Sapphire Radeon R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC Overclocked Video Card Review

The other day we checked out the Tri-X version of the R9 290 4GB from Sapphire. Today we check out the Vapor-X version and overclock it as well.

Published
Updated
Manufacturer: Sapphire
16 minutes & 3 seconds read time

Introduction and Package

Introduction of the Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC

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The other day, we got the chance to check out the $3,000 setup that is the AMD R9 295X2 8GB in CrossFireX. If that's a setup that is a little too expensive for you, then today we might have something that looks a little bit more attractive. Recently, we got a chance to look at the Sapphire R9 290 4GB Tri-X, which really impressed us. If you're looking for something just a little more powerful, though, then the Vapor-X version of the card might be just what you're after.

Since we got a chance to look at a R9 290 4GB from Sapphire just recently, we thought today we'd mix it up a bit and throw some overclocking into the mix with the Vapor-X version of the card. Sapphire cards tend to always do well with overclocking thanks to the quality of the cooler. Even with extra voltage, we see the card continue to perform at a reasonable temperature.

As for the R9 290 4GB itself, it seems that we haven't looked at quite as many as I thought. With most companies choosing to concentrate on either the R9 290X 4GB or the slightly lower R9 280X 3GB, the R9 290 4GB that sits between hasn't got quite as much attention as you'd think. The versions we've looked at, though, have impressed us, and with overclocking, the possibility of getting to performance in line or ahead of its big brother, the R9 290X 4GB, shouldn't be too much of an issue. Of course, we'll find that out and more today.

The first thing we need to do is check out the package, so let's not delay any longer and get stuck into the Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC and see just what Sapphire is bringing to the table with one of their latest releases.

Package - What comes inside the box

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Taking a look at the front of the box, you can see the design isn't anything out of the ordinary. You can see the brand and model easily, and across the bottom, you can see some of the main features, including the card being an OC Edition while also carrying 4GB GDDR5, Tri-X Fan Cooler, 2 Ball Bearing Fans, and some other AMD specific technologies like Mantle.

If we turn the box over, you can see a bit of a blurb on the card along with a picture of it. On the right side of the box, you can see that Sapphire expands on some of the main features, including the Vapor-X cooling technology, Tri-X triple fan, and Intelligent Fan Control to help keep noise levels under control.

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Getting into the bundle, it's a fairly standard Sapphire setup with the normal line up of paperwork and a driver CD. On the cable side of things, you can see we've got two Dual-Molex to 8-Pin PCIe power connectors along with an HDMI cable, something that Sapphire often includes in its higher-end bundles.

Finally something new, you can see that Sapphire has included a mouse pad. While the design of it is cool, the quality and size of it isn't. It's like a piece of paper. Sure, it's something free, but the chances are if you're buying a card like this, you have yourself a decent mouse pad already.

Video Card Details and Specifications

Close up with the Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC

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Moving away from the package and onto the card, the first thing we notice is the beautiful blue that Sapphire is using. Against the black, these blue highlights that Sapphire uses look truly awesome.

Looking behind the triple fan setup, you can see a massive heat sink that takes up almost the entirety of the card. If we look closely behind the center fan, we can also see some copper heat pipes that are designed to help pull the heat away from the core. You can see this all sits on a black PCB, helping to finish off a very sexy look.

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Moving away from the cooler and taking the time to look around the card, you can see that Sapphire has opted for a dual 8-Pin PCIe power connector setup here. This is slightly up on the standard dual connector setup that sees a single 6-Pin PCIe and 8-Pin PCIe power connector.

Being part of the R9 290 series means that we lack any CrossFire connector as it's not needed. You do see a button here that lets you enable the UEFI BIOS, which gives Secure Boot and a faster boot time. This isn't available on all motherboards, though.

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Finishing up our look at the card, you can see a very standard I/O setup with two Dual-Link DVI-D connectors alongside an HDMI and DisplayPort 1.2 connector. You can also see some vents that will let the hot air escape out the back of the case.

Specifications

Taking a look at the specifications of the card, being a Vapor-X model means that the card comes overclocked out of the box. Looking below, you can see the stock clock of the card is 1030MHz. This is well up on the stock 947MHz clock and a 30MHz bump over the Tri-X version from Sapphire.

As for the 4GB of GDDR5, that comes in at 5600MHz QDR, 400MHz QDR up on the Tri-X version from Sapphire and 600MHz QDR up from the reference clock.

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As we mentioned in the introduction, though, we will be overclocking the card today. Looking above, you can see our final clock on the core is 1135MHz and 6000MHz QDR on the memory. Overall, this is a great overclock and a massive jump from the reference speed.

