XFX’s R9 290 Double Dissipation is supposed to offer gamers a good combination of affordability and performance. While some may debate the “affordability” part of that equation due to the present mark-ups for every AMD graphics card, there’s no doubt about the gaming potential of these new Radeon GPUs.
There has been some heated debate about how the R9 290X and R9 290 react to the reference design’s rampant thermal issues since they tend to throttle core frequencies quite drastically. This leads to reduced performance under load or a bit more overhead provided the heatsink’s fan is increased to ear-splitting levels. In short, AMD’s PowerTune hates high temperatures. As a result most board partners have moved away from standard coolers and are utilizing their own designs in an effort to tame the extreme heat produced by the Hawaii core and hopefully deliver stable performance. That’s exactly what XFX has done with the Double Dissipation edition.
For all intents and purposes, the R9 290 Double Dissipation is a reference card with a better heatsink slapped onto the PCB. In keeping with the R9 290X version’s outlay, it operates at stock clocks but is able to hit a consistent Boost clock of 947MHz, narrowly beating the average frequency we saw with AMD’s launch day samples. More importantly, as we will see on the next page, it doesn’t exhibit any variation from that level so framerates should be considerably more stable over the long term.
Other than the heatsink, there’s really nothing to distinguish this card from those of the competition since XFX has long since done away with its lifetime warranty. That’s an issue since with a price of $520 ($550 in Canada) it plays with some of the big boys in this industry. Competitors like ASUS, MSI, Sapphire, PowerColor, HIS and Gigabyte all offer comparably priced solutions but come bundled with upgraded components, their own custom cooling solutions and higher clock speeds. XFX does offer the Double Dissipation Black Edition for those who want a higher out-of-box performance threshold but expect to pay another $30 premium for that one. So XFX is fighting an uphill battle right from the start but they have demonstrated a willingness to deeply discount their wares so it’s entirely possible that the R9 290 Double Dissipation will be found for less than $520.
For all intents and purposes the design of XFX’s 11” long R9 290 Double Dissipation mirrors that of their R9 290X version down to the last detail. If you have already read that review, you may as well go on to the next page since there’s really nothing new here.
With that bit of housecleaning out of the way, it’s really hard not to fall in love with this card’s exceedingly clean design. The GHOST 2 thermal solution has been covered in a stealth-like shroud that neatly wraps around the PCB and provides a perfect counter-point to its illuminated XFX logo. The width is atypical though; it has been upsized by about ¾” to accommodate a more extensive heatsink assembly.
After absorbing the brunt of criticisms about their first generation GHOST design’s propensity for relatively high VRM temperatures, XFX went back to the drawing board. Their second iteration uses a number of internal baffles and an expanded footprint to better direct airflow from its two 80mm fans to better address its predecessor’s limitations. The end result not only looks good but also allows for better performance and lower acoustics.
The one downside to XFX’s newly engineered heatsink is the way its wrap-around section partially blocks the R9 290’s BIOS switch. Instead of being housed in an easily accessible area the switch now has to be accessed with a pencil or pin. This likely won’t be of much concern for most gamers since the Double Dissipation only houses a single default BIOS but enthusiasts who like switching between two profiles may find reason to criticize.
Other than the usual XFX backplate, there’s nothing different going on with this card’s connectors. Since it uses a reference design there’s an 8+6 pin combo for power and DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs.
XFX does use their own PCB design but from what we can gather, there aren’t any upgraded components. If anything, the layout has been simplified. We can also see that the heatsink’s length has necessitated the inclusion of a small “lip” at the PCB’s outer edge in order to maintain a fluid looking design.
There has been some heated debate about how the R9 290X and R9 290 react to the reference design’s rampant thermal issues since they tend to throttle core frequencies quite drastically. This leads to reduced performance under load or a bit more overhead provided the heatsink’s fan is increased to ear-splitting levels. In short, AMD’s PowerTune hates high temperatures. As a result most board partners have moved away from standard coolers and are utilizing their own designs in an effort to tame the extreme heat produced by the Hawaii core and hopefully deliver stable performance. That’s exactly what XFX has done with the Double Dissipation edition.
For all intents and purposes, the R9 290 Double Dissipation is a reference card with a better heatsink slapped onto the PCB. In keeping with the R9 290X version’s outlay, it operates at stock clocks but is able to hit a consistent Boost clock of 947MHz, narrowly beating the average frequency we saw with AMD’s launch day samples. More importantly, as we will see on the next page, it doesn’t exhibit any variation from that level so framerates should be considerably more stable over the long term.
Other than the heatsink, there’s really nothing to distinguish this card from those of the competition since XFX has long since done away with its lifetime warranty. That’s an issue since with a price of $520 ($550 in Canada) it plays with some of the big boys in this industry. Competitors like ASUS, MSI, Sapphire, PowerColor, HIS and Gigabyte all offer comparably priced solutions but come bundled with upgraded components, their own custom cooling solutions and higher clock speeds. XFX does offer the Double Dissipation Black Edition for those who want a higher out-of-box performance threshold but expect to pay another $30 premium for that one. So XFX is fighting an uphill battle right from the start but they have demonstrated a willingness to deeply discount their wares so it’s entirely possible that the R9 290 Double Dissipation will be found for less than $520.
For all intents and purposes the design of XFX’s 11” long R9 290 Double Dissipation mirrors that of their R9 290X version down to the last detail. If you have already read that review, you may as well go on to the next page since there’s really nothing new here.
With that bit of housecleaning out of the way, it’s really hard not to fall in love with this card’s exceedingly clean design. The GHOST 2 thermal solution has been covered in a stealth-like shroud that neatly wraps around the PCB and provides a perfect counter-point to its illuminated XFX logo. The width is atypical though; it has been upsized by about ¾” to accommodate a more extensive heatsink assembly.
After absorbing the brunt of criticisms about their first generation GHOST design’s propensity for relatively high VRM temperatures, XFX went back to the drawing board. Their second iteration uses a number of internal baffles and an expanded footprint to better direct airflow from its two 80mm fans to better address its predecessor’s limitations. The end result not only looks good but also allows for better performance and lower acoustics.
The one downside to XFX’s newly engineered heatsink is the way its wrap-around section partially blocks the R9 290’s BIOS switch. Instead of being housed in an easily accessible area the switch now has to be accessed with a pencil or pin. This likely won’t be of much concern for most gamers since the Double Dissipation only houses a single default BIOS but enthusiasts who like switching between two profiles may find reason to criticize.
Other than the usual XFX backplate, there’s nothing different going on with this card’s connectors. Since it uses a reference design there’s an 8+6 pin combo for power and DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs.
XFX does use their own PCB design but from what we can gather, there aren’t any upgraded components. If anything, the layout has been simplified. We can also see that the heatsink’s length has necessitated the inclusion of a small “lip” at the PCB’s outer edge in order to maintain a fluid looking design.