Overclock.net banner

[pcper]AMD Radeon R9 290X Now Selling at $299

14K views 154 replies 72 participants last post by  azanimefan 
#1 ·
Quote:
When NVIDIA launched the GTX 980 and GTX 970 last month, it shocked the discrete graphics world. AMD responded with some price cuts on both the R9 290X and the R9 290 shortly thereafter (though they refuse to call them that) and it seems that AMD and its partners are at it again.

Looking on Amazon.com today we found several R9 290X and R9 290 cards at extremely low prices. For example:

XFX Radeon R9 290X Double D - $299 (after MIR)
Gigabyte R9 290X WindForce - $360
MSI R9 290X Gaming - $366

The R9 290X's primary competition in terms of raw performance is the GeForce GTX 980, currently selling for $549 and up. If you can find them in stock, that means NVIDIA has a hill of $250 to climb when going against the lowest priced R9 290X.
Quote:
Will NVIDIA make any adjustments of its own? It's hard to say right now since stock is so hard to come by of both the GTX 980 and GTX 970 but it's hard to imagine NVIDIA lowering prices as long as parts continue to sell out. NVIDIA believes that its branding and technologies like G-Sync make GeForce cards more valuable and until they being to see a shift in the market, I imagine that will stay the course.
source
 
#3 ·
Nvidia already took the counter move by selling 780Tis at 360$ before rebates and stuff.. I wish i can dig out that 2 weeks ago article from AMD saying no price cuts.. Seriously i like AMD. but they need some HUGE work in their PR department. these guys have never been honest to the public in the past two years. UGH.
 
#4 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ramzinho View Post

Nvidia already took the counter move by selling 780Tis at 360$ before rebates and stuff.. I wish i can dig out that 2 weeks ago article from AMD saying no price cuts.. Seriously i like AMD. but they need some HUGE work in their PR department. these guys have never been honest to the public in the past two years. UGH.
Well if it's Gigabyte and XFX who want to sell their cards for less, isn't that their choice? It's not AMD's as far as I know.

AMD has been in murky water for a bit now but I think that with the new CEO, the Zen CPUs and the 3xx series, we can look forward to some good stuff. One has to remember that when the R9 290 entered the market, it was the best card to get in quite a large price segment (after aftermarket coolers were slapped on, that is). An FX 8320 with a good overclock on it trades blows with a similarly priced Haswell i5 at stock speeds (obviously AMD doesn't have anything on overclocked Haswell). I actually like what AMD has done and I'm looking forward to seeing what they deliver in the future. Intel and Nvidia can dedicate their resources to only CPUs and only GPUs respectively, mad respect that AMD has something to offer on both fronts.
 
#5 ·
I still don't understand why someone would take a 290X over the GTX 970 when they

-cost the same or nearly the same and
-have the same quantity of VRAM

The 290X's massive power draw versus its Maxwell counterpart makes this a given decision for me at least. AMD would need to price the 290X somewhere in the low $200's and even then it would be a tough sell.
 
#6 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by coachmark2 View Post

I still don't understand why someone would take a 290X over the GTX 970 when they

-cost the same or nearly the same and
-have the same quantity of VRAM

The 290X's massive power draw versus its Maxwell counterpart makes this a given decision for me at least. AMD would need to price the 290X somewhere in the low $200's and even then it would be a tough sell.
i believe it's not directed towards who want a new GPU. it's more X Fire oriented. i've build my rig with x fire in mind.. and that's the route i'll go
 
#7 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by incog View Post

Well if it's Gigabyte and XFX who want to sell their cards for less, isn't that their choice? It's not AMD's as far as I know.

AMD has been in murky water for a bit now but I think that with the new CEO, the Zen CPUs and the 3xx series, we can look forward to some good stuff. One has to remember that when the R9 290 entered the market, it was the best card to get in quite a large price segment (after aftermarket coolers were slapped on, that is). An FX 8320 with a good overclock on it trades blows with a similarly priced Haswell i5 at stock speeds (obviously AMD doesn't have anything on overclocked Haswell). I actually like what AMD has done and I'm looking forward to seeing what they deliver in the future. Intel and Nvidia can dedicate their resources to only CPUs and only GPUs respectively, mad respect that AMD has something to offer on both fronts.
I've seen sapphire and Asus sell for 329.99$ and i've posted some deals on a MSI sapphire 290 coming with games and headset for 259
 
#9 ·
MIR is such a cheat. It isn't like you get the money next week. That "MIR" has to come out of pocket at the time of purchase and you won't see it again for months if at all.

They need to get real and price them at $299. None of this MIR bs. Still wouldn't be for me, but, I can see them getting more sales because of it.
 
