Sapphire Radeon R9 290 Review
Category : AMD
Published by Hiwa Pouri on 20.08.14
The Radeon R9 290 has been introduced quite a while back and thanks to Sapphire we're finally having a look at the reference model. As you might already know, the card comes with a blower type cooler and clocked at 947 MHz on the GPU and 5'000 MHz for the memory. Overall we're curious to see what kind of damage this card can do.
 Article in English |
 Artikel in Deutsch |
 Article en français |
 Articolo in italiano |
Presentation
Today we're having a look at Sapphire's Radeon R9 290, which has been built
according to AMDs reference design. Therefore you get the standard cooler as
well as the usual PCB in combination with reference clocks. This review will
also show you what the R9 290 is able to score when it comes completely
reference.
As we already mentioned this is an AMD Radeon R9 290 graphics card, that's been build according to reference specifications. The GPU is therefore set to work at up to 947 MHz. A closer look at the memory reveals clocks are at 1'250 MHz (effective 5'000 MHz).
During our testing the Sapphie Radeon R9 290 constantly kept core clocks at 947 MHz. Usually, when we run Furmark, we see GPU clocks go down by quite a few MHz, but with this card that is not the case.
Specifications
| Sapphire Radeon R9 290 | Radeon R9 290X | ASUS Radeon R9 290 DirectCU II OC | |
| Chip | Hawaii Pro | Hawaii XT | Hawaii Pro |
| Process | 28 nm | 28 nm | 28 nm |
| Transistors | 6.20 billion | 6.20 billion | 6.20 billion |
| GPU clock | 947 MHz | up to 1'000 MHz | 1'000 MHz |
| Memory GDDR5 | 4'096 MB | 4'096 MB | 4'096 MB |
| Memory clock | 1'250 (5'000) MHz | 1'250 (5'000) MHz | 1'260 (5'400) MHz |
| Memory interface | 512 Bit | 512 Bit | 512 Bit |
| Memory bandwidth | 320 GB/s | 320.0 GB/s | 322.6 GB/s |
| Shader Cores | 2'560 | 2'816 | 2'560 |
| TMUs | 160 | 176 | 160 |
| ROPs | 64 | 64 | 64 |
| PCB Type | Reference Design | Reference Design | Custom Design |
| Slots | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Cooler | AMD Reference | AMD Reference | DirectCU II |
The card
|   
| |
    | ||
With this card you get a typical blower type cooler, which means a radial fan is being used. Usually this type of cooler doesn't manage to keep cards as cool as any other custom heatsink. The main advantage of this type of cooler is that air is being blown out of the case, making for lower internal temperatures. The fan in this case has to move air through quite a dense heatsink. A closer look at the finstack reveals, it has been soldered to a copper base plate. That piece of copper is then in direct contact with the GPU. Other than that you can clearly see the different thermal pads, which are located in between the cooler and the memory chips as well as VRM area. This apparently means, that also the VRM area as well as the memory chips receive active cooling. As you will see in our noise level testing, the AMD reference cooler is really not silent.
This card allowed for a maximum stable
overclock to 1150 MHz on the GPU side and 1650 MHz on the memory side. We
used Furemark V1.11.0 Geeks3D benchmark with 15 minutes duration in order to
test the stability. With these
clocks we had to feed the GPU with 1.21 Volt and the memory ran at stock
voltages.
The reference design forsees, that Radeon R9 290 graphics cards should be equipped with at least a six phase power design regarding the GPU, one phase for the memory and another one for the PLL. Good for stability and durability is the fact, that the power design receives active cooling. Checking the voltage regulation chips we find an IR 3567B.
|   
|
The memory chips used are made by Elpida and carry the model number W2032BBBG-6A-F. They are specified to run at 1'260 MHz (5'040 MHz effective).
Photo Gallery
Delivery
The card ships well bolstered in a foam made mold. Bundled with the graphics card are the user guide, the driver CD, two power converters as well as a an HDMI cable. We would have loved to find a few additional goodies in the box but the bundle is not that bad either, especially because of the HDMI cable.
