Sapphire Radeon R9 290X Vapor-X OC 8GB Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing (accurate at the time of writing)

The Sapphire R9 290X Vapor-X 8GB graphics card initially launched a while ago as a early production exclusive to Overclockers here in the UK for £499.99, that included some pretty sweet free games. This deal was exclusive to Overclockers UK and didn’t have the blessing from AMD. Today, that all changes as this card is now globally available and in the UK, Sapphire have secured a deal with leading retailer Overclockers UK to offer this card up for £379.99 which is a fantastic drop in price for essentially one of the coolest, quietest performing cards in the world, but it doesn’t just stop there.

eTeknix/Overclockers UK Special Deal Alert

For a limited time, eTeknix readers can get it EVEN CHEAPER at the amazing price of £359.99 by simply entering a code in when you checkout. All that is needed is for you to add the card to your basket and when going through the checkout process, enter the code ETEKNIX8GB and watch the price change to the ever so attractive £359.99. This code is only valid until the end of the year (stock permitting) making it the perfect Christmas gift for your loved one or even for yourself if you’re feeling generous. The card is available to buy with this offer now and can be found on the same link here.

As if that wasn’t enough, more added value comes from the free game bundle which includes the AMD Gold bundle and a copy of Sid Meier’s Civilization Beyond Earth too.

Sapphire’s usual 2 year warranty is provided.

Summary

Before I delve into concluding my thoughts on this graphics card I thought I’d reveal some brief 4K results we did as that’s what the 8GB of VRAM is aimed at. At 4K the AMD R9 290X is an admirable performer, offering playable framerates of 30-45FPS in most games using the second highest graphics quality settings. What I also wanted to know was how useful 8GB of VRAM was. From my testing no benchmark exceeded 3.5GB meaning a 4GB R9 290X would suffice just fine. However, that’s not to say there are not games out there that cannot use 4GB of VRAM at UHD 4K: Crysis 3, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (especially with texture mods) are all capable of racking up into the 6-8GB territory. Those are exceptions to the norm so the appeal of the 8GB Sapphire R9 290X Vapor-X is somewhat limited at this point in time, but the niche is still there. In the future there will be more game titles that exceed the 4GB frame-buffer so this 8GB card does offer a way to future-proof your gaming experience if you game at high resolutions.

The Sapphire R9 290X Vapor-X 8GB graphics card is a brilliant piece of kit. Sapphire’s cooling solution is nothing short of spectacular and when combined with a factory overclock, great overclocking potential and a doubled amount of VRAM it ends up being an impressive offering. I can confidently vouch for the acoustic and cooling prowess of Sapphire’s Vapor-X solution which leads me to recommend their 4GB Vapor-X R9 290X (which users the same cooler), in addition to this 8GB model. The 4GB model would be an equally as impressive offering for the gamer in need of less video memory.

Pros

• Top of the range cooling solution
• Quiet operation
• Solid overclocking
• Strong 4K performer, 8GB gives “futureproofness” to increasingly VRAM dependent PC titles

Cons

• Triple slot thickness
• Currently limited availability

“If you’re in the market for something that can smash out the latest titles at 4K then Sapphire’s Vapor-X R9 290X graphics card is a class-leading product worth strong consideration. While the 4GB version will suit the needs of most gamers, the 8GB version should give gamers an extra layer of ‘future-proofness’ for increasingly VRAM dependent game titles.“

Thank you to Sapphire for providing this review sample.