Testing Procedure
Methods
To test the performance of video cards at eTeknix we run a variety of tests at four different resolutions, where supported and appropriate, across a suite of games and benchmarks. We run each of these benchmarks three times to take an average and use the latest WHQL-certified video card drivers from AMD and Nvidia to test with.
To attain Furmark load noise levels we hold a decibel meter approximately 3 inches away from the card after running Furmark for five minutes. To attain 3DMark Load noise we do the same in the last stage of a 3DMark 11 benchmark run. To achieve idle noise we allow the system to stay idle at the desktop for 5 minutes before taking a noise reading.
To achieve Furmark load temperatures we take the maximum temperature of the GPU core during Furmark load as recorded by CPUID HW Monitor. To achieve idle temperatures we take the minimum recorded GPU core temperature in CPUID HW Monitor after desktop-idling for 5 minutes. We also do the same in 3DMark 11 to simulate a more realistic load. We then convert these temperatures into Delta temperatures – that is = actual recorded temperature minus the ambient temperature of the room. Note we do not alter the default fan profile in any way, all graphics cards are left to run at their stock settings.
To measure power consumption we take the maximum power consumption at idle on the desktop over a 5 minute period, and for load we take the maximum stable power consumption during Furmark load. We also do the same during a 3DMark 11 run, taking the maximum stable power consumption from the last combined test only. To address recent developments in thermal throttling (and Furmark throttling more specifically) we take our measurements within the first 30 seconds to a minute on cards that dramatically clock down when hot (e.g. the R9 290X) as this causes there power consumption to appear much lower than it actually can be.
Test System:
- Motherboard – Asus Rampage IV Extreme X79 LGA 2011 (chipset fan disabled)
- Processor – Intel Core i7 3960X at stock clock speeds of 3.3GHz with Turbo Mode disabled.
- RAM – 16GB (2 X 8GB) Corsair Vengeance Pro Series 1866MHz at 9-10-9-27
- CPU Cooler – Corsair H100i with Quiet Fan Profile
- Power Supply – Corsair HX1050W
- Main Storage Drive – Kingston HyperX 240GB SSD over SATA III interface
- Chassis – Lian Li T60 Test Bench
- Displays – Dell U2711 Ultra Sharp for 2560 by 1440 and we use the LG IPS 234 & LG IPS 224 with the Dell U2711 Ultra Sharp to run 5760 by 1080.
- Operating System – Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit
We would like to thank Asus, Corsair, Kingston, Lian Li and all our other partners who supplied us with test equipment and hardware. Their generosity makes our testing possible and without them we wouldn’t be able to produce the reviews we do, so thank you!
Games Used
- Aliens Vs Predator
- Dirt Showdown
- Hitman: Absolution
- Metro Last Light
- Sleeping Dogs
- Bioshock Infinite
- Tomb Raider
Resolutions Used (where possible)
- 1680 x 1050
- 1920 x 1080
- 2560 x 1440
- 5760 x 1080
Hardware Used
- Plug “killawatt” style electricity usage meter
- Benetech GM1351 decibel meter
Software Used
- 3DMark 11
- 3DMark 2013
- CPUID HWMonitor
- Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0
- Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
- Furmark 1.10.5
- CGMiner 3.1.0
- CUDA Miner
would love to own 1 or 2 of these cards would up me to the next level of gaming……!!!! Happy New year all
2 Years ? i got on mine 290x 3 years o.O
With your Unigine Heaven tests, did you use any anti-aliasing or tesselation?
The cart looks rigged.
how can a AMD R9-290 OC beat a R9-290 Tri-x OC Sapphires cards a pretty well known for their overclocking value.
but i’ll see it for myself once i get mine in the mail, i’m pretty sure i can squeez it up to 1200mhz core clock without artificing. and depending on the memory chips perhaps i get lucky and get Hynix and not Elpida then i am convinced i can get even more juice out of it probably under 1.3 volts.
This card looks very beastly for its price 😀
Looks like their OC results were definitely a little under par. Hardware Canucks managed to get much more impressive results. “By using TRIXX we were able to get the Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X OC we were able to hit 1251MHz on the core and 5666MHz on the GDDR5 with .085V of extra voltage. This vastly outstrips the levels attained by our reference samples and brings actual performance to some incredible levels.” http://www.neoseeker.com/resourcelink.html?rid=487511
Not rigged at all. Our R9 290 reference card reached a higher clock of 1100MHz i think. You’ll notice that the AMD R9 290 stock card only beats the Sapphire card with a fixed high fan speed to prevent thermal throttling. At default fan profiles it loses because of thermal throttling despite having a higher frequency. Overclocking on our sample was particularly poor, not rigged in any way just luck of the silicon lottery. Why would we “rig” it anyway? What do we have to gain by making a card look bad…
The Tri-X is not so stable when it comes to benchmarks. Here it scores around 70FPS on COD Ghosts.
http://youtu.be/Xy2NqJ3MeGY
You may not remember but please answer if you can / remember. You said the GPU measures 30 cm / 11.8 inches long but in many other reviews they say that the length is 305mm / 12″.
The thing is that my GPU gap is 303mm and if it measures what you say it’ll fit but if it doesn’t it wont.
If you don’t remember, when you review a graphic card do you usually measure it by yourself or do you say the manufacturer measures. I wish you can help me.
Merry Xmas and Happy New Year,
Pablo
305mm is the specified length by Sapphire’s specifications, just under 300mm is what I measured. The manufacturer spec includes the ‘lip’ of the PCI bracket which I don’t count because it’s irrelevant. By lip I mean the bit you screw into the PCI bracket cover.
I contacted Sapphire and they told me that the card itself is arround 11.5 inches in length from the beginig of the PCB to the end of the card, without the piece of metal, same as you have just told me.
Great review and awesome card btw.