The Radeon R9 290, the AMD's new flagship GPU, offers the weapon of choice for gamers who demand the best. It's based on the new 28nm Hawaii GPU architecture and introduces the support for DirectX 11.2, capable of rendering reality-redefining imagery in the hottest titles. With massive number of Stream Processors and gigantic 4GB GDDR5 memory, this GPU delivers the performance you need for smooth gameplay at extreme setting. The new CrossFire technology allows you to build multiple graphics cards configuration without the use of interconnect bridges. With Ultra Resolution Gaming you will leave HD in the dust by gaming on displays much, much larger. A rich set of AMD innovative technologies are included, such as App Acceleration, AMD PowerTune, AMD ZeroCore and AMD HD3D technology. With these technology advancements, you'll get more than one way to elevate your gaming experience.
This model is factory overclocked for smoother gameplay, and comes equipped with triple cooling fan for reliability in demanding load level.
Built for CrossfireThe card features the Next Generation CrossFire support for up to four graphics cards with No interconnect bridge required.
MantleThere’s optimization, and then there’s Mantle. Games enabled with Mantle speak the language of GCN architecture to unlock revolutionary performance and image quality. (Application support is required.)
See More, Win More!The card is capable to turn your computer into a super gaming machine. Enjoy the latest 3D games with stunning graphics and effects that your enemies cannot match! Get an immersive experience with AMD Eyefinity! Expand your game across up to four displays while your opponents have one monitor. Along with all-new support for stereo 3D, universal bezel compensation, and brand-new display configurations, take the unfair advantage over your opponent and win more with the surround sight.
More Graphics, Less Power!The new architecture of the card gets more usable processing power for your money, enabling better frame rates in the latest games at high resolutions. In addition, with AMD ZeroCore Power and AMD PowerTune technologies, you can optimize the balance between performance and power consumption of your system by adjusting the engine clock during runtime of the card. Manage the power and keep your wallet loaded!
AMD App AccelerationImprove performance of everyday tasks such as Web browsing, office applications, and video rendering.
Pros: *Waves hand in front of your face.* - "This is the R9 290 you're looking for." No seriously, this is it. - Fantastic performance. - Great cooling solution. - Lots of overclocking headroom. - Cool and quiet at both idle and load. - Mantle support. - True Audio support. This Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X OC card is a beast and makes short work of any games you throw at it, if you couple this thing with other good hardware, it's going to deliver a top tier gaming experience. I can sit here and throw benchmarks at you, but I don't see the need, just hit Google and you will find that this card gets great reviews and performs wonderfully. Even more so when overclocked. I am a gamer, not a miner, but even with the premium price at the time of this review, I can honestly say this card is still well worth the money if your shopping the AMD side of the fence. It easily satisfies that sweet spot in price to performance vs it's big brother, the 290X. This is exactly what the R9 290 series needed.
Cons: None as of yet. This is a long card, make sure it will fit in your case before buying.
Overall Review: This card was purchased to replace my tried and true Radeon 7970 that has been chugging away in my main gaming system since it's release. I play a lot of high end games, such as Battlefield 4, Skyrim, Crysis 3, and others. I have games such as Thief, Titanfall, and Star Citizen on pre-order. I wanted a card that can handle these games, at or near their maximum settings, at 1080P with relative ease. While the 7970 can come very close, this R9 290 delivers a noticeable jump in performance. It's support for Mantle and True Audio were also both selling points since they are both technologies I am interested in. At the time of this review, with only one supporting Mantle title, a demo/benchmark, and no True Audio games, I can only touch on Mantle's performance in the one game that supports it so far, Battlefield 4. Unlike some people, the game has always ran great for me, even on my 7970. However on this R9 290, it runs even better, under both Mantle and DX. On average Mantle seems to gain about 10 or so FPS vs DX, not bad for a beta stage product in my humble opinion. Even under full gaming load, this card does not go much past 70C, and it stays quiet. I can't hear it over the other sounds of my CM HAF 932. Even with an overclock of 1250MHz Core and 5.8GHz VRAM, temps barely hit 80C. At these clocks you get a noticeable boost in performance and the card seems to have no trouble maintaining good thermals and acoustics, lightyears better than the reference models. There really are not enough good things I can say about this card, the Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X OC is a fantastic investment in this gamers opinion. If you're looking for the best 290 series at the best price point, look no further. Basic System Information: ASUS Sabretooth 990FX R2.0 Gen 3 AMD FX-3850 Vishera Eight-Core 4.5GHz OC Thermaltake Frio CPU Cooler Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X OC 4GB Seagate 600 Series 240GB SSD (Boot/OS) 16GB A-Data 1866 DDR3 Corsair HX850W Professional PSU Cooler Master HAF 932 Case Windows 7 Ultimate 64