PowerColor Launches R9 290, 290X, PCS+ and LCS

By Thomas Soderstrom
published

PowerColor has decided to slap a big air cooler on its overclocked R9 290 and 290X graphics cards, pushing these to GPU clocks of 1040 and 1050 MHz, respectively. Graphics RAM for both cards is clocked at 1350 MHz, for a GDDR5-5400 data rate.

PowerColor has a different solution for buyers who can't live with a mere 1050 MHz GPU clock, or for those who don't wish to vent graphics heat into their cases. The LCS R9-290X is clocked to 1060 MHz, which is nearly 1 percent faster than its already overclocked PCS+ model.

Announced back in December, LCS R9 290X has already arrived at some sellers for 2014 sales. The PCS+ versions will also be available by the end of the month.

Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
9 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Zeh
    "Nearly 1% faster"I lol'd
    Reply
  • acktionhank
    "PowerColor has a different solution for buyers who can't live with a mere 1050 MHz GPU clock, or for those who don't wish to vent graphics heat into their cases. The LCS R9-290X is clocked to 1060 MHz, which is nearly 1 percent faster than its already overclocked PCS+ model."I've never seen a more sarcastic paragraph written on tomshardware. I'm going to have to admit, i'm rather impressed.
    Reply
  • Morbus
    much sarcasm
    such impress
    very applaud
    wow
    Reply
  • iam2thecrowe
    "Nearly 1% faster"I lol'd
    funny, but the way these cards work and throttle an LCS is probably the only way to run this high end card to it's maximum potential. any air cooler is going to see the card throttle back at some stage.
    Reply
  • Crashman
    12432493 said:
    "Nearly 1% faster"I lol'd
    funny, but the way these cards work and throttle an LCS is probably the only way to run this high end card to it's maximum potential. any air cooler is going to see the card throttle back at some stage.
    Not exactly. Increase power ceiling, lower the threshold temperature for max fan, raise max fan speed, problem solved:
    http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-your-own-r9-290-crossfire,3711-8.html

    Well, that takes care of throttling. The supersized cooler helps reduce the noise problem. I'd still prefer the LC solution over three fans that vent into the case though.

    Reply
  • johnb0118
    Reviews?
    Reply
  • eklipz330
    no, aftermarket heatsinks perform perfectly fine when it comes to taming this beast.
    Reply
  • ipwn3r456
    1% faster, 10% more expensive I bet...
    Reply
  • Phillip Wager
    #1 it is not 1% faster than stock it is 1% faster than powercolor's other OC'ed card. #2 i don't think i will buy another powercolor product i had my last videocard i got from them die 3 months after the 2year warranty expired. i probably won't buy another 2 year warranty video card again especially since almost every Nvidea card is 3 year warranty. Diamond offers a 5 year warranty and both visiontek and XFX offer lifetime warrantied products and they don't charge more. i was a very big powercolor suporter until just now.
    Reply