The new R290X graphics card from PowerColor is built on AMD’s latest Hawaii GPUs. This is the first truly new high-end graphics chip from the company in almost two years. This particular GPU from PowerColor is an over clocked edition, which means that it will be faster than the reference design and that too at no additional cost.
Specifications
This GPU is built on a 28nm process at TSMC Taiwan and uses 6.8 billion transistors. Its 4 gigabytes of memory has a 512-bit wide memory bus that is connected with 2816 shaders and 64 Render OutPut units. While the reference design card is clocked at a 1000 MHz, this one has been upped to 1030 MHz. The GPU comes with an HDMI sound device and HDMI 1.4a compatibility. It includes HD audio and Blu-ray 3D support.
Design
The design is the same as the AMDs reference cooler, but it has been upgraded with some red highlights and a PowerColor sticker. In addition, it comes with one HDMI port, two DVI ports and one display port. These can be useful if you are planning to use three monitors at the same time.
The heat generated by the core is cooled by the large Vapo-chamber base plate. This cooler also reduces the heat around the memory chips and voltage regulation circuitry.
Performance
PowerColor retail cards come with a dual BIOS feature: uber and quiet. These can be switched for performance changes. For example, quiet mode reduces performance and limits the fan to 40% for noiseless function. On the other hand, in uber mode, you can push the GPU to its limits.
In performance, this is a beast of a card, beating Nvidia’s TITAN GPU! This is no small feat as the TITAN is going strong and adequately demanding $1,000! With its high clock speeds, its performance is better than the reference AMD card and its price competitor Nvidia’s GTX780.
Price
This is the most affordable high-end card in the market. PowerColor does not charge extra for its higher clock speeds which makes buying this GPU for $550 a great choice!