#10 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by coachmark2 View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ramzinho View Post

i believe it's not directed towards who want a new GPU. it's more X Fire oriented. i've build my rig with x fire in mind.. and that's the route i'll go
Serious question: Would you really rather have Crossfire over SLI?
Considering they no longer have frame pacing issues for the most part with modern games, they support mixed eyefinity, crossfire scaling is brilliant, and he already has a card... it would be quite a stupid decision to go SLI.
 
#11 ·
I think at $300, these cards are a good deal. Nice find.

It really doesn't matter who made the call to cut prices, this is price they will sell at as determined by consumers.

If AMD is still being pigheaded then manufacturers will simply sellout their existing supplies and then AMD won't sell much of anything until they release next-gen chips or lower prices to match competition.
 
#12 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Artikbot View Post

Considering they no longer have frame pacing issues for the most part with modern games, they support mixed eyefinity, crossfire scaling is brilliant, and he already has a card... it would be quite a stupid decision to go SLI.
Not quite.

The Radeon card he already has is not a sunk cost. He CAN sell that for $$$ and then purchase two nearly equivalent Nvidia cards for around the same net out of pocket.

I only ask because I had the most horrid experience imaginable on Crossfire and with Catalyst in general. (I had a pair of 7950's) I thought the whole "Ra Ra Ra AMD drivers suck" line of thinking was obsolete and that they had stepped up their game.

I was wrong.
 
#15 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Danker16 View Post

man what a piss off, I paid 400 for my R290 mid september
On the bright side if your looking to Crossfire, that 2nd R290 will cost you much less.
 
#16 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by coachmark2 View Post

I only ask because I had the most horrid experience imaginable on Crossfire and with Catalyst in general. (I had a pair of 7950's) I thought the whole "Ra Ra Ra AMD drivers suck" line of thinking was obsolete and that they had stepped up their game.

I was wrong.
Sucks to hear that. My experience has not been the same. Only one issue, my personal 6950 would flicker like mad with two screens and overclocking. I had to reflash the BIOS with constant memory frequencies to fix it, but... not a single issue other than that, neither in my machine nor in the ones I've built for other people.
 
#17 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by coachmark2 View Post

I only ask because I had the most horrid experience imaginable on Crossfire and with Catalyst in general. (I had a pair of 7950's) I thought the whole "Ra Ra Ra AMD drivers suck" line of thinking was obsolete and that they had stepped up their game.
I just came from 7950's crossfire'd and was pretty impressed with the drivers and performance.
 
#18 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by coachmark2 View Post

I still don't understand why someone would take a 290X over the GTX 970 when they

-cost the same or nearly the same and
-have the same quantity of VRAM

The 290X's massive power draw versus its Maxwell counterpart makes this a given decision for me at least. AMD would need to price the 290X somewhere in the low $200's and even then it would be a tough sell.
Power draw is like the 6th on the list of importance to me. those 290x are really good at high res and for 299 I would consider it frankly.
 
#19 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by coachmark2 View Post

Not quite.

The Radeon card he already has is not a sunk cost. He CAN sell that for $$$ and then purchase two nearly equivalent Nvidia cards for around the same net out of pocket.

I only ask because I had the most horrid experience imaginable on Crossfire and with Catalyst in general. (I had a pair of 7950's) I thought the whole "Ra Ra Ra AMD drivers suck" line of thinking was obsolete and that they had stepped up their game.

I was wrong.
Huh, I have crossfire 7950's and my experience has been only excellent. Scaling has been awesome, and games run quite smooth.
 
#20 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by coachmark2 View Post

Serious question: Would you really rather have Crossfire over SLI?
if i already own a 290X... and i can get a Block + GPU for 350$ Why not? + Amd now are actually updating drivers on Bi Weekly basis. if we get a CCC rework.. AMD is gonna take off with these prices.
 
#21 ·
This is the best deal I've seen so far. And in terms of power I'd say this is DEFINITELY the best deal around.
 
#24 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by coachmark2 View Post

I still don't understand why someone would take a 290X over the GTX 970 when they

-cost the same or nearly the same and
-have the same quantity of VRAM

The 290X's massive power draw versus its Maxwell counterpart makes this a given decision for me at least. AMD would need to price the 290X somewhere in the low $200's and even then it would be a tough sell.
Better scaling and cheaper price, a lot of people also already own a 290x for a year now like myself, the card literally came out a year and day ago.

That said..

http://www.overclock.net/t/1520424/at-benchmarked-civilization-beyond-earth/0_50

as an example... the 980 is one thing, but the 290x does beat the 970 in many scenarios, especially when the resolution goes up or heavy AA is applied.. of course they trade blows back in forth on many titles too..

Wouldn't be worth it for someone like me who alreadty owns the card to sell it for dirt cheap and pick up sli 970's for likely a performance loss

That all said... ebay prices on 290's and 290x's should be well.. amazing
 
#25 ·
Nice! I'd love a 290 Vapor X but dang the heat from these. Can I keep it in the 60's while being quiet?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top