Test System Setup & FPS Numbers Explained

Test System Setup

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We would like to thank the following companies for supplying and supporting us with our test system hardware and equipment: Intel, ASUS, and Corsair.

We've got a bunch of cards in our graphs today that will be sitting alongside our overclocked Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC. From the AMD side of things, we've got the MSI R9 280X 6GB Twin Frozr Gaming OC at 1200MHz / 7000MHz QDR, AMD's reference R9 290 4GB, and the Sapphire R9 290 4GB Tri-X OC we looked at the other day. We finally wrap up the AMD side of things with the reference R9 290X 4GB running in "Uber Mode."

As for the NVIDIA side of things, we've also got a couple of setups here, including the reference GTX 770 2GB that sits alongside the ASUS GTX 780 ROG Poseidon Platinum 3GB OC and MSI GTX 780 6GB Twin Frozr Gaming OC, which is running at 1050MHz / 6400MHz QDR.

The FPS Numbers Explained

When we benchmark our video cards and look at the graphs, we aim to get to a certain level of FPS which we consider playable. While many may argue that the human eye can't see over 24 FPS or 30 FPS, any true gamer will tell you that as we climb higher in Frames Per Seconds (FPS), the overall gameplay feels smoother. There are three numbers we're looking out for when it comes to our benchmarks.

30 FPS - It's the minimum number we aim for when it comes to games. If you're not dropping below 30 FPS during games, you're going to have a nice and smooth gaming experience. The ideal situation is that even in a heavy fire fight, the minimum stays above 30 FPS making sure that you can continue to aim easily or turn the corner with no dramas.

60 FPS - It's the average we look for when we don't have a minimum coming at us. If we're getting an average of 60 FPS, we should have a minimum of 30 FPS or better and as mentioned above, it means we've got some smooth game play happening.

120 FPS - The new number that we've been hunting down over recent months. If you're the owner of a 120 Hz monitor, to get the most out of it you want to get around the 120 FPS mark. Moving from 60 FPS / 60 Hz to 120 FPS / 120 Hz brings with it a certain fluidity that can't really be explained, but instead has to be experienced. Of course, if you're buying a 120 Hz monitor to take advantage of 3D, an average of 120 FPS in our benchmark means that in 3D you will have an average of 60 FPS, which again means you should expect some smooth gameplay.

Why are some graphs incomplete?

Adding new game benchmarks is a long, tedious and time consuming task as every video card has to be re-tested in those new benchmarks. Because of that reason we have always just evaluated our benchmark line up every six months. To stay up to date and current with the latest benchmarks and games available, we've changed our approach to adding new benchmarks.

Our benchmark line up will progress and be updated as newer more intensive games with benchmarks comes to light. While this will mean that initially you may only see a single video card in those particular graphs, as the weeks go on and we test more and more video cards, the results will grow quickly. This will help keep our benchmark line up as up to date as possible as we introduce and remove games on a constant basis.

Benchmarks - 3DMark

3DMark 11

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.1

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Out the gate, we see our Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC perform well with a decent performance increase over the other R9 290 4GB cards here. This sees it sit ahead of the more expensive R9 290X 4GB.

3DMark Fire Strike

Version and / or Patch Used: 1

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Moving into Fire Strike, we see some great performance. We not only see a good boost in performance when compared to the other R9 290 4GB offerings here, but we also see it manage to outperform our overclocked GTX 780 6GB from MSI.

Benchmarks - Unigine Heaven & Phantasy Star Online 2

Unigine Heaven Benchmark

Version and / or Patch Used: 3

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Looking at Heaven performance, you can see the Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC gets a nice boost over our other AMD cards thanks to that strong overclock we gave it. You can see that, when throwing it against an overclocked GTX 780, the card doesn't quite match NVIDIA due to them having that superior tessellation performance.

Phantasy Star Online 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

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PSO 2 always benefits from overclocking, and you can see a nice performance increase here, and it puts it a good chunk ahead of all of our other AMD offerings. But like the Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC, NVIDIA offerings also receive a nice performance bump when overclocking, and looking above, you can see the MSI GTX 780 6GB manages to come out ahead of everything thanks to that strong overclock.

Benchmarks – Lost Planet 2 & Just Cause 2

Lost Planet 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

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Lost Planet 2 sees the Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC perform very well, and at all resolutions, it offers extremely playable numbers across the board. It's not quite lining up with the NVIDIA offerings, though, which manage to come out ahead at all resolutions.

Just Cause 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

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Just Cause 2 numbers, like Lost Planet 2, are very strong across the board at all resolutions. We see the Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC perform extremely well with the game not being an issue. Against the NVIDIA options, you can see it falls a little behind the MSI offering at 1680 x 1050. As we climb the resolution table, though, it manages to pull ahead and come out in front.

