I have run the XFX R9 290 for the past 5+ years and received way more value out of that card than I had expected. It lives on now in a pc for a new gamer, still without any issues. With that experience in mind, I was happy to see a great deal on this card here. This card is a big upgrade in more than just performance. The thing is physically massive, to the point of excess. When I pushed the GPU down to lock it into place into the PCI-E slot, I did not expect the shroud to cover the lock release completely. This has effectively locked the card onto my motherboard. Fortunately, I did not receive a defective card and have not continued to try and take it out without a reason as I am worried that I may damage the motherboard. Let me say that while this card has some pretty rough reviews for its cooler, it can often be found for $50-75 less than the 5700 XT's with "top tier" coolers. That puts it really near the 5700 pricing range. By default, my card runs at 1.2V and sits around 75C (95C Junction) and constantly boosting around 1920-1940mhz under full load. I've found that this card performs better with less voltage. By setting it to 1.1V, it now sits around 75C (94C Junction) with sustained boosting around 1990-2010mhz under full load. You can increase the power limit once you have found the lowest voltage with the best performance as cooling allows.