At least you're not a R9 290X early adopter. Those who bought a 290X in week 1 had to be unhappy. Two weeks later was the 290 release ($150 less for the same performance) and one week after that the BF4 bundle is now free (It was $30 extra at the 290X release). I'd say they got screwed worse than you did.
It's not really the same performance. Once better coolers get on the market, the 290x won't be throttled as much so performance should start to get much better than the 290.
Did you not read the early adopters part, they already have the shitty cooler on their card. It won't magically turn into a direct CU II when that releases. Also you do realize that the hardware difference between the 290, and 290x is 7%. That is assuming clocks are the same. 290 clocks would be slightly higher because of the slightly lower (still ridiculously high) TDP.
Wait ... so you're advocating that early adopters who were already "shafted" to the tune of ~$180 should now spend additional money and physically mod their card (thereby voiding their warranty) so they can get feature parity with current cards?
Exactly. Release week is when supply is low, demand is high and hardware is fresh out of beta. Only the most impatient people buy the cards then and aside from bragging rights you would have to be either ignorant or desperate to get hold of one, no matter the cost.
"Real" products won't appear for a month or two - and these will be the partner versions selling for less, clocked faster, with quieter - better coolers, and clarity of what you can expect in the box when you order. We've waited 18 months for Hawaii and another month is probably how long it will be before BF4 is even playably free of bugs.
I was thinking that everyone was holding off on the R9 290(X) cards until better-cooled cards from partners starting shipping. Perhaps the BF4 coming so quick was due to lack of week 1 sales? I think the majority of smart upgraders now get the benefit of BF4 to go along with their soon-to-be-released third-party cards. :D
you know i keep hearing this "well once custom cards come out soon" and ppl keep saying it over and over week after week, but nobody (not even AMD) have said anything about selling the GPU directly to vendors instead of the reference card.
It may be like titan and no gpu only version will be supplied, only reference designs.
Look on the bright side...they may have bought a $1000 Titan and then watched NVDA ream them out with the 780Ti coming in at $300 less and R9 290X at $450 cheaper. Now that's getting screwed.
I'd also inquire to the board vendor and the retailer too. I'm sure if you poke around you'll get the bundle. And hey, you might be lucky and get two codes from different sources for your troubles.
Hmm, I'm seriously considering 2x 280X for a "budget" CF/Eyefinity setup... Upgrading from 2x 6950 2GB. Was debating the GTX 770 cause of their bundle but BF4 and the fact that it's $20 cheaper is good enough, seems the 290X does better at ultra high res anyway (not sure if it's because of having 3GB or...). I'd totally spend an extra $200 on 2x 290 if it didn't require a new PSU (AX750 atm) too, and ear plugs.
I would wait for non-referenced cooling options on the 290/290x before buying them. This will hopefully cool them down or at least allow more OC'ing headroom, if that is an option that you want. If I had the $ right now, I would be buying a R9 290 (with aftermarket cooling options).
The R9 280X is essentially a rebranded Radeon 7970 so it still has driver issues with Eyefinity + Crossfire. AMD's working on a patch to address.
Still due to non-linear scaling of Crossfire/SLi, an R9 290 should be faster at those high resolutions. I'll second the recommendation on waiting for non-reference designs to appear and see how cool they run, how loud they are and what price premium they'll command over the reference designs. Typically non-reference and OC models go for an additional $10 to $30 more but I have a feeling board partners see an opportunity to raise those price premiums due to what improvements they'll bring in usability.
Yeah, I'm waiting to see what happens with the frame pacing patch... Was supposed to arrive on November no? We're halfway in... A single R290 wouldn't be faster I'd think, I'd still have to go CF for EF and even with better coolers and acoustics that'd mean another expense for a new PSU atop the extra $200 for the cards. I can swing it, I just don't know that I wanna spend so much on GPUs.
Really? That's not the impression I got from other site's power consumption numbers, it seemed like I'd be pushing it over the edge. Guess I'll have to take another look.
Another review site has an i7-3960X + R9 290 CF at 600W system power consumption running a GPU (but not CPU) stress test. 750W will be very tight once the CPU is loaded.
I've had 7970 CF Eyefinity and I've been waiting over 6 months for the driver update. I have absolutely no confidence in AMD meeting its November deadline; it's missed all the previous ones. I would definitely wait to see if a driver is released this month, but if not just get a 290/290X system or join the green team.
The terms and conditions on the BF4 bundle linked from that site reflect the 290X offer, not the new offer. Is there a list of participating retailers for the new bundle? No mention of it on retailers' sites yet that I can see.
