Technology X Tomorrow's Technology Today!
NEW FEATURES AND TECHNOLOGY
MANTLE API
For those of you who are not familiar with AMD’s Mantle API, it is an API for games similar to DirectX11. AMD developed it to help developers get “Closer to the metal” similar to how consoles can utilize the hardware more effectively. One of the biggest changes is it supports multicore CPU set ups more effectively.
This API is currently in Battlefield 4, Thief, Sniper Elite 3, Civilization Beyond Earth, Plants VS Zombies Garden Assault and Dragon Age: Inquisition as well as the upcoming Battlefield Hardline and Star Citizen. We are not sure how much more the number of Mantle supported games may grow, since AMD seems pretty up in the air about its future. It is still a very valuable thing to have.
MANTLE VS DX11
THIEF
As we see here the immediate difference between their performance with the minimums staying above 60 in Mantle at stock is something our overclock couldn’t do in DX11. It makes the game much more playable with noticeably less frame drops and an overall smoother experience. It gets about a 30% increase in minimum FPS overclocked and slightly above 25% in maximum.
Our testing again shows that there is a significant increase in FPS as our overclocked card in Mantle got a 26% jump in minimum FPS and a much smoother and consistently performing game.
OMEGA DRIVER
AMD had worked for over 6 months giving their driver a makeover and adding a wealth of new features, as well as performance leaps and bug fixes. AMD put a lot of time and effort into these new special edition drivers, which they wanted to name this something different to help them stand out from their previous drivers.
AMD Here says that we will see around a 10% or better performance jump in the games listed here. In the case of Bioshock Infinite we can definitely see the difference.
AMD Has also worked on frame pacing for dual GPU systems, the Omega driver now has focused on bringing those enhancements to APU and GPU dual graphics configurations which should allow less frame time variance.
Review Overview
Design
Features
Build Quality
Price
Warranty
Great 1440P Graphics!
While the price may vary on this card, it is still one of AMD's best non reference 290s and for good reason. This card kicks serious butt and with a 2nd card, 4K gaming is very affordable possibility!
Nice “mano-a-mano” review; and comes out how the 290 is overall “value leader” for entry into 1440p gaming! Many recognized this after the 970 came out… it didn’t much push healthier 1440p over 780. Two friends at time made the move buying just as the R9 290 price dropped, while they then used the approximately $100 they didn’t ante-up to 970 to offset the cost upgrading to a new 1440p panels. While the interesting thing on power… if you “sleep” your computer AMD ZeroCore can make back a good portion of the energy maxwell saves during gaming (unless you’re like >25 hours a week) in a months time.
Thanks a lot, we do see the 970 does quite well against our 290, but as I said in the article a decent 290 can be had for around $270 and does 1440P very well.