Gigabyte R9 290X Windforce OC – press sample vs. mass production | Retro 10 years ago

1 - Nachtest mit der Retail-Karte 2 - Temperaturen und Lautstärke 3 - Gaming-Performance und Fazit

Test system and benchmarks

Of course, we couldn’t test many games and cards in the short time available, but in return we rely on the latest drivers for all cards. Four selected benchmarks were run in the highest possible quality settings, the single results were normalized and cumulated. The result is a performance index, where the Radeon R9 290 reference card serves as the 100 percent mark.

Performance rating

In order to achieve results that are as close to reality as possible, we brought the cards to operating temperature in each case before the measured run in order to avoid unfair advantages due to too high boost rates for both chip providers. To remain as realistic as possible, we tested the performance in an open setup (blue bars) and a closed, averagely equipped midi case(Enermax Fulmo ST, configuration see next page, red bars). The cards have a green bar with the same performance.

In the open configuration, the Gigabyte R9 290X Windforce OC is on par with the Sapphire R9 290X Tri-X OC and can push itself ahead of the GeForce GTX 780 Ti reference compared to the press sample in the installed state. The Sapphire card has also moved closer into view again, because the differences are really only marginal:

Summary and conclusion

It’s always problematic to correctly interpret and comprehend rumors, intermediate states and the cross-traffic between manufacturers and suppliers. Also, the assumption that there is a spark of truth in everything somewhere is not completely far-fetched. Today’s test showed that the BIOS update cleans up with the excessively high voltages and an adjusted fan curve provides for a lower noise development. Let’s summarize once again:

• The information we published and the quote about the production change, as well as the problems with the supplier, affected at most single pre-production units, which, according to Gigabyte, never went on sale like this. Since we had been in contact with Gigabyte for a while, a temporal overlap obviously caused a misunderstanding. The current model differs considerably from the press sample.
  Correct
• Early press samples were shipped with a BIOS that hadn’t been optimized yet, again, retailers shouldn’t be affected or only to a small extent. Gigabyte changed the BIOS in the change we published, not the cooler. This was interpreted by some media in the copy as “discontinuation of production”, or translated incorrectly; because the temporary stop or change reported by us, as also published in the headline from the beginning, are something completely different.
  Correct
• The shortcoming in the size and thickness of the copper plate that we depicted is one of the reasons for a slightly higher temperature, but not the main reason for the poor performance of the press samples in the reviews. Gigabyte blames the BIOS for this.
  Also true

We will add these new values to our roundup soon and if necessary, we will also publish more information and new findings on this topic.