GIGABYTE GV-R929XOC-4GD
RRP: $899.99 | Website: www.gigabyte.com
Test Machine
• INTEL Core i7 4960X
• ASUS Rampage IV Extreme
(4802)
• CORSAIR Dominator
Platinum 4x4GB DDR
2666MHZ CL10
• Corsair Force LS 240GB SSD
• Cooler Master Silent Pro M2
1500W
• Windows 7 64-bit SP1
(Catalyst 13.12WHQL)
L
ast issue we looked at
two reference R9 900
series graphics cards.
The 290X was directly from
AMD and the other was a run
off the mill PowerColor R9 290
we bought to compare the two.
Prior to testing those cards, we
had read that there was some
discrepancy between retail
cards and the ones AMD was
issuing to media for testing.
Since we didn’t have other
cards on hand to compare,
we assumed this was just an
anomaly that perhaps affected
28 The OverClocker Issue 28 | 2014
very specific cards. At the very
least it would be something that
could be resolved with driver/
BIOS updates. That was three
months ago and all should be
settled right?
Well, in testing this offering
from GIGABYTE we found
something very peculiar. As you
would expect, the GIGABYTE
card we have here is faster
than the reference AMD R9
290X. That’s not a surprise
at all, given that it is clocked
higher (even though it’s a
marginal overclock). However
when both cards were clocked
to the same frequency, the
reference card was faster. With
a little more core speed on the
GIGBYTE card, we found that
the reference card was still
faster. Time and time again we
tested but the results remained
the same. The reason for this
eluded us and continues to do
so, but we do feel it’s important
to mention this before we delve
further into what we think about
the GIGABYTE model.
With that said, everyone
has been waiting for the non-
reference R9 290X cards. Even if
performance was unaltered, the
uninspired cooler that AMD used
for the 290X and the 290 left
a lot to be desired thus, most
users, us included, were eager
to find out what the GPUs could
achieve with a more competent
solution. Even if they did not
reach higher frequencies, the
lower load temperatures and
decreased noise levels would
always be appreciated. All this
brings us to the GIGABYTE R9
290X. This model does not come
packaged with Battlefield 4 and
you simply receive the card as
is. Though disappointing, it is
typical of graphics cards these
days, so we are not singling out
GIGABYTE here for the noneexistent software package. (Do
note that if you buy the “GA”
models, they will ship with the
game)
So then what truly makes the
GABYTE R9 290X OC edition
different is that it uses the
highly effective WindForce 3X
cooler. This is the same one
found on the GTX 780 Ti GHz
edition which we reviewed in a