Benchmarks – F1 2012 & Metro Last Light

F1 2012

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

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For the most part, we can see most of our higher-end setups bounce off the FPS wall under F1 2012. Overall, you can see the high-end NVIDIA offerings manage to come out slightly ahead here. In the end, though, the game is playable on all cards here at all resolutions.

Metro Last Light

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

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Metro Last Light sees our high-end overclocked cards performing quite closely to each other here, with the Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC coming out ahead at the lower resolutions but the MSI GTX 780 6GB coming out ahead at the higher resolution. The one thing, though, is that, at the highest resolutions, all cards fail to hit that 60 FPS average we're on the hunt for.

Benchmarks – Dirt Showdown & Nexuiz

Dirt Showdown

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

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Dirt Showdown favors the AMD offerings, and you can see our Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC offers some great performance numbers at all resolutions. We not only see a nice boost over the other R9 290s here, but also a good lead over the NVIDIA offerings.

Nexuiz

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

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Nexuiz sees some handy gains with the overclock we achieved on the Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC, giving it the bump it needs to hit 60 FPS at 1920 x 1200. Looking above, you can see it's the only card here that manages to do that. The MSI GTX 780 6GB OC does sit just an FPS behind it, though.

Benchmarks – Sniper Elite V2 & Sleeping Dogs

Sniper Elite V2

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

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Sniper Elite V2 numbers look good across the board, and while we fall short of the NVIDIA GTX 780 offerings at all resolutions, we do see extremely playable FPS from the Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC. At the highest resolution here, we see a solid 92 FPS.

Sleeping Dogs

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

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Sleeping Dogs performance is strong at all resolutions, and playability is not an issue with a solid 122 FPS being seen at the highest resolution. While you can see at the lower resolution the Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC falls below our GTX 780s, at the highest resolution, it fits firmly in between both.

Benchmarks – Hitman Absolution & Tomb Raider

Hitman Absolution

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

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Looking above, you can see that Hitman Absolution sees our top AMD cards pretty much bouncing off the FPS wall at all resolutions. Because the wall comes at a later point on the NVIDIA offerings, we can see that the GTX 780s come out ahead. At the highest resolution, though, you can see that our overclocked Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC manages to pull out a strong win.

Tomb Raider

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

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Tomb Raider sees the Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC get a nice bump in performance compared to the other R9 290s we have here. Overall, the FPS is solid at all resolutions, and while we'd prefer a couple of more FPS in the 2560 x 1600 average, because of the strong 40 FPS minimum, we'd consider this playable.

Benchmarks – BioShock Infinite & Battlefield 4

BioShock Infinite

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

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BioShock numbers are solid across the board, and it is times like this that make us love overclocking. You can see, thanks to the overclock, we're able to break into the 60 FPS barrier on our Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC. On the other hand, you can see that the GTX 780s have no issue getting over 60 FPS at 2560 x 1600, the heavily overclocked MSI offering manages to get over 70 FPS.

Battlefield 4

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Origin Update

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Checking out Battlefield 4, you can see the numbers are slightly improved over our other R9 290 cards. Against the overclocked MSI GTX 780 6GB, you can see that we're slightly behind. The most important thing, though, is that the performance is enough to make for a smooth gaming experience, and looking above, you can see that's not an issue for the Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC.

Benchmarks - High Quality AA and AF

High Quality AA and AF Testing

While we test all our games with maximum in-game settings, turning on Anti-Aliasing (AA) and Antistrophic Filtering (AF) helps take the intensity of our testing to another level.

Here we see video cards go from playable FPS to unplayable FPS and the real power houses continue to help break that 60 FPS mark we always aim for to provide a smooth gaming experience.

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While overclocking manages to see a nice little bump in performance, you can see we don't hit that 60 FPS number we want on any of the setups here at any resolution.

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Just Cause 2 numbers are great; we see both a nice jump in performance and playable FPS at both resolutions. You can see we've got no problem taking on the NVIDIA offerings here with a decent lead on them, especially at the highest resolutions.

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Sleeping Dogs sees the overclock really do nothing to performance. We see little change at both resolution, and all setups remain unplayable at 2560 x 1600. At 1920 x 1200, you can see our higher-end offerings manage to just scrape past that 60 FPS number we want, including the Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC.

Benchmarks – 4K – 3840 x 2160 Testing

4K – 3840 x 2160 Testing

4K monitors are the next step for gamers demanding the best in image quality. With 4x the pixels of a standard 1920 x 1080 monitor (meaning 4x the intensity), 3840 x 2160 brings with it a new level of intensity to video cards.

Wanting to make sure that you're buying the right video card for a monitor that offers such a large resolution, we test the latest and greatest video cards in a couple of benchmarks to give you an idea of just what kind of setup you require.

