Sapphire, GIGABYTE, ASUS, HIS Announces R9 290 Graphics Card

ASUS today announced the launch of R9 290, a new graphics card powered by the latest AMD Radeon R9 290 graphics-processing unit (GPU). 

The new card benefits from exclusive ASUS GPU Tweak, an easy-to-use tuning tool for instant performance boosts, 4GB of super-fast GDDR5 memory for the best gaming experience at the highest resolutions and incorporates AMD Eyefinity and TrueAudio technologies to enable expansive multi-display setups and bring in-game audio to life with more accurate environmental sounds. R9 290 also includes support for both DirectX 11.2 and AMD's new Mantle application programming interface (API) for great handling of even the most-demanding PC games.

  

The new ASUS R9 290 has a unique advantage in the shape of GPU Tweak, an exclusive ASUS tool that helps users to squeeze every last drop of performance out of the Radeon R9 290 GPU. This includes the ability to control finely GPU and video-memory clock speeds and voltages, cooling-fan speeds and power-consumption thresholds - so overclocking is both made easy and can be carried out with high confidence.

As well, the GPU Tweak Streaming tool lets users share on-screen action over the internet in real time - so others can watch live as games are played. It's even possible to add a title to the streaming window along with scrolling text, pictures and webcam images.

R9 290 is equipped with 4GB of high-speed GDDR5 memory, allowing gamers to push their favorite titles much further by upping in-game visuals to maximum resolutions. The new card also includes AMD Eyefinity technology to broaden the gaming landscape, so gamers can expand the playing field across up to six independent displays, via DisplayPort or DVI.

Of course, R9 290 supports the very latest DirectX 11.2 standard that enables on-GPU tessellation, allowing more and incredibly detailed geometry to be packed into game scenes - characters come to life with cinema-quality detail levels. The card also offers AMD's brand-new Mantle API that provides developers with direct access to the GPU, making life simpler for them and allowing game code to run much more efficiently - resulting in faster, smoother graphics and gameplay.

R9 290 also benefits from AMD TrueAudio technology, a dedicated digital signal processor (DSP) that's built in to the GPU. This provides game developers with processing power that's designed purely for audio, allowing R9 290 to generate soundscapes that are much more true to life - so gamers become even more immersed in the action.

Sapphire announced its Radeon R9 290 graphics card, which sticks to AMD's reference design, and tops it up with its own branding and artwork. Based on the 28 nm "Hawaii" silicon, the card features 2560 stream processors, 160 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and a 512-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, holding 4 GB of memory. Sapphire is pricing its card at US $399.99.

Gigabyte joined the Radeon R9 290 launch party with its own card, the GV-R929D5-4GD-B, which sticks to AMD's reference design board, without too many stickers. The card also sticks to AMD's reference clocks speeds of 948 MHz core, and 5.00 GHz memory. Based on the 28 nm "Hawaii" silicon, the Radeon R9 290 features 2,560 stream processors, 160 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and a 512-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, holding 4 GB of memory. Expect the card to go for $399.99.

HIS rolled out its Radeon R9 290 Fan graphics card. The "Fan" series from HIS includes graphics cards based on reference designs, and this card is no different. It also sticks to AMD's reference clock speeds of 948 MHz core, and 5.00 GHz memory. The Radeon R9 290 features 2,560 stream processors, 160 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and a 512-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, holding 4 GB of memory. Like most other reference design R9 290 graphics card, the HIS R9 290 Fan will be priced at $399.99.

Source: Techpowerup.com