AMD Responds to R9 290 Series Performance Variance

Brent_Justice

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AMD has released a statement in regards to performance variances on the new R9 290 series. A driver update is pending.

A media outlet has uniquely reported instances of AMD Radeon R9 290X boards purchased in retail that have exhibited an uncharacteristic level of performance variance as compared to press samples issued by AMD. We’re working to secure the board(s) in question for further analysis. Boards purchased by other media outlets have not exhibited similar characteristics that we’re aware of. In the meantime, we’ve identified areas where variability can be minimized and are working on a driver update which will minimize this variance. We will provide an update shortly.

Update *November 7th*

http://www.hardocp.com/news/2013/11/07/update_on_amd_responds_to_r9_290_series_performance_variance

Hello, We've identified that there's variability in fan speeds across AMD R9 290 series boards. This variability in fan speed translates into variability of the cooling capacity of the fan-sink. The flexibility of AMD PowerTune technology enables us to correct this variability in a driver update. This update will normalize the fan RPMs to the correct values.

The correct target RPM values are 2200RPM for the AMD Radeon R9 290X "Quiet mode", and 2650RPM for the R9 290. You can verify these in GPU-Z. If you're working on stories relating to R9 290 series products, please use this driver as it will reduce any variability in fan speeds. This driver will be posted publicly tonight.
 
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Interesting. Let's see how that plays out. If they can make them all perform like the media sample 290, I'll definitely buy one :)
 
nice that they are right on top of it...

i assume it was THG?
 
lol one guy didn't get the same performance. Could be a bad card. But if they found a driver issue then might be applicable to more cards. I don't know what to believe anymore.

Anyways, I am more interested to see what performance aftermarket cooling will bring to the table.
 
We are now praising a company for providing uncharacteristically performing product to reviewers? So it would be ok for Subaru to provide test drivers with a WRX that performs better than the one you buy retail as long as they said "they think they know what the problem is"? What has this fanboy world come too? Nvidia would be thrashed right now...
 
On the plus side, with the new PowerTune technology on board the 290 series, driver updates can tweak hardware level PowerTune settings. This allows AMD to tweak things regarding power/temp/performance in a much more low-level way now through simple driver updates. That new technology on board the 290 series is pretty sweet IMO.
 
We are now praising a company for providing uncharacteristically performing product to reviewers? So it would be ok for Subaru to provide test drivers with a WRX that performs better than the one you buy retail as long as they said "they think they know what the problem is"? What has this fanboy world come too? Nvidia would be thrashed right now...

Personally, I think the issue is exaggerated.

When we get retail review units reviewed, we will know for sure, until then, speculation about unfair treatment of video cards of reviewers vs. what you get in retail is just nonfactual flame bait, In my honest personal opinion.
 
In my honest personal opinion.

I agree, it's strange how the issue suddenly turned into AMD deliberately deceiving reviewers/consumers with "golden" cards; all based on one review (as far as a know).

I don't think Tom's even stated that they felt they had bad deceived, just that something strange was going on. It, non-surprisingly, considering the partisan nature of things, morphed into something more sinister.
 
Not really surprising that it's Tomshardware. That place went to shit years ago, hard to find objective reporting there. ********************** more like bestof "Bought" media.
 
I agree, it's strange how the issue suddenly turned into AMD deliberately deceiving reviewers/consumers with "golden" cards; all based on one review (as far as a know).

I don't think Tom's even stated that they felt they had bad deceived, just that something strange was going on. It, non-surprisingly, considering the partisan nature of things, morphed into something more sinister.

I look forward to finding out what the driver does in regards to this part of the statement: "In the meantime, we’ve identified areas where variability can be minimized and are working on a driver update which will minimize this variance."
 
Supposedly sweclockers went and bought some retail and debunked the rhumor of cherrypicked review units...
 
Personally, I think the issue is exaggerated.

When we get retail review units reviewed, we will know for sure, until then, speculation about unfair treatment of video cards of reviewers vs. what you get in retail is just nonfactual flame bait, In my honest personal opinion.

If it turns out as an outlier I will completely retract my statement. I by no means dislike AMD products and was very excited about this release.

It is a bit concerning they are immediately acknowledging the issue and there is some forum grumbling about boost not living up to what reviewers were seeing... only time will tell...
 
It is a bit concerning they are immediately acknowledging the issue and there is some forum grumbling about boost not living up to what reviewers were seeing... only time will tell...

You'd rather have Subaru not immediately acknowledge the tach and speedometer not working upon purchase?
 
On the plus side, with the new PowerTune technology on board the 290 series, driver updates can tweak hardware level PowerTune settings. This allows AMD to tweak things regarding power/temp/performance in a much more low-level way now through simple driver updates. That new technology on board the 290 series is pretty sweet IMO.

