Non-reference Design Radeon R9 290X to Be Available From Late-November

[btarunr]

If reviews of the Radeon R9 290X showed anything other than that it's fast enough to make the GTX TITAN look like a bad choice, it's that it's hot and noisy, and that the reference design cooling solution is hopelessly inadequate at keeping the temperatures and noise in check. At some point in the future, AMD was going to allow its add-in board (AIB) partners the freedom to launch non-reference design Radeon R9 290X, or at least cards with custom-design cooling solutions. That point is closer than we think, and could be as early as late-November, according to a SweClockers report.

According to the report, AMD's AIB partners will launch R9 290X graphics cards with custom-design air- and liquid-cooling solutions by late November, 2013. It's when the likes of DirectCU II, WindForce 450W, TwinFrozr IV, Vapor-X, and IceQ X2 will begin to associate with even the most basic R9 290X cards (which start at $549.99). AMD's R9 290X is currently available in only two SKUs, both of which are based on the AMD reference cooler design; the $549.99 standard edition, and the $569.99 Battlefield 4 Edition, which includes an Origin-redeemable key to Battlefield 4 (standard edition).



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[Kursah]

That WindForce 450W does a good job keeping my GTX770 at no more than low 70's in summer, and even at full bore isn't really all that noisy, but sure does move some air! I'm curious to see the results on a 290X though!

 

[pyyy]

Cant wait!

 

[SIGSEGV]

my reliable source told me that AMD 290 series stock quantity is now shortage around the world, even AIB partner couldn't get enough supply of its chips. so, in my calculation it's gonna release around mid December.

 

[1d10t]

my reliable source told me that AMD 290 series stock quantity is now shortage around the world, even AIB partner couldn't get enough supply of its chips. so, in my calculation it's gonna release around mid December.

AMD had all the cards now,you don't say they wouldn't play check and rise bet,did they?

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Sweet, I thought I was going to have to buy a ref 290 or 290x and an aftermarket heatsink. I seriously doubt I'll have the cash before December, so these should be available by then.

 

[Prima.Vera]

We have the cards, but no high quality games. Ironic, right?

 

[BarbaricSoul]

We have the cards, but no high quality games. Ironic, right?

BF4 in BETA, Crysis 3 released, MechWarrior Online, and me with a 1600p monitor. I don't know about you, but I have plenty for a 290X to chew though.

 

[buggalugs]

Just as I suspected, it wont be too long.

BF4 in BETA, Crysis 3 released, MechWarrior Online, and me with a 1600p monitor. I don't know about you, but I have plenty for a 290X to chew though.

Agreed, high-res or 120Hz monitor owners can always use it.

 

[THE_EGG]

That WindForce 450W does a good job keeping my GTX770 at no more than low 70's in summer, and even at full bore isn't really all that noisy, but sure does move some air! I'm curious to see the results on a 290X though!

Do agree! I'm happy with the cooler on my 580SOC. Although reading some reviews of the 280x with this cooler disappointed me a bit...Seemed very noisy like Gigabyte have done some extreme cost cutting or just did a crap job at designing/optimising it for the 280x :/

 

[Prima.Vera]

BF4 in BETA, Crysis 3 released, MechWarrior Online, and me with a 1600p monitor. I don't know about you, but I have plenty for a 290X to chew though.

I can play all 3 with almost max settings (SMAA instead of FSAA) on my current config. Which is not that outstanding btw...
But agree for 1600p gaming, you need better hardware. (For 1080p is fine imo...)

 

[Hilux SSRG]

That WindForce 450W does a good job keeping my GTX770 at no more than low 70's in summer, and even at full bore isn't really all that noisy, but sure does move some air! I'm curious to see the results on a 290X though!

Agreed, I have the Windforce 3X on my GTX670 and it is great for keeping temps down at low noise levels.

 

[Casecutter]

It seems that AMD wanted to keep as much technical oversight on this the first production as possible and can watch super closely if issues arise. Plus it seems they were running on a fairly tight timeline, and didn't want leaks so, dropping all into reference production cards is the best way to control all that.

I think AMD had all of this knowledge and upgrades figured out, but they wanted it on 20Nm part at some point early 2014. Then the beginning of this year (2013) TSMC probably came along saying , they weren’t going to be ready, while Nvidia had GK110 to drop in desktop market. At which point AMD had to change strategy and moved Hawaii to 28Nm and had to figure-out how/if it was controllable. They played with a design for 3 months, till end of April. Then 6 weeks to receive a first spin engineering samples to run accelerated qualification, while then almost congruently moving into risk production, figure sometime in August they received chips. Then move those to a card manufacture and then hold to see what the final BIOS would be. That's the wait... probably right up into the Launch day in Hawaii, for what they would set/BIOS and that pushed it into October.

AMD probably had AIB with some layout and broad cooler specification in mid-August, but they didn't know the final BIOS and survivability till like before Hawaii Launch day, so could offer any concrete numbers. That said, let's hope the AIB's have had "all hands on deck" to offer some nicer coolers that optimize the obtainable clocks, because AMD left a lot on the proverbial table I believe for them to exploit.

 

[N3M3515]

I'm starting to think, amd did that 94°C on purpouse, could it be true, could those chips work at that temperature without problems? lifetime?

Because, even non reference cards will get to 94°, i mean, the only difference with stock will be that with the same temperature it will reach higher clock speeds, and quieter. Anyone?

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

I'm starting to think, amd did that 94°C on purpouse, could it be true, could those chips work at that temperature without problems? lifetime?

Because, even non reference cards will get to 94°, i mean, the only difference with stock will be that with the same temperature it will reach higher clock speeds, and quieter. Anyone?

Production is a stepped process and on this step, the 28nm node has no more surprises, i think its just that simple.

and it was on purpose.

eg 1 = R9290X is released at its max performance and with a decent cooler and sells well


eg 2 = R9290X is released in progresivly ref, then AIB cooled then , well you know how it goes but they get more money this way per amount of research put in.

 

[slick_nwa]

windforce rulz!

I agree with waitin' for the Windforce cooler before buying the 290. Have gone with that option for the 280X and it's ice cold and not as loud as one might think, especialy if u compare it to the stock cooler. When Gigabyte shows it can cool the beast efectively i'll sell this one and move to their 290. till then thow...7970 and 280X is the safe way to go.

 

[1nstan7]

late nov? Lies, guess this post was just for page views.

 

[Anusha]

It's already December (at least for the far east). Sadness!

 

[d1nky]

you never know, they could start popping up in the next few hours

 

[Anusha]

you never know, they could start popping up in the next few hours

i hope they do that!

 

[HammerON]

I find it strange that it has taken so long for them to release non-reference designs for these cards...

 

[Fourstaff]

I find it strange that it has taken so long for them to release non-reference designs for these cards...

Probably shortage somewhere, or they are struggling to control the temps.

 

[d1nky]

it is odd, whats it been around a month? usually happens after a week!

I haven't even seen leakage of the cards yet...

 

[shovenose]

They don't have a chance much longe.r..

 

[NeoXF]

Guys...

http://videocardz.com/48270/msi-radeon-r9-290x-lightning-pcb-pictured

Finally, something! (and what a "something" this is, I might add...)