AMD R9 290X: leaked benchmarks

AMD’s next-generation flagship GPU is the R9 290X. New leaks of reviews show promise that it could be a Geforce GTX780 killer.

The leaks come courtesy of DG’s Nerdy Story and show the new reference blower design for the high-end R9 series, although it is possible that this is not the final design AMD will release. The shroud appears to be made out of hard plastic with a matte black finish.

Beneath the covers, it appears that AMD may be hiding a monster. DG’s Nerdy Story claimed that the card was shipped with 4GB of memory on a 512-bit interface, default clock speeds of 800MHz for the GPU and 1125MHz (4.5GHz effective) for the memory, boosting up to 1000MHz and 1250MHz respectively.

According to the pictures, the card uses a single 6-pin and 8-pin power connector, which would allow for TDPs (Thermal Design Power) of up to 300W. AMD claims that Hawaii will yield the most efficient performance per die size and this looks to be the case, measuring in at approximately 424mm² compared to the GTX780 and Titan’s 551mm² dies.

The only unknowns from the leaked benchmarks are the number of stream processors in the card’s design and the final price. DG estimates that there are between 2560 and 2816 stream processors in the design and a launch price between US $599 and $649.

According to the benchmarks, the card is generally faster than the GTX780 against which it will compete, and on most occasions it is slightly faster than the GTX Titan. The Titan performs better in synthetic benchmarks and Bioshock Infinite, while both cards draw in Metro: Last Light. If true, not only is the card a better buy than the GTX780, it would also be a no-brainer for anyone looking to upgrade from their Radeon HD7970.