Hardware Sapphire Radeon R9 290 Vapor-X OC Review

Surely comparing this to the stock/asus 290 (and all the other radeons for that matter) is a bit unfair when they're tested with catalyst 13.12 and this with 14.4, you have no idea if the difference is due to it being a better card or due to driver optimization.

 

Thanks for the 1920x1080 numbers! Definitely makes it easier for me to compare apples to apples when I run my benchmarks on Valley. I'm not planning on upgrading anytime soon, but when I do, at least I can get a good idea of what to look at it in comparison to my current setup.

 

Most reviews say the card is over priced. With r290x when on daily deal a cheaper faster option. Unless you must have vapor x chamber.

 

There haven't really been any big leaps in performance from the drivers, more so compatibility fixes, you can read the driver release notes for that info.

 

Something to keep in mind about Sapphire is that their warranty process is an absolute nightmare. If this thing goes bad on you after the retailer limited warranty expired (for Newegg that's 30 days) then you better be prepared for a long, costly, headache of a process dealing with a third party.

That's right. Sapphire DOES NOT service their warranty....directly. They will respond to your warranty request with a link to some nebulous company you've never heard of, a pat on the shoulder and a "good luck" email. You then have to send your card, at your own expense, to this organization and wait several weeks while they dig through a trash bin to send you back a refurbished POS card to replace the one you bought new. Everything I've researched about the company they use in the US has pretty much been all bad.

My advice, buy from a manufacturer that cares enough about their consumers to handle their own warranty.

Luckily the problem with my card was just a scare, and I was able to correct the issue myself, but I feel like I really dodged a bullet.

 

Thanks for the heads up regarding Sapphire warranty, this is something that i would never have considered.

Do you know if they operate the same here in the UK?