

PowerColor's PCS+ R9 290X currently sells for $600 on Newegg. That's about $30 higher than it was a week ago. Still, though, that's a good price for an overclocked card cooled by a third-party thermal solution. The cheapest R9 290X boards also equipped with non-reference heat sinks start around $570. And the least-expensive GeForce GTX 780 Tis go for $700.

After a drastic spike up in pricing and a slow pullback, we're finally ready to start recommending the Hawaii GPU-based flagship to enthusiasts looking for high-end performance, effective cooling, conservative acoustics, and a reasonable price tag.

The success of PowerColor's PCS+ R9 290X is partly attributable to market conditions, sure. But the board is also well-built. It's fast, light (given its size), fairly quiet, and, despite the fact that there are a number of pricier 290Xes, relatively affordable. There is but one minor piece of feedback we'd give to PowerColor: the automatic fan control is a bit course, cranking up rotational speed quickly once the GPU temperature hits 72 °C (162 °F). As a result, the PCS+ R9 290X isn't able to beat MSI's R9 290X Lightning in our acoustic test.

With that said, PowerColor successfully build a Radeon R9 290X that's as large and powerful as MSI's premium competition, weighing a full pound less. Yes, there are a couple of things the company could have done better, but we're nitpicking.

Conclusion

If you are back in the market for a Radeon R9 290X, having watched their prices dip back down into sane territory, PowerColor's PCS+ R9 290X is one of our favorite choices. The card doesn't suffer any debilitating flaws, but rather offers excellent gaming performance behind an effective cooler. And speaking of heat sink design, PowerColor's fits like a glove. The implementation would be tough to beat.

As we've seen, some competing vendors built their Radeon R9 290Xes in a hurry and missed the mark. Haste makes waste, so to speak. So, it looks like the long wait for PowerColor's card was worthwhile.