Test Setup
| Motherboard |
|
| CPU |
|
| Memory |
|
| Graphics Cards |
|
| Drivers |
|
| Games and OS |
|
| System Drive |
|
| PSU |
|
3DMark - Fire Strike Performance
| Graphics Cards | Score | Graphics Score |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti GHz | 11'024 | 13'020 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum | 10'455 | 12'225 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X Platinum | 9'690 | 11'452 |
| PowerColor LCS R9 290X | 9'400 | 10'988 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum | 9'115 | 10'399 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 Ti | 8'970 | 10'185 |
| Sapphire Radeon R9 290 | 8'790 | 10'117 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition | 8'948 | 10'133 |
| MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780 OC Edition | 8'639 | 10'883 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN | 8'396 | 9'420 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 | 7'877 | 8'734 |
| MSI Gaming R9 280X OC Edition | 7'294 | 8'146 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition | 7'091 | 7'922 |
| AMD Radeon R9 280X | 7'093 | 7'837 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 770 | 6'679 | 7'408 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 | 6'578 | 7'215 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6990 | 6'350 | 7'207 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 680 | 6'402 | 7'102 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum | 5'915 | 6'473 |
| MSI GTX 760 Gaming MINI-ITX | 5'801 | 6'338 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 670 | 5'624 | 6'099 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270X | 5'318 | 5'784 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 760 | 5'243 | 5'645 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270 | 5'059 | 5'483 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7870 | 5'009 | 5'436 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti | 4'885 | 5'270 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 580 | 4'545 | 4'975 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 | 4'415 | 4'707 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition | 4'387 | 4'648 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black Edition | 4'319 | 4'648 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7850 | 4'176 | 4'460 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost | 3'762 | 3'962 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6970 | 3'742 | 3'880 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7790 | 3'546 | 3'823 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6950 | 3'338 | 3'446 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5870 | 3'232 | 3'299 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti | 3'031 | 3'182 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6870 | 2'991 | 3'096 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5850 | 2'710 | 2'751 |
| More is better | ||
3DMark - Fire Strike Extreme
| Graphics Cards | Score | Graphics Score |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti GHz | 5'668 | 6'028 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum | 5'340 | 5'641 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X Platinum | 5'011 | 5'336 |
| PowerColor LCS R9 290X | 4'823 | 5'101 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum | 4'658 | 4'854 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 Ti | 4'550 | 4'747 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition | 4'462 | 4'734 |
| Sapphire Radeon R9 290 | 4'460 | 4'653 |
| MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780 OC Edition | 4'406 | 4'562 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN | 4'271 | 4'420 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 | 4'007 | 4'121 |
| MSI Gaming R9 280X OC Edition | 3'634 | 3'757 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition | 3'568 | 3'720 |
| AMD Radeon R9 280X | 3'564 | 3'668 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 770 | 3'319 | 3'448 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6990 | 3'185 | 3'274 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 | 3'291 | 3'383 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum | 2'961 | 3'037 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 680 | 3'176 | 3'286 |
| MSI GTX 760 Gaming MINI-ITX | 2'904 | 2'970 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 670 | 2'805 | 2'872 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270X | 2'657 | 2'739 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 760 | 2'610 | 2'655 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270 | 2'503 | 2'562 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7870 | 2'484 | 2'560 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti | 2'378 | 2'440 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 580 | 2'213 | 2'350 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black Edition | 2'180 | 2'204 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 | 2'178 | 2'202 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7850 | 2'044 | 2'073 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition | 2'006 | 2'204 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost | 1'842 | 1'848 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6970 | 1'784 | 1'760 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6950 | 1'585 | 1'555 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7790 | 1'456 | 1'437 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6870 | 1'101 | 1'025 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5870 | 1'005 | 1'005 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti | 942 | 983 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5850 | 959 | 878 |
| More is better | ||
Unigine Heaven 4.0 Extreme Preset
| Graphics Cards | Score | fps |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti GHz | 2'181 | 86.6 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum | 2'040 | 81.0 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X Platinum | 2'046 | 81.2 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum | 1'805 | 71.6 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition | 1'756 | 69.7 |
| PowerColor LCS R9 290X | 1'754 | 68.9 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 Ti | 1'744 | 69.2 |
| MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780 OC Edition | 1'603 | 63.6 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN | 1'594 | 63.3 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 | 1'537 | 61.0 |
| Sapphire Radeon R9 290 | 1'265 | 50.2 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 680 | 1'261 | 50.0 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 770 | 1'204 | 47.8 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6990 | 1'156 | 45.9 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition | 1'137 | 45.1 |
| MSI Gaming R9 280X OC Edition | 1'135 | 45.0 |
| AMD Radeon R9 280X | 1'113 | 44.2 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum | 1'058 | 42.0 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 | 1'034 | 41.1 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 670 | 1'028 | 40.8 |
| MSI GTX 760 Gaming MINI-ITX | 1'004 | 39.9 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 760 | 951 | 37.8 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 580 | 915 | 36.3 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270X | 886 | 35.2 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti | 866 | 34.4 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270 | 832 | 33.0 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7870 | 826 | 32.8 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 | 801 | 31.8 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost | 705 | 28.0 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition | 704 | 28.0 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black Edition | 702 | 27.9 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7850 | 684 | 27.2 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6970 | 620 | 24.6 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7790 | 568 | 22.5 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6950 | 556 | 22.1 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6870 | 510 | 20.3 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti | 498 | 19.8 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5870 | 478 | 19.0 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5850 | 403 | 16.0 |
