• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

290/290x availability thread

Superhuman said:
Guys, please stop turning the thread into a bitcoin mining rate discussion thread.
Click to expand...

No shit, I just want to play some fucking games already. New (nearly) kickass build but still running my old HD4890 because I REFUSE to pay much over MSRP for the 290 I want due to these jacked up shitty prices.

Take your mining BS elsewhere please.
 
This is an availability thread,If you guys want to discuss mining, there are plenty of threads in the DC section kindly take it over there ,they will be glad to have you
 
Amazon put up the price of the MSI Gaming R9 290 from $469 to $550 or so, still with 1-3month delivery. Oy vey!

Cheapest NewEgg R9 290 is $US579, most are $US599. That's $US200 over the original MSRP.

How long can this rorting go on?
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
LOL! I was about to get REALLY pissed.. Because I just canceled my (3) MSI 290's I had on order from that last pre-order... I want Asus instead...
 
edge929 said:
I'm still seeing it at $470.

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-R9-290-GAMING-4G/dp/B00HPS4AFG/ref=pd_sim_pc_5
Click to expand...

Yep, they dropped back down again to $US469. Colour me confused at Amazon's pricing shenanigans.

(Just purchased a Asus DirectCUII 290X for $US579 ... it's on backorder at Amazon [see R9 Availability thread], but that's a good price. Now I get to see if they'll ship it to me in Australia, since last time I tried, "cannot ship to your country" popped up. Didn't this time, so fingers crossed.)
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
My Asus 290x just moved to shipping! Should get it Tuesday.

*I ordered it Jan 13.
 
Do share! From where?!

Also, if I'm watercooling, wouldn't the MSI work for me? Or is it the PCB that is making that card blow?
 
Gigabyte R9 290X Windforce is in stock at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GDDR...e=UTF8&qid=1391359366&sr=1-3&keywords=r9+290x

Price is 599.99. (UPDATE: They're all gone.)

I have one ordered for my HTPC, but not entirely sure if I should keep it or not.

EDIT: I backed out. With the near-zero amount of gaming I do right now, I'll just wait for 20nm cards to come out and then move my 780's down.
EDIT to the EDIT: What the hell, I'm back in. Mantle has me curious, and this should keep both my computers game capable for two years.
 
Last edited:
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Not up to date on unlocking but assumed it's the same die but one is artificially handicapped. Similar to USR HST vs Dual Standard handicap via ROM back in the days that's undone via ROM swap.
 
^^^Some of the super early cards were literally 290x chips with a 290 bios on them. All 3 of my cards are 290x chips, you can only check this by removing the heatsink and looking at the numbers on the die itself.

I have 3 unlocked 290x cards, and there is roughly a 7% difference between the cards at stock speeds. Once you have both cards running at the same clock speed, that difference is cut down to around 4%. Buy whatever you can find in stock at a reasonable price with a company that has decent warranty support down the line if you need it.
 
I would imagine the same holds true today as it did when they first came out. They usually try to create the highest level card they can and make those that do not make the grade a lower level card. Right now, they are trying to supply both the 290X and the 290 and are falling very behind in both arenas. Still very possible to get a 290X in a 290 wrapper.

Real issue is why buy a 290X for the premium $$$ for the small gain. I have 2 290X cards on order (3 week wait from AMAZON)because I can not get to the 290's before they are all sold out.
 
I just received four Sapphire Tri-X R9 290's from Amazon about 2 days ago. Preorder finally went through. At full load they only hit 80C even when overclocked to 1100 core with +80mV.
 
Is Asus still "the" r9 to get? It seems like it based off how hard it is to find... I see XFX in stock here and there... But never Asus...
 
seaneboy said:
Is Asus still "the" r9 to get? It seems like it based off how hard it is to find... I see XFX in stock here and there... But never Asus...
Click to expand...

On air? Sapphire tri-x r9's are getting excellent reviews.

Edit: It seems sapphire is only using hynix memory with those cards and they do use reference pcb's, so any current block should fit. Reference cards from whatever vendor, should work fine though (xfx warranty > asus's warranty).
 