What other awesome new features can you tell us about AMD's sweet Radeon™ 290-series® PowerTune™ technology?

Honestly the way you worded that makes it sound more than a bit shilly™.
 
What other awesome new features can you tell us about AMD's sweet Radeon™ 290-series® PowerTune™ technology?

Honestly the way you worded that makes it sound more than a bit shilly™.

I have no problems with people here airing extremely critical criticisms. It is part of the business of what we do. But to imply that he is being paid for AMD for posting his opinions is deeply offensive and quite simply far from the truth. Brent is a video card and GPU enthusiast at his very heart. He is more passionate about this technology more than anyone else I know. We spend a tremendous amount of time and money collecting our data and forming our own opinions about it. For you to demean his hard work and passion for the industry by calling him a shill, and that is what you did, is simply out of line. If you want to attack our data and opinions, please do, but do not ever again imply that we are industry shills, because we are not.
 
I think it's cool with the ability to update low-level properties like that with simple driver updates, instead of having to do BIOS flashes

That means updates can be spread to all users of these GPUs with a driver update, and not have to take the risk of putting out a BIOS flash or something

I see that as evolution of good and useful technology, and i'm a technology kind of guy /shrug
 
Also, I was just kidding with my first post (when someone starts parroting marketing terms it looks a bit funny), but given the added responses, I think there might be something to it.
 
And so then AMD/Hardocp GamXperiANCE© (showcasing Dirt 3, AMD's pet game no less) was?

HardOCP made ZERO dollars from those events. We have never been paid for any event we have been associated with. No vendors were charged to come to the event and show off new products and give away tens of thousands of dollars worth of hardware.

We saw an opportunity to be part of an event that would strengthen the computer hardware enthusiast community. We want to promote PC gaming because that is what we care about no matter what hardware is in you rig. These events are a lot of work, but bottom line, they are fun and we get to be involved with the community beyond the walls of ether around here. We do those because we like them.

We worked with NVIDIA for over a year on an event that was to take place last month, but try as we may, we could not pull it off. :( These events require a LOT of work and resources.

To suggest that we are shills because of helping pull off a community event is really grasping at straws.

And to be very clear on this, the last event we did was around AMD's last true processor launch. You might want to go read our review on that and see just how much influence was passed along.

I hope I have addressed your concerns.
 
lol.... I guess you think all of the reviewers and products are free? not to mention hosting, etc

did you pay to read the review? or use this forum?
 
lol.... I guess you think all of the reviewers and products are free? not to mention hosting, etc

did you pay to read the review? or use this forum?

There are very few forums people have to pay to use... especially with large communities. But lets not forget you can also buy yourself a GenMay account or subscription or whatever. Goes nice with your RatPadZ™.

Having a community this large like HardOCP does is basically having a money tree for whoever owns it.

I get you guys like Kyle and stuff so white knighting him seems to come natural and all, but I don't think you realize how much money this guy makes off this site. Again it's not a charity and as I have shown pretty much everything that can be monetized here has been. I think back with that Infinium Labs thing he had court costs that went well into the six digits (quarter million plus I believe was the figure quoted). And that was way back in the day. How do you think that was paid for?
 
Dude, what a load, honestly. A community event would not be centered around one company and its products. It was nothing but a marketing ploy.

You are out to make a buck as much as the next guy. I don't blame you for it one bit, but don't try to pretend you are running some kind of charity here. You've partnered with Amazon, have buying links and ads everywhere, you get pissy if people use adblock, even the news articles are redirected to another page with ads (a HardOCP exclusive feature™ as far as I know). You are making money off this site.

I really like HardOCP, and usually visit daily as I have for years, but come on...

Spoiler alert: HardOCP is a business. HardOCP has been my full time job since 2000. While the number changes, we contract anywhere from 12 to 20 people per month. Everyone expects to be paid for their time. We earn money by selling advertisements, and through commissioned links.

The word you used was "shill." This is the definition in which I THINK it was used: "a person who publicizes or praises something or someone for reasons of self-interest, personal profit, or friendship or loyalty."

We do not "shill" for any company.

As for the events we have done in the past, yes, they have usually centered around one company because that company is paying all the bills for the associated event. I have tried to initiate "agnostic" events in the past, but those simply do not work. So you either have a sponsor company, that has a technology that it wants to promote, or you don't have an event at all.

I spent years working with QuakeCon and it was an agnostic event, but that ended when Intel and NVIDIA got involved. So while you seem to think there is some great evil paying off someone, there is not, at least not in HardOCP's case.

HardOCP is some of the purest computer enthusiast technology journalism you are going to find. If you think otherwise, that is your prerogative, but if you are going to make those claims, all I ask is that you bring with it is a shred of actual evidence.
 
