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.
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| System | Intel Core i7-4930K (Ivy Bridge-E), Overclocked to 4 GHzAsus Rampage IV Black Edition, X79 Express32 GB Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR3-2133Enermax TLC 240 Closed-Loop Liquid Cooler1 x 512 GB Samsung 840 Pro |
|---|---|
| Power Supply: | Corsair AX860i |
| Operating System: | Windows 8.1 |
| Drivers: | AMD Catalyst 14.2 BetaNvidia GeForce 334.89 |
| Benchmarks: | Metro Last LightBioshock InfiniteBattlefield 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.