Last edited:
tonyftw said:
On air? Sapphire tri-x r9's are getting excellent reviews.

Edit: It seems sapphire is only using hynix memory with those cards and they do use reference pcb's, so any current block should fit. Reference cards from whatever vendor, should work fine though (xfx warranty > asus's warranty).
Click to expand...

Interesting.. I thought Asus would be best.. What makes XFX better? The fulfillment end of the warranty, or duration? Wasn't there issues with different quality on boards?
 
seaneboy said:
Interesting.. I thought Asus would be best.. What makes XFX better? The fulfillment end of the warranty, or duration?
Click to expand...

Between those two, fulfillment.

If you're buying reference, it really doesn't matter from which vendor you end up buying since they're practically the same card. The only differences are warranties offered.
 
Just got an email from Amazon on my Asus 290 DCII.

We now have delivery date(s) for the order you placed on January 17, 2014:

"ASUS Graphics Cards R9290-DC2OC-4GD5"
Estimated arrival date: February 07, 2014
Click to expand...
 
If you are watercooling go with reference powercolor or xfx, both have a chance to unlock albeit low at this point and don't void your warranty for removing the cooler.
 
veedubfreak said:
If you are watercooling go with reference powercolor or xfx, both have a chance to unlock albeit low at this point and don't void your warranty for removing the cooler.
Click to expand...

XFX warranties don't get voided for replacing the cooler. Yes, they have those stickers on the back but those only apply to people outside of the US according to the research I've done.
 
allen5055 said:
XFX warranties don't get voided for replacing the cooler. Yes, they have those stickers on the back but those only apply to people outside of the US according to the research I've done.
Click to expand...

That's....what I said? Or are you just reinforcing me.
 
I have an email from XFX support telling me specifically that their warranty will not be voided by using a third party cooler. I have a 6950 with a dead fan. They told me that I can either send it in for replacement or put a third party cooler on it.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
seaneboy said:
Hmmph.. Wondering if I should ditch my Asus reference that I ordered... And go with that one above...Seems like it would be a no brainer.. Are there any benefits to putting an Asus 290 on an asus mobo? I'd imagine not...

Forgive me, I am nub.. Would watercooling require double d?
Click to expand...

If you want to water cool, you're better off with reference boards. The compatibility for nearly all water blocks are based on reference boards.
 
veedubfreak said:
Open box for more than I paid for my cards on launch day. That makes me chuckle.
Click to expand...

If only we all had your crystal ball. Next time your superpowers see a surge in price like this, do your fellow [H]'ers a solid and give us a heads up!
 
edge929 said:
If only we all had your crystal ball. Next time your superpowers see a surge in price like this, do your fellow [H]'ers a solid and give us a heads up!
Click to expand...

Gotta laugh at the snide pricks who lucked in to buying things -before- the AMD/Mining boom, and then chortle with glee when anyone finds a subsequent 'bargain'.

Here's a dose of 'real world' one-upmanship: "I retired in July 2013", beat that!

Still waiting for Amazon to fulfill my $MSRP+$20 Asus DirectCUII R9 290X, but it will happen, eventually.
 
Excessionoz said:
Gotta laugh at the snide pricks who lucked in to buying things -before- the AMD/Mining boom, and then chortle with glee when anyone finds a subsequent 'bargain'.

Here's a dose of 'real world' one-upmanship: "I retired in July 2013", beat that!

Still waiting for Amazon to fulfill my $MSRP+$20 Asus DirectCUII R9 290X, but it will happen, eventually.
Click to expand...

It does sting though. When the cards were first released and the first reviews came out I was thinking "Wow, $399 for that kind of performance is such an awesome deal... should I bite even though my 7950 is playing everything just fine? I'll think about it for a little while..." A little later I decided I did in fact want one and went to Newegg and was like OMGWTFBBQ. I knew about Bitcoin but it had been around forever and never suspected it would explode all the sudden and skyrocket video card prices and constrain supply with it.
 
Cobra, it's the people who go out of their way to be dicks about it that people should disrespect. Paying premium dollars for a card multiple months after its release, is like a friggin nightmare scenario. Newegg and Amazon prices ain't helping. :(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top