G-Sync: Once you have it, then you know it.

The pre-order IMO is worth it. The headset alone is RM500+ IINM.

Reading through THG review for things that mattered to me, here's what I think:
- Performance gain over HD7970 is linear about 30%++, as calculated from core config. This is a not a surprise, but perhaps over time, driver to game optimization can bring more.
- Unless you do gaming at reso above 25x16, R9-290x is overkill.
- Powertune is improved, but still doesn't offer what I hope for. In other words, I think manual overclocking can produce a better performance/power/heat/acoustics balance than Powertune.
- Reference cooler still sucks. At first glance, Powertune is limited by this factor.
- Powertune throttling is MUCH more efficient, and seemingly does not hurt performance.
- 95C target is great improvement for silicon. Users will need to adjust their comfort level from ala-70C to the near water-boiling temp.
- I hope ASUSmy would send me a sample for review. :thumbs

Price point:
- I wish for a more linear price point for this card. Practically 30~40% on top of R9-280X, but it is more likely to be double of 280X at launch, and slowly reduced over months. Assuming die supply is not constrained.
- Anticipate R9-290, probably better price/performance than R9-290x. But, still not as good as R9-280x.

Pure speculation:
R9-290X launch price:
ASUS and Sapphire: RM1899, if not RM2199
MSI & other premium brands: RM2199, if not RM2399

If lower end brands do come in Malaysia, would be good news, has to RM1699 to be attractive.

Limited stock, Malaysia probably getting 250 piece first batch.
400 if lucky.

Distributor will reserve some for retail only store package, like sets of 10/20/50 in different combinations of R-series cards with PSU, then retail bundle with PSU at very competitive price like add RM299 for a RM599 PSU.

Game bundle is yet to be determined.

My speculation on the retail price was dead on, RM2199 for R9-290X. Anyhow, no one sells them at retail price anyway.
R9-290 really showed up, but not without heat/noise issues.

Did you check Google?

For R9-290 and R9-290X users, any ASIC values to report here?

stephen0606 65.1% (R9-290) and Unseen83 71.8% (R9-290X)
Thanks for sharing, but honestly, I don't have much data on ASIC values vs overclockability, and it was more accurate for Nvidia cards.

Based on what I've seen, ASIC value cannot be too high, or too low.
- Too high, then the card cannot overclock, hit speed wall.
- Too low, then the card needs more voltage to run to compensate internal leakage, and in turns overheats faster.

Yup, between 56 to 72 are the good ones I've seen.

This topic should go to Tech Support.

EnigmaticWhat RAMS are those?
Good mobo, GPU, SSD and PSU, but it appears to me that you skimmed on RAM?

I think better you get some 1666mhz RAMS, would do you good.
8GB of 1666 works better than 16GB of 1333.

Enigmatic AaronFPS: Since you read that article, you should have a look at the last page, conclusion, too. But, of course, in your case, you seem to need 16GB more than the performance bump.

Nice work cloud_83. Maybe you can create a thread of its own at the reviews section. Take some pics... otherwise your thread might get deleted.

Please, guys, save your money.
Youtube alert:

yes, it's big, but it can be accomodated if running only single card, and nothing else stands in the way.
Or, can have something like this: HD7970 passive cooler:



This post has been edited by alexei: Nov 29 2013, 08:23 AM

Why not get the latest one available? I see Sapphire being it.
Source: http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/index.p...mType=&memSize=