FRONTPAGE MSI R9 290 Gaming 4G Video Card Review

[Overclockers.com]

AMD has had its new Rx 2xx series GPUs out for a couple of months now. Although models with aftermarket cooling have been out for it, here at OCF we have not had a chance to review any of them. That is about to change! In my hands is MSI's offering, the MSI R9 290 Gaming 4G, which sports the Twin Frozr IV cooler. In past iterations, this cooler has been effective and quiet. Let's see how it fares with trying to cool a R9 290, shall we?

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[magellan]

Wow a 50% markup in price over MSRP in the wild. This all makes me wish I had bought a r290 back when they initially came out, then flogged it on ebay.

As far as gaming goes, it looks like it's not worth the price.

Great review ED.

 

[ninjacore]

+1 nice review, ED

It's really a shame mining has turned GCN2 into the "lost generation" of GPUs. I would have liked to play with this one.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Nice one Joe. Too bad about MSRPs.

If it wasn't for mining, the 780/780Ti might drop price to compete.

 

[MattNo5ss]

There's nothing wrong with MSRPs, they haven't changed. It's the retailers increasing prices to take advantage of supply and demand...

 

[ATMINSIDE]

There's nothing wrong with MSRPs, they haven't changed. It's the retailers increasing prices to take advantage of supply and demand...

I meant that like "Too bad we're looking at MSRPs in the rear-view mirror"

Should have been more clear.

 

[MattNo5ss]

Gotcha, that make sense.

I just wanted to make sure people didn't think AMD was responsible for the price hikes

 

[magellan]

For gaming, I wonder if two of the 4GiB GTX 770's would be cheaper than an AMD R9 290 and perform better or similarly.

 

[EarthDog]

2 770's would beat it out in most cases, sure. Not sure on their cost however.

 

[ninjacore]

I bought a 4GB 770 a few weeks ago for $370ish. I think they have gone up just a little since then as well, so that option (SLI 770s) would cost more than the 290. They would be more powerful, though.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

I bought a 4GB 770 a few weeks ago for $370ish. I think they have gone up just a little since then as well, so that option (SLI 770s) would cost more than the 290. They would be more powerful, though.

I think that would outperform a 290X, which is around the ~750 price tag of SLI 770 4GBs.

 

[repilce]

Nice rundown.

 

[SF101]

really wish these amd supplys would increase so the retailers have no excuse to keep prices up.

 

[EarthDog]

I have seen most brands in stock for quite a while really.. reference and otherwise. While availability plays a role in pricing, it's seemingly been there but the pricing hasn't changed.

 

[Supertrucker]

Yesterday Newegg posted the reviewed msi 290 for 469.99. It was up for hours before it sold out. There was also a 290x for 549 yesterday and earlier today. Hopefully it is a sign of supply catching up to demand.

The 290x is a powercolor, has free shipping, comes with bf4, and is still in stock. Granted most of them are still overpriced, but maybe they will level off now.