MSI Debuts R9 290X Lightning, R9 280X Gaming 6G at CES

By Thomas Soderstrom
published

New MSI graphics have Beefy Cooling, Big Ram... And Quieter Too?

MSI officially launched two new cards for CES 2014 in response to customer demands, a triple-fan R9 290X and a 6GB R9 280X.

Perhaps in response to Chris Angelini, who demanded a new cooling solution to reduce both temperatures and noise, and MSI has stepped up with a custom-fit sink and three lower-speed fans. We didn’t hear any screaming noises coming from the displayed configurations, but still look forward to seeing the noise data.

Next on display was a 6GB version of MSI’s famous R9 280X Gaming, aptly dubbed the R9 280X 6G. That’s twice the RAM of MSI’s original version.

Check out all of our CES 2014 coverage!

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.
16 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Lutfij
    That gaming card better have a full cover block when its time for release ... :)
    Reply
  • lawson72
    6GB R9 280x sounds like quite a overkill.

    Also nice to see AMD still is not really an option when buying a GPU over $250ish, since everything is about $100 over normal price
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    12374432 said:
    6GB R9 280x sounds like quite a overkill.

    Also nice to see AMD still is not really an option when buying a GPU over $250ish, since everything is about $100 over normal price

    The 6GB is actually beneficial for multi monitor setups. Helps with gaming.

    It's not the first one though. There was the HD7970 Vapor-X 6GB edition. Didn't last long though.
    Reply
  • CaptainTom
    ^Yeah except that $500 290 is stronger than the 780 and with more VRAM. You know Nvidia price gouges when its competition can gain $100 in price and STILL be the better choice...
    Reply
  • Shankovich
    Sad thing is the 280X is being priced around $400 by a lot of retailers because of the bitcoin and litecoin surges recently. I know it's not worth it for bitcoin, but business is around to take advantage of people...
    Reply
  • lazacom
    6GB is overkill for games on this class of hardware, but not overkill for some GPGPU tasks... so guess MSI targeted those people.
    Reply
  • Crashman
    12374508 said:
    12374432 said:
    6GB R9 280x sounds like quite a overkill.

    Also nice to see AMD still is not really an option when buying a GPU over $250ish, since everything is about $100 over normal price

    The 6GB is actually beneficial for multi monitor setups. Helps with gaming.

    It's not the first one though. There was the HD7970 Vapor-X 6GB edition. Didn't last long though.
    Especially in Crossfire, where you can crank up the resolution and run out of graphics memory before the GPU is fully taxed (in some games).

    Reply
  • Morbus
    6GB is for crossfire, and a 6GB 280X looks like a VERY nice deal actually, specially considering it's MSI and considering their cooling solution.

    For single card setups, 3GB is already overkill if you're playing at 1080p or lower.
    Reply
  • David Dewis
    When are these Cards actually going to be available in the UK. I have Xmas money just waiting to be spent
    Reply
  • soldier44
    Some of us game at higher res than 1080p and haven't for years. 2560 x 1600 the last 3 years and still going strong. Waiting for a descent 4K monitor 30 inches or better later this year to upgrade to.
    Reply