Terribly handled by AMD, what is the point of charging a premium for what has always been a freebie or value-add feature? Terrible precedence. I figured it was just a matter of time before AMD's marketing money ran out, should've saved some of that Never Settle Allowance for BF4 I guess.
What do you expect is going to happen when you lay off all your seasoned marketing people to save money and then funnel all that money into an extremely short term strategy of bundling?
They didn't have a lot of money and they basically threw it away. They got some sales, but now they've netbook'ed the market into thinking this is the new norm. When they backtrack (R9 launch), suddenly they look overly expensive and they'll have depressed their sales going forward when people assume they can just wait for a cheaper price or a bundle to match what came before.
AMD is not very forward thinking in marketing. I love some of their features (TrueAudio is a feature I wish was built into every GPU by every manufacturer, DX 11.2 hardware support), but their marketing team seems either barebones or idiotic.
We’ve updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site’s updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
37 Comments
Back to Article
Subyman - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
Well, that's great. Just got my R9 290 yesterday. I'm sure AMD will be getting some emails about this.The Von Matrices - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
At least you're not a R9 290X early adopter. Those who bought a 290X in week 1 had to be unhappy. Two weeks later was the 290 release ($150 less for the same performance) and one week after that the BF4 bundle is now free (It was $30 extra at the 290X release). I'd say they got screwed worse than you did.Jumpman23 - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
It's not really the same performance. Once better coolers get on the market, the 290x won't be throttled as much so performance should start to get much better than the 290.dylan522p - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
Did you not read the early adopters part, they already have the shitty cooler on their card. It won't magically turn into a direct CU II when that releases. Also you do realize that the hardware difference between the 290, and 290x is 7%. That is assuming clocks are the same. 290 clocks would be slightly higher because of the slightly lower (still ridiculously high) TDP.ShieTar - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
Not magically, no. But it is entirely possible to buy a new cooler for your existing card.WeaselITB - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
Wait ... so you're advocating that early adopters who were already "shafted" to the tune of ~$180 should now spend additional money and physically mod their card (thereby voiding their warranty) so they can get feature parity with current cards?/mindboggle
Black Obsidian - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
Early adopters virtually always get screwed in the value department. That's the cost of being an early adopter.Those of us who can resist the urge to shout FIRST!!11one wait a few weeks/months and end up with a much better value as a result.
It's really just a matter of where your priorities lie.
Chrispy_ - Tuesday, November 19, 2013 - link
Exactly. Release week is when supply is low, demand is high and hardware is fresh out of beta. Only the most impatient people buy the cards then and aside from bragging rights you would have to be either ignorant or desperate to get hold of one, no matter the cost."Real" products won't appear for a month or two - and these will be the partner versions selling for less, clocked faster, with quieter - better coolers, and clarity of what you can expect in the box when you order. We've waited 18 months for Hawaii and another month is probably how long it will be before BF4 is even playably free of bugs.
Ammaross - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
I was thinking that everyone was holding off on the R9 290(X) cards until better-cooled cards from partners starting shipping. Perhaps the BF4 coming so quick was due to lack of week 1 sales? I think the majority of smart upgraders now get the benefit of BF4 to go along with their soon-to-be-released third-party cards. :DMorawka - Friday, November 15, 2013 - link
you know i keep hearing this "well once custom cards come out soon" and ppl keep saying it over and over week after week, but nobody (not even AMD) have said anything about selling the GPU directly to vendors instead of the reference card.It may be like titan and no gpu only version will be supplied, only reference designs.
Will Robinson - Sunday, November 24, 2013 - link
No,AIB custom cards will be available week 2 next month.Morawka - Friday, November 15, 2013 - link
They deserve to get screwed if they pre-ordered before specs were announced.Will Robinson - Sunday, November 24, 2013 - link
Look on the bright side...they may have bought a $1000 Titan and then watched NVDA ream them out with the 780Ti coming in at $300 less and R9 290X at $450 cheaper.Now that's getting screwed.