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Looking above, you can see the overclock gives us a nice little performance boost over the Tri-X version of the Sapphire R9 290 4GB we looked at recently. You can see that the 6GB MSI GTX 780, when overclocked so high, does manage to gain a few extra marks.

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Cranking up to that massive 4K resolution, you can see that we manage to score a solid 69 FPS. We do fall short of the MSI GTX 780 6GB again, but overall we've got an impressive number on all our setups here.

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Hitman Absolutions sees the Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC get a nice boost over its little Tri-X brother, which also pushes the lead of the R9 290 4GB further when compared to the GTX 780 6GB here. Overall, though, we'd prefer a couple more FPS in the average department to make sure everything was silky smooth.

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While the Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC and MSI GTX 780 6GB score close to each other here, you can see that the numbers from all setups are unplayable.

Temperature & Sound Testing

Temperature Test

The temperature of the core is pulled from MSI Afterburner with the max reading used after a completed run of 3DMark Vantage at the Performance preset.

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Sapphire has done a good job cooling down this card. While it still does run a little warm, we're willing to give it a pass due to the fact we're throwing more voltage through the card that, in turn, has let us increase the clocks.

Sound Test

Pulling out the TES 1350A Sound Level Meter, we find ourselves quickly yelling into the top of it to see how loud we can be.

After five minutes of that we get a bit more serious and place the device two CM away from the fan on the card to find the maximum noise level of the card when idle (2D mode) and in load (3D mode).

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When it comes to noise levels, the card is clearly in the top half of the graph. Overall, though, it's not hugely audible, and as long as we're below that 70 dB range when things start to get crazy, you should be pretty happy. It's not silent, but it's not going to bother you too much, especially once inside your case.

Power Consumption Testing

Using our PROVA Power Analyzer WM-01--or "Power Thingy" as it has quickly become known as to our readers--we are now able to find out what kind of power is being used by our test system and the associated video cards installed. Keep in mind that it tests the complete system (minus LCD monitor, which is plugged directly into AC wall socket).

There are a few important notes to remember, though. While our maximum power is taken in 3DMark06 at the same exact point, we have seen in particular tests the power being drawn as much as 10 percent more. We test at the exact same stage every time, so tests should be very consistent and accurate.

The other thing to remember is that our test system is bare minimum--only an SSD hard drive is used with a single CD ROM and minimal cooling fans.

So while the system might draw 400 watts in our test system, placing it into your own PC with a number of other items will result in a higher draw.

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Looking above, you can see that power draw is sitting in the middle of the pack with a bit over 400 watts being used. We'd recommend a quality 600W+ unit for a setup like this.

Pricing, Availability, and Final Thoughts

The first thing we've got to talk about is the look of the card before we go anywhere else. The blue highlights on the Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC really look amazing and make the card really stand out for all the right reasons. While it's only aesthetics, no one wants an ugly looking card in their system.

This comes at a price, and the Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC is one of the most expensive R9 290s on the market. It comes well deserved, though. While not tested at the out of the box clocks, the 1030MHz core combined with the 5600MHz QDR memory clock makes for one of the best, if not the best, out-of-the-box overclocks on the market.

The quality of the cooler is also fantastic. While it's a little warm and a little loud when compared to a lot of other cards, the fact that we're pushing more volts and MHz through the card means we can forgive it. Compared to the stock cooler as well, the numbers are considerably better.

The card really shined when we overclocked it. At over 1100MHz on the core and 6000MHz QDR on the memory, we saw some truly awesome performance numbers with it coming out ahead of the R9 290X 4GB most the time. While the GTX 780 manages to come out ahead at times, the fact that it's also over $500 means that it should be faster. In terms of bang-for-buck, the Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC really holds its own.

As for the bundle, it's a very typical Sapphire one with the inclusion of the HDMI cable. Today, though, you can see they've also chosen to include what is essentially a mouse pad. Most of us would find ourselves staying away from it, though, as it's not exactly screaming quality. It's more than likely the kind of mouse pad you'd throw on your parents PC or maybe just keep in your laptop bag.

While the Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC is one of the more expensive R9 290s on the market, we have no problem justifying the price tag. The quality of the card is fantastic from top to bottom, and even if you don't overclock, you're getting one of the highest out of the box overclocked cards on the market. It is truly a top choice from the folks over at Sapphire.

PRICING: You can find the Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.

United States: The Sapphire R9 290 4GB Vapor-X OC retails for $499.99 at Amazon.

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Shawn takes care of all of our video card reviews. From 2009, Shawn is also taking care of our memory reviews, and from May 2011, Shawn also takes care of our CPU, chipset and motherboard reviews. As of December 2011, Shawn is based out of Taipei, Taiwan.

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