| More is better | ||
BattleField 3
| High Preset, 1920x1080, 4xMSAA, Ultra, SSAO | Average FPS |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti GHz | 120.4 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum | 118.9 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 Ti | 101.0 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X Platinum | 100.9 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum | 99.4 |
| PowerColor LCS R9 290X | 99.0 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition | 96.9 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN | 96.4 |
| MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780 OC Edition | 94.0 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 | 90.4 |
| Sapphire Radeon R9 290 | 84.6 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition | 78.4 |
| MSI Gaming R9 280X OC Edition | 77.0 |
| AMD Radeon R9 280X | 76.6 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 770 | 76.6 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 680 | 72.8 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 | 71.2 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum | 70.0 |
| MSI GTX 760 Gaming MINI-ITX | 67.0 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 670 | 66.0 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6990 | 65.6 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 760 | 62.0 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270X | 58.2 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti | 55.8 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270 | 55.0 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7870 | 54.2 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 | 50.6 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 580 | 48.6 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black Edition | 44.7 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7850 | 44.6 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost | 44.2 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition | 41.2 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7790 | 36.6 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6970 | 35.8 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti | 33.2 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5870 | 32.6 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6950 | 32.0 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6870 | 29.8 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5850 | 26.6 |
| More is better |
Bioshock Infinite - Benchmark
| Ultra Preset, 1920x1080, AA, no DDOF | Average FPS |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti GHz | 122.41 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum | 122.16 |
| MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780 OC Edition | 103.53 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 Ti | 103.24 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum | 102.86 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition | 102.00 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X Platinum | 102.20 |
| PowerColor LCS R9 290X | 100.03 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN | 95.55 |
| Sapphire Radeon R9 290 | 93.44 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 | 90.78 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum | 79.25 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 770 | 78.98 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6990 | 78.01 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition | 76.80 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 680 | 75.68 |
| AMD Radeon R9 280X | 75.44 |
| MSI Gaming R9 280X OC Edition | 73.48 |
| MSI GTX 760 Gaming MINI-ITX | 71.54 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 | 70.13 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 670 | 67.87 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 760 | 62.41 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti | 60.36 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270X | 54.79 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 | 52.91 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black Edition | 52.89 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition | 52.67 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270 | 51.11 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 580 | 51.04 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7870 | 50.55 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost | 45.77 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6970 | 43.20 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7850 | 43.13 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5870 | 39.28 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6950 | 38.13 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti | 34.89 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7790 | 34.65 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6870 | 33.69 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5850 | 32.42 |
| More is better |
Crysis 3
| High Preset, 1920x1080, 8xMSAA, Very High | Average FPS |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti GHz | 41.4 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum | 41.2 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum | 34.4 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition | 33.9 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 Ti | 33.8 |
| MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780 OC Edition | 33.2 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN | 31.8 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 | 30.2 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X Platinum | 28.0 |
| PowerColor LCS R9 290X | 27.3 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6990 | 26.8 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 770 | 25.8 |
| Sapphire Radeon R9 290 | 24.7 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 680 | 24.4 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum | 24.0 |
| MSI GTX 760 Gaming MINI-ITX | 23.0 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 670 | 22.2 |
| MSI Gaming R9 280X OC Edition | 20.8 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 760 | 20.4 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition | 19.8 |
| AMD Radeon R9 280X | 19.4 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti | 18.8 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 | 18.4 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 580 | 17.0 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 | 16.8 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black Edition | 16.7 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition | 16.4 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost | 15.0 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270X | 15.0 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6970 | 14.6 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7870 | 14.2 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270 | 14.0 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6950 | 12.2 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7850 | 11.8 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti | 10.2 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6870 | 8.4 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7790 | 8.0 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5870 | 8.0 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5850 | 7.6 |
| More is better |
Call of Duty Black Ops 2
| High Preset, 1920x1080, 8xMSAA, High | Average FPS |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti GHz | 176.2 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum | 172.1 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X Platinum | 146.3 |
| PowerColor LCS R9 290X | 146.0 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum | 141.8 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition | 138.7 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 Ti | 137.2 |
| MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780 OC Edition | 134.0 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN | 130.2 |