Kevin G - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
I'd also inquire to the board vendor and the retailer too. I'm sure if you poke around you'll get the bundle. And hey, you might be lucky and get two codes from different sources for your troubles.elmicker - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
If you got it yesterday surely you can return it no-questions-asked?Impulses - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
Hmm, I'm seriously considering 2x 280X for a "budget" CF/Eyefinity setup... Upgrading from 2x 6950 2GB. Was debating the GTX 770 cause of their bundle but BF4 and the fact that it's $20 cheaper is good enough, seems the 290X does better at ultra high res anyway (not sure if it's because of having 3GB or...). I'd totally spend an extra $200 on 2x 290 if it didn't require a new PSU (AX750 atm) too, and ear plugs.Lunyone - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
I would wait for non-referenced cooling options on the 290/290x before buying them. This will hopefully cool them down or at least allow more OC'ing headroom, if that is an option that you want. If I had the $ right now, I would be buying a R9 290 (with aftermarket cooling options).Kevin G - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
The R9 280X is essentially a rebranded Radeon 7970 so it still has driver issues with Eyefinity + Crossfire. AMD's working on a patch to address.Still due to non-linear scaling of Crossfire/SLi, an R9 290 should be faster at those high resolutions. I'll second the recommendation on waiting for non-reference designs to appear and see how cool they run, how loud they are and what price premium they'll command over the reference designs. Typically non-reference and OC models go for an additional $10 to $30 more but I have a feeling board partners see an opportunity to raise those price premiums due to what improvements they'll bring in usability.
Impulses - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
Yeah, I'm waiting to see what happens with the frame pacing patch... Was supposed to arrive on November no? We're halfway in... A single R290 wouldn't be faster I'd think, I'd still have to go CF for EF and even with better coolers and acoustics that'd mean another expense for a new PSU atop the extra $200 for the cards. I can swing it, I just don't know that I wanna spend so much on GPUs.extide - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
Again, an AX750 IS more than enough for a 290/290x CF setup.Impulses - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
Really? That's not the impression I got from other site's power consumption numbers, it seemed like I'd be pushing it over the edge. Guess I'll have to take another look.madmilk - Friday, November 15, 2013 - link
Another review site has an i7-3960X + R9 290 CF at 600W system power consumption running a GPU (but not CPU) stress test. 750W will be very tight once the CPU is loaded.The Von Matrices - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
I've had 7970 CF Eyefinity and I've been waiting over 6 months for the driver update. I have absolutely no confidence in AMD meeting its November deadline; it's missed all the previous ones. I would definitely wait to see if a driver is released this month, but if not just get a 290/290X system or join the green team.extide - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
You will be fine running 2x 290's on a AX750...Ararat - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
Does this apply internationally, or is it only for customers in the US?Sicariase - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
Yes this applies internationally. Here's the link for the BF4 bundle availability: http://sites.amd.com/us/promo/battlefield/Pages/ba... They haven't updated the Never settle bundle availability though: http://sites.amd.com/us/promo/never-settle/Pages/n...echo9251 - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
The terms and conditions on the BF4 bundle linked from that site reflect the 290X offer, not the new offer. Is there a list of participating retailers for the new bundle? No mention of it on retailers' sites yet that I can see.Tuvok86 - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
Bundle: a number of things or a quantity of material gathered or loosely bound together: a bundle of stickskwrzesien - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
You get a card and a game. Enjoy!Kevin270 - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
This is cool and all, but where can I buy this bundle?ltcommanderdata - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
http://sites.amd.com/us/promo/never-settle/Pages/n...I see Thief listed on the Bronze tier on the official website. Is this a mistake? I wonder if they are going to retract it or just live with it?
ImInfinity - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
Amazon will be in retailers that will give battlefield 4I will buy r9 270
tuklap - Thursday, November 14, 2013 - link
Will this reach the philippines?chizow - Friday, November 15, 2013 - link
Terribly handled by AMD, what is the point of charging a premium for what has always been a freebie or value-add feature? Terrible precedence. I figured it was just a matter of time before AMD's marketing money ran out, should've saved some of that Never Settle Allowance for BF4 I guess.HisDivineOrder - Friday, November 15, 2013 - link
What do you expect is going to happen when you lay off all your seasoned marketing people to save money and then funnel all that money into an extremely short term strategy of bundling?They didn't have a lot of money and they basically threw it away. They got some sales, but now they've netbook'ed the market into thinking this is the new norm. When they backtrack (R9 launch), suddenly they look overly expensive and they'll have depressed their sales going forward when people assume they can just wait for a cheaper price or a bundle to match what came before.
AMD is not very forward thinking in marketing. I love some of their features (TrueAudio is a feature I wish was built into every GPU by every manufacturer, DX 11.2 hardware support), but their marketing team seems either barebones or idiotic.
I can't decide which.
lilkwarrior - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
Forbes and several AMD in-board partners are reporting inconsistencies with BF4 actually coming with the graphics card...http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2013/11...
lilkwarrior - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
It's 2 out of 48 actually get the game, which is odd...