Gigabyte Radeon R9 290X OC & R9 290 OC Review: Immense potential lost to GPU shortages...

[dividebyzero]

Especially when you count that the only difference between a 780 and a 780ti is that they dont use a laser to cut the GPU same as the 290 to 290X.

:smh:
All modern GPUs regardless of manufacturer feature two methods of logic block disablement.
1. If the logic blocks are on the perimeter of the die they can be laser cut if the cut wouldn't produce an irregular die shape (non-square/rectangle)
2. Most die disablement is accomplished by fuses laid down in the late metal layer stages of fabrication. If the logic blocks exhibit aberrant behaviour (faults, excessive current leakage), the fuses are blown electrically during the die testing process.

 

[GhostRyder]

:smh:
All modern GPUs regardless of manufacturer feature two methods of logic block disablement.
1. If the logic blocks are on the perimeter of the die they can be laser cut if the cut wouldn't produce an irregular die shape (non-square/rectangle)
2. Most die disablement is accomplished by fuses laid down in the late metal layer stages of fabrication. If the logic blocks exhibit aberrant behaviour (faults, excessive current leakage), the fuses are blown electrically during the die testing process.

Edit: Nvm I dont feel like arguing, too much effort.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1443242/the-r9-290-290x-unlock-thread/2050

The 290 is a 290x with laser cuts to disable the cores from cards that either did not meet the requirements or whatever.

 

[dividebyzero]

Edit: Nvm I dont feel like arguing, too much effort.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1443242/the-r9-290-290x-unlock-thread/2050

The 290 is a 290x with laser cuts to disable the cores from cards that either did not meet the requirements or whatever.

Maybe you should actually read what you linked to. How do you suppose people unlocked the additional cores on a 290 if the die was laser cut?...or had fuses blown for that matter?
What that OCN thread is talking about is fully functional Hawaii XT dies being binned down to Hawaii Pro due to either shortages of Pro parts, and/or fully functional XT parts not meeting the power envelope decreed by AMD.

The unlocked 290's are not laser cut, they are full blown 290x chips. - Post #2056 on the very page you linked to

On 2: I doubt 28nm chip could have laser fuses. I'd bet on effuse. Post #2061 on the very next page

Of course, feel free to disagree...just because my opinion coincides with the graphics reviewer/GPU-Z author (and TechPowerUp site owner) W1ZZARD and a host of other fairly well informed individuals - and the small fact that all GPUs come out of the same foundry (TSMC) on the same process node...maybe we're all wrong

 

[Steve]

I don't understand how you can review the AMD reference cards and score them 91 and 92 when these Gigabyte cards out-perform and out-cool those cards and you only scored them an 80.

I understand that this is because the price due to miners snatching them up and retailers taking advantage.. but the price will go back down eventually, and it's not Gigabyte's fault for the price increase, is it?

You know what they say about assumptions right?

 

[GhostRyder]

Maybe you should actually read what you linked to. How do you suppose people unlocked the additional cores on a 290 if the die was laser cut?...or had fuses blown for that matter?
What that OCN thread is talking about is fully functional Hawaii XT dies being binned down to Hawaii Pro due to either shortages of Pro parts, and/or fully functional XT parts not meeting the power envelope decreed by AMD.



Of course, feel free to disagree...just because my opinion coincides with the graphics reviewer/GPU-Z author (and TechPowerUp site owner) W1ZZARD and a host of other fairly well informed individuals - and the small fact that all GPUs come out of the same foundry (TSMC) on the same process node...maybe we're all wrong

XFX themselves confirmed they LASER cut the GPU to disable some of the Cores thus creating the 290. This is done to the GPU's that either don't live up to the standard of the 290x or whatever. How about you read about half way down the page, here ill even assist you.

Dear XFX Team,

what are the dangers of flashing a R290X BIOS on a R290A card. I purchased an XFX 290A card and after reading about this possibility I flashed the R290X BIOS and was able to unlock the additional Shaders and ROPs.
Could you tell me whether I actually have an R290X card which was labelled as R290?
Why would this happen by the way?
Also, are there any risks? As far as I can tell, there aren't any because I am running an R290X card with a R290X BIOS.
Your help would be much appreciated.
Kind regards,

Hey , this seems to be the question of the week.
Here’s the short explanation.
1. Voids your XFX 2 year warranty.
2. You cannot Unlock the shaders, they are cut off by laser
3. The 290A’s were just failed versions of the 290x, Basically AMD tests every Hawaii GPU and if the GPU can take the 290x speeds, they Pass. If not, they get downclocked, lessened shaders, and tested again at 290A speeds.
Forcing a 290A to be a 290X works for about 2 weeks, some claim longer, but I don’t believe them. This month alone there are over 50 units permanently bricked that we’ve had to reject.
290A’s are not 290X’s, the flash will not stand and I won’t be able to help you.
Be safe.
Play Hard!

