Distributor of AMD products in South Africa, Rectron has confirmed to MyGaming that the Radeon R9 290 will retail for approximately R6,500 at launch, with the R9 290X launching with a recommended retail price of R9,000.
The R9 290 should be available starting this week (week of 6 November 2013), while the R9 290X should see stable stock levels towards the end of November 2013.
Both cards will be in limited supply and Rectron makes no promises on how many cards will reach our shores.
Prices for the new mammoth cards have been appearing on local retailers and we’ve collected them in the table below, along with the price for the cheapest Geforce GTX770, GTX780, and the Radeon R9 280X for comparison.
For the purposes of this roundup, products marked as “Out of stock,” or “Contact for availability” or “Sold out” will be listed in the table. Please note that all prices are estimated and are subject to change before product availability, and is based on the exchange rate with the American Dollar.
| Graphics cards |
Evetech | Rebel Tech | Wootware | Landmark | Titan-ice |
| AMD Radeon R9 280X 3GB | 3999 | 4059 | 3899 | 4180 | 4449 |
| Gigabyte R9 290X 4GB | 9833 | 8457 | 7999 | ||
| Gigabyte R9 290X 4GB w/BF4 | 8820 | ||||
| Gigabyte R9 290 4GB w/BF4 | 6069 | 6154 | |||
| MSI R9 290X 4GB | 8499 | 8602 | 9419 | ||
| MSI R9 290 4GB | 6499 | 7127 | 7244 | ||
| Nvidia Geforce GTX770 2GB | 5199 | 5005 | 4961 | 5075 | 5199 |
| Nvidia Geforce GTX780 3GB | 8499 | 7952 | 7306 | 7245 | 8459 |
| Nvidia Geforce GTX780 Ti 3GB | 9499 | ||||
| Sapphire R9 290X 4GB | 8499 | 9753 | 8820 | 9699 | |
| Sapphire R9 290 4GB | 6499 | 6124 |
While the launch price of the R9 290 is attractive, paying an extra R2,500 for the R9 290X, especially when its performance lead has been diminished by new drivers for the R9 290, is not a sensible decision at the moment. It remains to be seen what tweaks AMD makes to combat the upcoming Geforce GTX780 Ti.
The prices for the R9 290 and R9 290X are more competitive locally with the GTX780, a card which both Radeons can handily beat. The R9 290 will offer the most bang-for-buck, pricing itself just above the GTX770 while offering a lot more performance for higher resolutions and more demanding games.
Evetech is the only retailer currently who has pricing for the GTX780 Ti, but note that this is not indicative of the final recommended retail price for the card.
More Hardware news:
Valve reveals Steam Machine prototype hardware
AMD Radeon R9 290 – massive bang for buck
Loading ...
Holy crap!!! Sorry South Africa retailers, but how the HELL does $400 equal to R9000 suggested retail price!!!! I smell a huge rip off here, E-Tolls havent opened yet, so why the massive pricing and yes, I understand import duties and other BS, but come on guys….