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There are very few forums people have to pay to use... especially with large communities. But lets not forget you can also buy yourself a GenMay account or subscription or whatever. Goes nice with your RatPadZ™.

Having a community this large like HardOCP does is basically having a money tree for whoever owns it.

I get you guys like Kyle and stuff so white knighting him seems to come natural and all, but I don't think you realize how much money this guy makes off this site. Again it's not a charity and as I have shown pretty much everything that can be monetized here has been. I think back with that Infinium Labs thing he had court costs that went well into the six digits (quarter million plus I believe was the figure quoted). And that was way back in the day. How do you think that was paid for?

Who do you think pays for the free forums that you use? someone has to pay the bills =p
 
Who do you think pays for the free forums that you use? someone has to pay the bills =p

Ah, silly me, I simply took it all for granted. Everything I have said has now been invalidated in one fell swoop. Why, everyone else is out there is charging and arm and a leg to join their forums. And also, large forum communities are definitely not self-sustaining money machines with relatively tiny overhead. I would definitely not take Kyle's place in having to supply these forums... no, lots of free money... that would be too heavy a burden.

Oblivious? Alternate account for KB and/or affiliate?
 
Ah, silly me, I simply took it all for granted. Everything I have said has now been invalidated in one fell swoop. Why, everyone else is out there is charging and arm and a leg to join their forums. And also, large forum communities are definitely not self-sustaining money machines with relatively tiny overhead. I would definitely not take Kyle's place in having to supply these forums... no, lots of free money... that would be too heavy a burden.

Oblivious? Alternate account for KB and/or affiliate?

You are obviously trolling just for attention, and since we are calling people names, you are a disrespectful douche.

I've been using this site as a my tech news source for years and that's because of the honesty and integrity of the site, Kyle, and the team. Sure there is money in adverts, but that doesn't mean that the organization is corrupt. The track record for HardOCP has been quite impeccable despite getting a fair share of haters.

You are grasping at air just to pick a fight. You have no evidence to support your accusations. Stop trolling the guy who built this great site and community who is clear about his opinions, honest about his business, and patient enough with trolls like you to even grace you with a reply.
 
Ah, silly me, I simply took it all for granted. Everything I have said has now been invalidated in one fell swoop. Why, everyone else is out there is charging and arm and a leg to join their forums. And also, large forum communities are definitely not self-sustaining money machines with relatively tiny overhead. I would definitely not take Kyle's place in having to supply these forums... no, lots of free money... that would be too heavy a burden.

Oblivious? Alternate account for KB and/or affiliate?

no you see i was leaving bread crumbs hoping you'd eventually drop the ego and clue in.

you complained about advertisements on the site and forum, and make it seem like everything that you are using is free of charge, well it is free of charge to you, but not the people that provide it to you. So there are advertisements to pay for some of these things, and how about the time spent in providing you with these services? should the people who spend their time creating the communities that you enjoy so much not get rewarded for their efforts?

Let me guess, you spend all of your free time volunteering, and never hoping to make a dime of all of that hard work of yours! explains it all...
 
There are very few forums people have to pay to use... especially with large communities. But lets not forget you can also buy yourself a GenMay account or subscription or whatever. Goes nice with your RatPadZ™.

Having a community this large like HardOCP does is basically having a money tree for whoever owns it.

I get you guys like Kyle and stuff so white knighting him seems to come natural and all, but I don't think you realize how much money this guy makes off this site. Again it's not a charity and as I have shown pretty much everything that can be monetized here has been. I think back with that Infinium Labs thing he had court costs that went well into the six digits (quarter million plus I believe was the figure quoted). And that was way back in the day. How do you think that was paid for?

Who the fuck cares? FWIW they could be making millions, no one gives a shit. the users come here for the quality content (which is free, except genmay - but that is another story alltogether) and with good reason. I won't go into specifics like frame times and subjective gaming experience, but I swear to god everytime a new halo product gets released some idiot comes out of the woodwork claiming bias this, bias that.
Get a grip. And be thankful that Kyle has an unsual high tolerance for BS today.
 
I look forward to finding out what the driver does in regards to this part of the statement: "In the meantime, we’ve identified areas where variability can be minimized and are working on a driver update which will minimize this variance."
I wonder if this means the default fan speed will be increased (again?). :p. I for one would not like my GPU constantly hitting 90°C or higher. :eek:
Many people shall be waiting for a test with the "updated driver" to see what's up.

You all do alot of work. Kudos to Kyle, Steve, Brent, etc.



I need to update my sig for IvyBridge, lol.....:rolleyes:
 
You are making money off this site.

No way, I refuse to believe this. I thought Kyle and Brent and others worked 3 jobs just to keep this sink hole of a site running so whinny little shits like you could sit in their basement and criticize and feel like you actually know something.

I stand corrected.
 
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