The reason that the GPU's in some cases came where you could unlock the extra shaders was merely because the companies XFX, powercolor, sapphire, and I forget who else were rushed to get some 290's on the market due to the limited window of opportunity thrown in by the quick release of the 290 after the 290x. Thus they picked the chips that may or may not have passed the 290X tests with flying colors but failed to send them to have them cut to permanently disable the cores thus we got some cards that could be unlocked to 290X.

 

[cliffordcooley]

I don't care whether it is a software or hardware disable. What difference does it make to us forum members? Knowing these detail are not gonna help us use our computers. As long as the final product is released and I can reap the benefits of someone else's hard work, I will be very happy.

 

[GhostRyder]

I don't care whether it is a software or hardware disable. What difference does it make to us forum members? Knowing these detail are not gonna help us use our computers. As long as the final product is released and I can reap the benefits of someone else's hard work, I will be very happy.

Agreed @cliffordcooley In the long run it wont matter.

You know what they say about assumptions right?

I snickered at this response, well played sir, well played.

 

[Guest]

I bought the Gigabyte GTX 780 GHZ from newegg for 540 with the holiday bundle so it came with the new batman, assassins creed and splintercell games. When you compare the numbers for the 780 ghz versus the 290x in this review (both reviews done by this site) the 780 GHZ comes out on top as much as 7-10 fps in games like crysis far cry bio shock and matches it or comes close in other games like metro last light. This card wasn't available when I purchased the 780 towards the end of December. It is now available on newegg for 700. I was really hoping to get a 290x since last fall when they were announced but at the price it just didn't make sense and I didn't feel like waiting for the price to drop. Since I got it I've been very pleased getting consistent boosts at 1163 core. The fans never went above 58% with a max temp of 74.

 

[Guest]

Well , for what is worth , I see that Gigabyte AMD Radeon R9 290, 4096MB is priced at 430 Euro (Romania), which is not far from the official price, 400$ = 400 Euro in EU (taxes and stuff). Is available on order.

Gigabyte nVidia GeForce GTX780, 3072MB is priced at 500 Euro and out of stock.

 

[Guest]

Jeeze, I am wondering how you could possibly be so biased as to compare a custom cooled windforce R9 290 to a bone stock GTX 780. Were there no custom cooled 780s available?

Then I noticed that you did almost an identical review 2 months earlier with the same windforce cooler on a GTX 780. Why the heck would you not include those results in your R9 290 and R9 290x review?

Were you paid to make the AMD cards look better than they are?

Good news. GPU scrypt mining is almost dead. The AMD GPUs that have been running flat out 24/7 are now starting to flood the classifieds and cheaper and cheaper levels. Understandably so, as many of those are questionable as to their warranty status, having been abused and such.

This flood of cheap R9s is going to drive the price of them down quickly. One month from now, you'll be seeing MSRP priced R9s on dealer shelves, and the GTX 780s and 780tis will start dropping in price again to match relative values.

This drop in GPU prices may be 5 months late, but we always knew GPU 'coin' mining was going to be a flash in the pan, as custom ASICS were always going to take over eventually.

'Bout frickin' time.

 

[Steve]

Were you paid to make the AMD cards look better than they are?

How else would the review end up being so bias, jeeze.

Thanks I needed that to get through the rest of my day.

 

[cliffordcooley]

@Steve, keep up the great work!

 

[dividebyzero]

Jeeze, I am wondering how you could possibly be so biased as to compare a custom cooled windforce R9 290 to a bone stock GTX 780..

I'm actually wondering how you could jam in five mentions of the GTX 780.
Why worry about the review at all - you obviously have no interest in the boards being reviewed

 

[Guest]

Nice review. Thank you. I'm still waiting for the prices to drop.

I'd like to see more ArmA 3 being used in benchmarks. Yes, I know it's very cpu dependent depending how you test, but still kinda sad to see one of the best games of the year imo always being left out.