| Sapphire Radeon R9 290 | 127.8 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6990 | 127.0 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 | 121.0 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 770 | 109.0 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 680 | 105.4 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition | 103.6 |
| MSI Gaming R9 280X OC Edition | 103.0 |
| AMD Radeon R9 280X | 102.8 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum | 101.0 |
| MSI GTX 760 Gaming MINI-ITX | 99.0 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 670 | 95.8 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 | 93.2 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 760 | 86.0 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270X | 84.4 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 580 | 81.8 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti | 81.4 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7870 | 79.2 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270 | 79.0 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 | 72.0 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black Edition | 69.9 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7850 | 69.0 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6970 | 68.6 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5870 | 64.6 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6950 | 62.4 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost | 62.4 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition | 58.7 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6870 | 58.4 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5850 | 54.4 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti | 48.2 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7790 | 46.4 |
| More is better |
DIRT Showdown - Benchmark
| High Preset, 1920x1080, 8xMSAA, Ultra | Average FPS |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti GHz | 119.36 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum | 119.29 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X Platinum | 108.86 |
| PowerColor LCS R9 290X | 107.93 |
| Sapphire Radeon R9 290 | 100.09 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 Ti | 98.04 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum | 94.90 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition | 94.74 |
| MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780 OC Edition | 89.13 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN | 87.97 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 | 82.36 |
| MSI Gaming R9 280X OC Edition | 81.65 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6990 | 80.30 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition | 79.22 |
| AMD Radeon R9 280X | 76.46 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 | 71.63 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 770 | 68.79 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 680 | 67.04 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270X | 64.63 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270 | 62.99 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7870 | 62.53 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum | 60.25 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 670 | 58.98 |
| MSI GTX 760 Gaming MINI-ITX | 58.50 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti | 54.27 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 760 | 52.48 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7850 | 50.61 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 580 | 48.92 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 | 45.35 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black Edition | 44.20 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6970 | 44.19 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7790 | 43.28 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition | 43.24 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6950 | 38.94 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost | 38.02 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5870 | 36.48 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti | 30.35 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6870 | 30.05 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5850 | 29.13 |
| More is better |
Far Cry 3
| High Preset, 1920x1080, 8xMSAA, Ultra | Average FPS |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti GHz | 65.4 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum | 62.8 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X Platinum | 54.9 |
| PowerColor LCS R9 290X | 53.3 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 Ti | 53.2 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum | 52.4 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition | 52.1 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN | 50.2 |
| MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780 OC Edition | 49.2 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 | 47.2 |
| Sapphire Radeon R9 290 | 46.8 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6990 | 39.8 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 770 | 38.2 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 680 | 35.6 |
| MSI Gaming R9 280X OC Edition | 34.8 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum | 33.3 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 670 | 32.2 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition | 31.0 |
| MSI GTX 760 Gaming MINI-ITX | 30.9 |
| AMD Radeon R9 280X | 30.0 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 760 | 29.4 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 | 27.8 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti | 27.0 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 580 | 24.8 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 | 24.6 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270X | 23.8 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7870 | 22.4 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270 | 22.0 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STIX OC Edition | 21.7 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black Edition | 21.6 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost | 21.2 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6970 | 20.6 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6950 | 18.0 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7850 | 17.8 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti | 15.4 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5870 | 15.2 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6870 | 13.0 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5850 | 13.0 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7790 | 10.6 |
| More is better |
Sleeping Dogs - Benchmark
| High Preset, 1920x1080, Extreme, High-Res Textures | Average FPS |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti GHz | 80.9 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum | 76.0 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X Platinum | 72.4 |
| PowerColor LCS R9 290X | 69.9 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 Ti | 69.8 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum | 66.3 |
| Sapphire Radeon R9 290 | 64.5 |
| MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780 OC Edition | 63.8 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition | 61.5 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN | 62.4 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 | 58.7 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6990 | 56.6 |
| MSI Gaming R9 280X OC Edition | 52.1 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition | 51.7 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 770 | 51.7 |
| AMD Radeon R9 280X | 50.7 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 680 | 48.7 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 | 47.0 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum | 44.0 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 670 | 42.7 |
