Since we've already spent plenty of time talking about fan behavior, explaining noise levels under different loads is really easy. Right upfront: the cooler's moderate stock setting and the GPU's high target temperature make for a relatively quiet card, so long as you don't mess with it. But make no mistake, this thing is in no way as good as the partner solutions that'll undoubtedly be gracing R9 290Xes soon. As usual, the measurements were taken with a studio microphone perpendicular to the graphics card’s middle from a distance of 50 cm.
| Idle | Load | |
|---|---|---|
| Quiet Mode (Default) | 33.4 dB(A) | 45.2 dB(A) |
| Uber Mode (Default) | 34.1 dB(A) | 51.2 dB(A) |
| +25% Power Limit + 70 °C Target Temperature Fan Speed up to 100% | 34.3 dB(A) | 72.9 dB(A) |
Low Load: 30 Percent RPM at 38.8 dB(A)
Quiet Mode: 40 Percent RPM at 45.2 dB(A)
Uber Mode: 55 Percent RPM at 51.2 dB(A)
We decided to forgo the video demonstrating what a 95% duty cycle sounds like. It’s pointless and potentially bad for your long-term hearing. The noise is simply unbearable without commercial-grade ear protection.
- Hawaii: A 6.2 Billion Transistor GPU For Gaming
- CrossFire: Farewell Bridge Connector; Hello DMA
- TrueAudio: Dedicated Resources For Sound Processing
- PowerTune: Balancing Performance And Acoustics
- Overclocking: PowerTune Changes Things
- The Radeon R9 290X
- Test System And Benchmarks
- Results: Arma III At 1920x1080 And 2560x1440
- Results: Arma III At 3840x2160
- Results: Battlefield 3 At 1920x1080 And 2560x1440
- Results: Battlefield 3 At 3840x2160
- Results: BioShock Infinite At 1920x1080 And 2560x1440
- Results: BioShock Infinite At 3840x2160
- Results: Crysis 3 At 1920x1080 And 2560x1440
- Results: Crysis 3 At 3840x2160
- Results: Metro: Last Light At 1920x1080 And 2560x1440
- Results: Metro: Last Light At 3840x2160
- Results: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim At 1920x1080 And 2560x1440
- Results: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim At 3840x2160
- Results: Tomb Raider At 1920x1080 And 2560x1440
- Results: Tomb Raider At 3840x2160
- CrossFire: Arma III At 7680x1440
- CrossFire: Battlefield 3 At 7680x1440
- CrossFire: BioShock Infinite At 7680x1440
- CrossFire: Crysis 3 At 7680x1440
- CrossFire: Metro: Last Light At 7680x1440
- CrossFire: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim At 7680x1440
- CrossFire: Tomb Raider At 7680x1440
- Power Consumption
- Noise
- CAD: AutoCAD 2013
- CAD: Autodesk Inventor 2013
- OpenGL: Maya 2013 And LightWave
- OpenCL: Bitmining, LuxMark, And RatGPU
- R9 290X: A Taste Of Paradise That Won’t Break The Bank
This is win-win-win for everyone (except maybe Nvidia).
Hope we never have to deal with a $1000 single GPU fiasco again. Good riddance.
- AMD: We're not aiming for the ultra high end.
I think Nvidia just got trolled.
- AMD: We're not aiming for the ultra high end.
I think Nvidia just got trolled.
Most of the higher resolution gaming wins come from the larger memory bandwidth and of course more vs the 780.
That's a good sign. Maybe NVidia will drop prices and push this to $400-$450 and I will pick one up when there is a Vapor-X version of course,
This is win-win-win for everyone (except maybe Nvidia).
Hope we never have to deal with a $1000 single GPU fiasco again. Good riddance.