The AMD Radeon R9 290 is one of the fastest graphics cards that AMD has. It’s slower than the R9 290X, but the price difference is significantly larger, making the Radeon R9 290 an attractive alternative. Today, we are going to look at and review the Asus Radeon R9 290 DirectCU II OC 4GB (R9290-DC2OC-4GD5), featuring the award winning DirectCU II cooler, comes with factory overclock clock speeds, and is powered by AMD’s latest 28nm Hawaii silicon. According to Asus, their Radeon R9 290 DirectCU II is 19% faster compared to the reference R9 290 in terms of gaming performance (in BattleField 4). Can’t wait for the next generation Radeon R9 300 series? Find out if the Asus Radeon R9 290 DirectCU II OC 4GB is the one for you.
Asus Radeon R9 290 DirectCU II OC Review
The Asus Radeon R9 290 DirectCU II OC features the current latest 28nm Hawaii graphics core processor. It’s based on GCN Architecture, supporting latest technology such as: DirectX 12, Mantle, OpenGL 4.3, OpenCL, TrueAudio technology, bridge-less CrossFireX configuration and more.
Asus’ version of the R9 290 features the company’s award winning DirectCU II cooler which is proven to be more silent and can deliver 20% lower temperature compared to the reference cooler. Aside from the better cooling solution, the R9290-DC2OC-4GD5 has a higher base clock speed of 1000MHz and a higher memory clock speed of 5040MHz. It also features DIGI+ VRM with 8-phase Super Alloy Power that minimizes power noise by 30%, enhance power efficiency by 15%, widen voltage modulation tolerance, and improve overall stability and longevity by 2.5 times over reference.
Asus also included a feature called BIOS Switcher, where you can set the R9 290 to run on Silent Mode or Performance Mode. In silent mode the graphics card runs quieter but performance may be reduced; while in Performance mode the card runs on its maximum potential speed as expected but may produce more heat resulting to a higher fan rotational speed.
I’ll discuss more of its features as we take a closer look at the graphics card below. At the same time, you can check the rest of its specifications below.
Asus R9290-DC2OC-4GD5 Specifications
| Graphics Engine | AMD Radeon R9 290 |
| Bus Standard | PCI Express 3.0 |
| Video Memory | 4GB GDDR5 |
| Engine Clock | 1000 MHz |
| Memory Clock | 5040 MHz ( 1260 MHz GDDR5 ) |
| Memory Interface | 512-bit |
| Interface | DVI Output : Yes x 2 (DVI-D) HDMI Output : Yes x 1 Display Port : Yes x 1 (Regular DP) HDCP Support : Yes |
| Power Consumption | up to 300Wadditional 6+8 pin PCIe power required |
| Accessories | 1x Power cable |
| Software | ASUS GPU Tweak & Driver |
| ASUS Features | DirectCU Series OC Series Super Alloy Power |
| Dimensions | 11.3 " x 5.8 " x 1.6 " Inch 28.7 x 14.73 x4.06 Centimeter |
| Note | • Specifications are subject to change without notice. • PCB color and bundled software versions are change without notice. • Brand and product names mentioned are trademarks of their respective company. |