| MSI GTX 760 Gaming MINI-ITX | 42.2 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 760 | 38.7 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti | 38.7 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270X | 36.4 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 580 | 35.1 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270 | 34.2 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7870 | 33.8 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 | 32.0 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6970 | 30.0 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7850 | 27.6 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5870 | 27.3 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost | 26.3 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6950 | 26.2 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition | 25.4 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black Edition | 25.4 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6870 | 22.9 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7790 | 22.2 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5850 | 22.2 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti | 19.9 |
| More is better |
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
| High Preset, 1920x1080, 8xAA, Ultra | Average FPS |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum | 136.5 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti GHz | 136.4 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum | 135.0 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition | 134.8 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 Ti | 135.0 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X Platinum | 133.3 |
| PowerColor LCS R9 290X | 133.2 |
| MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780 OC Edition | 132.0 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN | 127.2 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 | 126.2 |
| Sapphire Radeon R9 290 | 113.5 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition | 110.4 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6990 | 109.2 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 770 | 109.0 |
| MSI Gaming R9 280X OC Edition | 107.0 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 680 | 106.4 |
| AMD Radeon R9 280X | 106.0 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum | 99.5 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 | 98.6 |
| MSI GTX 760 Gaming MINI-ITX | 96.7 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 670 | 96.4 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270X | 90.4 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 760 | 87.6 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7870 | 85.2 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 580 | 84.8 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270 | 82.8 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti | 81.4 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 | 73.0 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7850 | 71.0 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6970 | 64.0 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost | 63.2 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition | 59.2 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black Edition | 59.2 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6950 | 58.4 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5870 | 56.6 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7790 | 56.2 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6870 | 52.0 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5850 | 48.6 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti | 47.2 |
| More is better |
Metro: Last Light - Benchmark
| Very High, 1920x1080, SSAA, DX11 | Average FPS |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti GHz | 55.19 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum | 54.83 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X Platinum | 48.14 |
| PowerColor LCS R9 290X | 46.58 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 Ti | 45.19 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum | 44.49 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition | 43.39 |
| MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780 OC Edition | 42.94 |
| Sapphire Radeon R9 290 | 42.81 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN | 39.94 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 | 38.18 |
| MSI Gaming R9 280X OC Edition | 33.97 |
| AMD Radeon R9 280X | 33.78 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition | 33.41 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 770 | 32.53 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 | 30.98 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 680 | 30.56 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum | 28.30 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6990 | 27.65 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 670 | 27.30 |
| MSI GTX 760 Gaming MINI-ITX | 27.28 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 760 | 25.09 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti | 23.97 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270X | 23.46 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 580 | 23.25 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270 | 21.93 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7870 | 21.58 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 | 20.84 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black Edition | 19.76 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition | 18.81 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7850 | 18.09 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost | 17.83 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6970 | 17.05 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6950 | 15.22 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7790 | 14.94 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti | 13.83 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5870 | 13.33 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6870 | 12.37 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5850 | 11.11 |
| More is better |
Grand Theft Auto V
Power Consumption
| Power Consumption Idle* | Watts |
| PowerColor LCS R9 290X | 92 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6990 (Ref) | 80 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 580 (Ref) | 69 |
| Sapphire Radeon R9 290 | 68 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X Platinum | 67 |
| MSI Gaming R9 280X OC Edition | 65 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition (ASUS P.) | 60 |
| MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780 OC Edition | 59 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6970 (Ref) | 57 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6950 (Ref) | 57 |
| MSI GTX 760 Gaming MINI-ITX | 57 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5850 (Ref) | 56 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6870 (Ref) | 54 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 (ASUS DC2OC) | 54 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti (ASUS DC2T) | 54 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5870 (Ref) | 53 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270 (ASUS DC2OC) | 53 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 770 (ASUS DC2OC) | 53 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition | 52 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 670 (ASUS DC2T) | 52 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 680 (Ref) | 51 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 (ASUS DC2T) | 50 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum | 49 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum | 48 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti GHz | 48 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 Ti (GBT GHz) | 48 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7870 (ASUS DC2T V2) | 48 |
