Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsThe Batmobile of Video Cards
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2014
If Batman had to have a video card...he would buy this one. This is actually the third Hawaii based ATI/AMD card that I have purchased in 50 days. The other two were XFX reference r9 290 cards that i used in cross-fire configuration. The first thing that will strike you about this card is it's black beautiful chassis that has the XFX logo that illuminates. This is the best looking card, bar-non for the r9 290x. Looks aside, it's a R9 290x card, so it's almost as fast as a Geforce 780-TI, almost. In reality, either card would satisfy the crazy gamer in anyone. The $100 price difference between this card and an overclocked 780-TI makes it the easy winner.
PROS:
* Cooler temperature than reference board. Played Crisis 3 for 4 hours straight and it maxed out at 73 degrees Celsius. Reference boards climb to 95 degrees Celsius.
* It's the black edition, so it's overclocked from factory. No need to "overdrive it" as the gains are minimal (3-4 frames).
* FAST!! FAST!!! FASTER!!!! THIS CARD IS FAST. Battlefield 4, Crysis 3, Total war:Rome 2= Ultra settings (Maxed Out) No lag,no throttling at all.
* Cooler Fans is dynamic and quiet. It will increase speed to cool card as needed and are much quieter than reference boards.
*No throttling. The GPU remains at 1050 hertz no matter the game, as temperature remains south of 75 degrees in all applications.
CONS:
*Price. I paid $640 for this minus tax. XFX website lists it for $570 msrp. That darn bit-coin rage is driving prices for these boards thru the roof.
* Card is a smidgeon longer and wider than stock card. Just a smidgeon though.
* Power draw. This card will draw upwards of 400-550 watts by itself.
SUMMARY:
I was a little worried about this card prior to purchase, but now, I smile every time I launch a game. It's quiet, stays cooler than stock, and can play any game at max settings. I plan on buying another in a few months for TitanFall in crossfire. Nuff said!