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Performance Benchmarks & Conclusion : ASUS and MSI Top-End AMD Radeon R9 290X Graphics Cards Compared - HardwareZone.com.sg
Conclusion
Although the ASUS Radeon R9 290X DirectCU II OC had the slightly better out-of-the-box performance, it trailed slightly behind the MSI card when it came to our overclocking tests. Also, the ASUS card had a slightly higher operating temperature, as well as power draw than the MSI card with negligible gains in actual performance and experience. With its high retail price of S$969, the ASUS Radeon R9 290X DirectCU II OC will appeal to extreme power users who are ready to tap into its power user feature like its voltage modifications points, to tweak its performance. As for the MSI Radeon R9 290X Gaming 4G, it has a tad friendlier price of S$929. In addition, it's overclocking performance was slightly better, and managed lower operating temperature and power consumption figures under load. Factoring these more tangible attributes, we feel MSI offers a better deal for an overclocked custom designed Radeon R9 290X graphics card.
Take note though, for just a little more, you can get the speedier NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti based cards (~S$1,000). As such, the premium you're paying for these custom Radeon R9 290X cards are somewhat high. While both brands offer a more basic Radeon R9 290X solution with reference clock speeds and a reference cooling unit for nearly S$80 less, you'll have to put up with a louder cooler and much higher operating temperatures. It's unfortunate you can't have 'keep your cake and eat it', so you'll have to choose appropriately based on your budget.
Ultimately, it was the MSI R9 290X Gaming 4G card that had our vote.
Conclusion
Although the ASUS Radeon R9 290X DirectCU II OC had the slightly better out-of-the-box performance, it trailed slightly behind the MSI card when it came to our overclocking tests. Also, the ASUS card had a slightly higher operating temperature, as well as power draw than the MSI card with negligible gains in actual performance and experience. With its high retail price of S$969, the ASUS Radeon R9 290X DirectCU II OC will appeal to extreme power users who are ready to tap into its power user feature like its voltage modifications points, to tweak its performance. As for the MSI Radeon R9 290X Gaming 4G, it has a tad friendlier price of S$929. In addition, it's overclocking performance was slightly better, and managed lower operating temperature and power consumption figures under load. Factoring these more tangible attributes, we feel MSI offers a better deal for an overclocked custom designed Radeon R9 290X graphics card.
Take note though, for just a little more, you can get the speedier NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti based cards (~S$1,000). As such, the premium you're paying for these custom Radeon R9 290X cards are somewhat high. While both brands offer a more basic Radeon R9 290X solution with reference clock speeds and a reference cooling unit for nearly S$80 less, you'll have to put up with a louder cooler and much higher operating temperatures. It's unfortunate you can't have 'keep your cake and eat it', so you'll have to choose appropriately based on your budget.
Ultimately, it was the MSI R9 290X Gaming 4G card that had our vote.