| AMD Radeon R9 280X (ASUS DC2T) | 48 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270X (ASUS DC2T) | 48 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 (XFX DD - Ref PCB) | 47 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN (Ref) | 47 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti (ASUS DC2T) | 45 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7850 (ASUS DC2T) | 45 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7790 (ASUS DC2OC - Ref PCB) | 45 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 760 (ASUS DC2OC) | 45 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost (Ref) | 43 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition | 41 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black Edition | 39 |
| *Entire system | Less is better |
| Power Consumption Load (FurMark)* | Watts |
| AMD Radeon HD 6990 (Ref) | 481 |
| PowerColor LCS R9 290X | 425 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X Platinum | 401 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti GHz | 383 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum | 380 |
| Sapphire Radeon R9 290 | 361 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition (ASUS P.) | 360 |
| MSI Gaming R9 280X OC Edition | 358 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 Ti (GBT GHz) | 333 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 (XFX DD - Ref PCB) | 323 |
| MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780 OC Edition | 321 |
| AMD Radeon R9 280X (ASUS DC2T) | 320 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN (Ref) | 306 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 (ASUS DC2OC) | 297 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition | 294 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 680 (Ref) | 258 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 770 (ASUS DC2OC) | 257 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum | 255 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 580 (Ref) | 254 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6970 (Ref) | 244 |
| MSI GTX 760 Gaming MINI-ITX | 241 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5870 (Ref) | 232 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 670 (ASUS DC2T) | 227 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270X (ASUS DC2T) | 223 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7870 (ASUS DC2T V2) | 220 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 760 (ASUS DC2OC) | 218 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6950 (Ref) | 208 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6870 (Ref) | 200 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7850 (ASUS DC2T) | 195 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270 (ASUS DC2OC) | 194 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5850 (Ref) | 193 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti (ASUS DC2T) | 178 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 (ASUS DC2T) | 177 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost (Ref) | 169 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7790 (ASUS DC2OC - Ref PCB) | 152 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti (ASUS DC2T) | 151 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition | 132 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black Edition | 130 |
| *Entire system | Less is better |
Temperatures / Noise levels
Fan Speed
| Auto | Auto | 50% | 70% | 100% |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition | 0 | 1'700 | 2'550 | 3'650 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum | 1'050 | 1'500 | 2'100 | 2'970 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 DirectCU II OC | 1'129 | 1'493 | 2'078 | 3'023 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum | 1'040 | 1'910 | 2'650 | 3'770 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition | 0 | 1'450 | 2'350 | 3'150 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum | 980 | 1'490 | 2'080 | 3'000 |
| ASUS Radeon HD 7970 Platinum | 1'100 | 2'180 | 2'780 | 3'000 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 280X DirectCU II Top | 1'020 | 1'860 | 2'620 | 3'000 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 280X Platinum | 1'050 | 2'090 | 2'900 | 3'200 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X DirectCU II | 1'050 | 1'930 | 2'680 | 3'040 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X Platinum | 1'035 | 1'875 | 2'630 | 3'000 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black Edition | 1'566 | 2'290 | 3'000 | 3'550 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 GHz Edition | 780 | 2'180 | 3'100 | 4'380 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 OC V2 | 780 | 2'180 | 3'100 | 4'380 |
| MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780 | 1'040 | 1'450 | 2'000 | 2'900 |
| MSI Twin Frozr Gaming R9 280X OC Edition | 1'035 | 2'045 | 2'470 | 3'040 |
| PowerColor Radeon R9 280X TurboDuo OC | 995 | 2'000 | 2'740 | 3'520 |
| PowerColor Radeon R9 290X LCS |
Watercooled |
|||
| Sapphire Radeon R9 290 | 980 | 2'620 | 3'925 | 5'275 |
| NVIDIA Reference | 1'250 | 2'060 | n/A | 4'240 |
| More is better | ||||
Noise Level
| Auto | Auto | 50% | 70% | 100% |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition | 0.0 | 32.5 | 37.8 | 44.3 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum | 32.7 | 37.0 | 42.8 | 53.2 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 DirectCU II OC | 33.2 | 37.1 | 43.0 | 51.4 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum | 32.0 | 36.6 | 42.7 | 51.2 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition | 0.0 (2D) | 37.6 | 46.6 | 53.5 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum | 32.8 | 37.2 | 43.0 | 53.4 |
| ASUS Radeon HD 7970 Platinum | 34.1 | 40.7 | 49.4 | 51.9 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 280X DirectCU II Top | 33.4 | 36.3 | 50.5 | 54.0 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 280X Platinum | 33.5 | 37.1 | 43.3 | 49.5 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X DirectCU II | 33.0 | 41.8 | 49.5 | 52.5 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X Platinum | 33.0 | 41.2 | 49.6 | 52.7 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black Edition | 32.0 | 33.4 | 42.8 | 49.9 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 GHz Edition | 32.0 | 37.1 | 44.4 | 52.3 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 OC V2 | 32.0 | 37.1 | 44.4 | 52.3 |
| MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780 | 32.0 | 34.3 | 40.2 | 50.0 |
| MSI Twin Frozr Gaming R9 280X OC Edition | 32.0 | 36.6 | 44.0 | 49.0 |
| PowerColor Radeon R9 280X TurboDuo OC | 32.3 | 34.0 | 43.3 | 49.5 |
| PowerColor Radeon R9 290X LCS |
Watercooled |
|||
| Sapphire Radeon R9 290 | 33.6 | 48.7 | 58.2 | 64.9 |
| NVIDIA Reference | 33.2 | 39.8 | n/A | 56.2 |
| More is better | ||||
For the noise level results, we measured the noise level using a decibel meter (Voltcraft SL-200) located at 1 meter away from the graphics card.
Idle Temperature
| Temperature | Auto | 50% | 70% | 100% |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition | 38 | 33 | 30 | 28 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum | 34 | 34 | 33 | 29 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 DirectCU II OC | 30 | 29 | 28 | 28 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum | 32 | 31 | 30 | 29 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition | 53 | 40 | 38 | 32 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum | 37 | 37 | 36 | 34 |
| ASUS Radeon HD 7970 Platinum | 28 | 28 | 28 | 27 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 280X DirectCU II Top | 30 | 30 | 29 | 29 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 280X Platinum | 30 | 30 | 29 | 29 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X DirectCU II | 36 | 35 | 34 | 34 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X Platinum | 37 | 36 | 35 | 34 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black Edition | 25 | 25 | 24 | 24 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 GHz Edition | 29 | 27 | 26 | 26 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 OC V2 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 28 |
| MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 27 |
| MSI Twin Frozr Gaming R9 280X OC Edition | 32 | 31 | 30 | 29 |
| PowerColor Radeon R9 280X TurboDuo OC | 32 | 32 | 31 | 30 |
| PowerColor Radeon R9 290X LCS |
29 |
|||
| Sapphire Radeon R9 290 | 44 | 40 | 38 | 35 |
| NVIDIA Reference | 32 | 30 | 29 | 29 |
| More is better | ||||
Idle, temperature is taken after 15 minutes @ lowest, 40 %, 50 %, 70 % and 100 % fan speed.
