Gigabyte R9 290X WindForce OC 4GB Graphics Card Review

Overclocking

The Gigabyte R9 290X we had didn’t overclock that much further than a reference R9 290X. We managed to push the core a little further to 1110MHz instead of 1100MHz, though the memory ended up a bit lower at 1500MHz compared to our reference R9 290X which managed to reach 1525MHz. The memory was a strange case because it managed 1625MHz stable in 3D mode but as soon as you entered 2D loads (e.g back to the desktop) the screen would start artefacting for anything above 1500MHz. However, either way the memory makes very little difference to real world performance – more difference is made by the fact Gigabyte’s card is able to stay much cooler allowing it to churn out P14042 compared to the reference card that managed P13885. This is because the impact of throttling is much lower.