Room Temperature: 25°C
Temperature under Furmark
| Temperature | Auto | 50% | 70% | 100% |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition | 58 | 49 | 48 | 47 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum | 73 | 73 | 73 | 72 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 DirectCU II OC | 83 | 71 | 63 | 56 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum | 77 | 77 | 72 | 68 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum | 90 | 81 | 72 | 62 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition | 70 | 66 | 59 | 54 |
| ASUS Radeon HD 7970 Platinum | 76 | 70 | 69 | 69 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 280X DirectCU II Top | 90 | 71 | 64 | 63 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 280X Platinum | 77 | 73 | 71 | 70 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X DirectCU II | 89 | 90 | 85 | 81 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X Platinum | 88 | 85 | 82 | 78 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black Edition | 52 | 49 | 47 | 44 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 GHz Edition | 90 | 80 | 73 | 58 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 OC V2 | 90 | 83 | 75 | 63 |
| MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780 | 73 | 71 | 63 | 56 |
| MSI Twin Frozr Gaming R9 280X OC Edition | 80 | 77 | 72 | 69 |
| PowerColor R9 290X LCS |
46 |
|||
| PowerColor R9 280X TurboDuo OC | n/A | n/A | 74 | 68 |
| Sapphire Radeon R9 290 | 94 | 85 | 74 | 67 |
| NVIDIA Reference | 90 | 83 | 76 | 68 |
| More is better | ||||
For FurMark, temperature is taken after 15 minutes of GPU Burn test at lowest, 40 %, 50 %, 70 % and 100 % fan speed.
We stopped the test when the GPU temperature hit 90°C.
Room Temperature: 25°C
Temperature and fan speed under BattleField 3
| Auto | Temperature |
| PowerColor R9 290X LCS (watercooled) | 39 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750Ti Black Edition | 40 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition | 55 |
| MSI Twin Frozr Gaming R9 280X OC Edition | 60 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum | 62 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition | 62 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum | 66 |
| ASUS Radeon HD 7970 Platinum | 66 |
| MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780 | 66 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 GHz Edition | 67 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 280X Platinum | 68 |
| ASUS GeForceGTX 780 DirectCU II OC | 69 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 280X DirectCU II Top | 69 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 OC V2 | 70 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum | 71 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X Platinum | 72 |
| PowerColor R9 280X TurboDuo OC | 73 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X DirectCU II | 79 |
| NVIDIA Reference | 79 |
| Sapphire Radeon R9 290 | 80 |
| More is better |
For BattleField 3, temperature and fan speed values taken are the highest achieved after 1 hour gaming @ auto fan speed.
Performance/Watt
| Graphics Cards | Performance Index | Power C. (Watts)* | Performance/Watt*10 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti (ASUS DC2T) | 53.55 | 178 | 3.01 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black Edition | 38.37 | 130 | 2.97 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition | 84.22 | 294 | 2.86 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition | 37.48 | 132 | 2.84 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN (Ref) | 85.05 | 306 | 2.78 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 770 (ASUS DC2OC) | 70.92 | 257 | 2.76 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti GHz | 104.63 | 383 | 2.73 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 670 (ASUS DC2T) | 62.00 | 227 | 2.73 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 Ti (GBT GHz) | 90.53 | 333 | 2.72 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 (ASUS DC2OC) | 81.66 | 302 | 2.70 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 (ASUS DC2T) | 47.37 | 177 | 2.68 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 680 (Ref) | 68.36 | 258 | 2.65 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 760 (ASUS DC2OC) | 56.63 | 218 | 2.60 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270 (ASUS DC2OC) | 50.00 | 195 | 2.56 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum | 100.42 | 380 | 2.51 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum | 59.92 | 255 | 2.49 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost (Ref) | 40.87 | 169 | 2.42 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270X (ASUS DC2T) | 53.85 | 230 | 2.34 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7870 (ASUS DC2T V2) | 50.53 | 219 | 2.31 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7850 (ASUS DC2T) | 42.39 | 190 | 2.23 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7790 (ASUS DC2OC - Ref PCB) | 33.44 | 151 | 2.21 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X Platinum | 88.15 | 401 | 2.20 |
| PowerColor Radeon R9 290X LCS | 91.19 | 420 | 2.17 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition (ASUS P.) | 70.75 | 325 | 2.18 |
| Sapphire Radeon R9 290 | 77.58 | 309 | 2.14 |
| AMD Radeon R9 280X (ASUS DC2T) | 68.85 | 321 | 2.14 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti (ASUS DC2T) | 30.80 | 151 | 2.04 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 580 (Ref) | 50.49 | 254 | 1.99 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 (XFX DD - Ref PCB) | 64.27 | 329 | 1.95 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6950 (Ref) | 36.83 | 208 | 1.77 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6970 (Ref) | 41.19 | 252 | 1.63 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6870 (Ref) | 31.88 | 200 | 1.59 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5850 (Ref) | 30.05 | 193 | 1.56 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5870 (Ref) | 35.98 | 232 | 1.55 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6990 (Ref) | 73.44 | 500 | 1.47 |
| *Entire system | More is better | Less is better | More is better |
The "Performance Index" value is calculated as the sum of all benchmarks results divided by the amount of games (3DMark and Unigine are not included into the calculation).
Performance/Price
| Graphics Cards | Performance Index | Price (€)* | Performance/€*10 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 290X Platinum | n/A | n/A | n/A |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum | n/A | n/A | n/A |
| AMD Radeon HD 7790 | 33.44 | 91 | 3.67 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7870 | 50.53 | 143 | 3.53 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270 | 50.00 | 144 | 3.47 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7850 | 42.39 | 124 | 3.42 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270X | 53.85 | 159 | 3.39 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost | 40.87 | 121 | 3.38 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 | 47.37 | 144 | 3.29 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti | 30.80 | 100 | 3.08 |
| AMD Radeon R9 280X | 68.85 | 241 | 2.86 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 760 | 56.63 | 199 | 2.85 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti | 53.55 | 193 | 2.77 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black Edition | 38.37 | 140 | 2.74 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 | 64.27 | 232 | 2.77 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 670 | 62.00 | 228 | 2.72 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition | 70.75 | 260 | 2.72 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 770 | 70.92 | 266 | 2.67 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 580 | 50.49 | 190 | 2.66 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition | 37.48 | 148 | 2.53 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6870 | 31.88 | 126 | 2.53 |
| Sapphire Radeon R9 290 | 77.58 | 309 | 2.51 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 680 | 68.36 | 291 | 2.35 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum | 59.92 | 288 | 2.08 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 | 81.66 | 415 | 1.97 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6950 | 36.83 | 205 | 1.80 |
| PowerColor Radeon R9 290X LCS | 91.19 | 577 | 1.58 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition | 84.22 | 532 | 1.58 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 Ti | 90.53 | 582 | 1.56 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6970 | 41.19 | 310 | 1.33 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5850 | 30.05 | 260 | 1.16 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5870 | 35.98 | 335 | 1.07 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6990 | 73.44 | 708 | 1.04 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN | 85.05 | 832 | 1.02 |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti GHz | 104.63 | 613 | N/A |
| * 06/01/2014 | More is better | Less is better | More is better |
For the price we took the lowest price available on geizhals.eu.
Conclusion
| General | + | - | |
| Since the Sapphire Radeon R9 290 is based on AMDs reference design, there is not too much to praise on this card. Apparently Sapphire is more then just capable of building reference cards appropriately, which is what's been done in this case. What you get here is a well manufactured reference Radeon R9 290. What's really something AMD has to improve on with the next generation of reference cards is the cooler. The model on this R9 290 is simply way to noisy. When it comes to raw performance the R9 290 is a very capable card that also features a sweet price. | - Performance | - Bundle - Noise levels | |
| Cooling / Noise Level | + | - | |
| Having a closer look at noise levels we see that, no matter which preset we were using the card is either noisy or even loud, while gaming. In idle we noticed 33.6 dBA, which is definitely silent, but not inaudible. Under load and the fan set to auto we measured 49.1 dBA, which is subjectively speaking loud. At 50 percent fan speed the card produces 48.7 dBA, at 70 percent it was 58.2 dBA and at 100 percent and 5'275 rpm we measured 64.9 dBA. This reference design is simply: loud. Check temperatures we see the card hitting 94°C which is an inch from throttling. | - Cooling performance
- Noise levels |
||
| Performance | + | - | |
| The Radeon R9 290 is actually a quick card and
therefore performance is definitely good. If we start looking for the
direct competitor from NVIDIA we find the GeForce GTX 780, which is a
little bit quicker overall but quite a bit more expensive. At this point we also had a closer look at power consumption and we see what's actually usual with AMD R9 290/290X cards. In idle as well as under load power consumption is quite high. |
- Performance | - Power consumption | |
| Recommendation / Price | + | - | |
| The reference R9 290 offers good performance but unfortunately it comes bundled with a noisy cooler. These days the card sells for 349 Euro, which is a good price compared to the similarly performing GeForce GTX 780. | - Gaming | - Silent System | |
| We give the Sapphire Radeon R9 290 3.5 out of 5 stars. | |||
