FRONTPAGE AMD XFX R9 280X Graphics Card Review

Janus67 said:

I thought I read that Mantle worked on all graphics cards (AMD+nVidia) as it is an open API?

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During the AMD presentation last month they talked a lot about cross platform (but they were talking about Console and PC's with AMD (GFx) hardware.)

What they did say is that Mantle is compatible with MS DX HLSL (High Level Shading Language for DirectX) so porting over game assets would be straight forward to provide games with Mantle support.

There was a specific slide saying Mantle is compatible with GCN GFx cards ( - which NVidia is not)

hokiealumnus said:

Heh, R9 280X is about the same as GTX 770, but is also powered literally by a HD 7970. There's nothing new here, just a MSRP price drop, higher stock clock speed and eventually Mantle, which also works on a 7970.

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Any idea if the 280X will work in Crossfire with a 7970, then, or was there enough architectural change to make them incompatible?

ninjacore said:

Any idea if the 280X will work in Crossfire with a 7970, then, or was there enough architectural change to make them incompatible?

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I very highly doubt they would work together. Completely different BIOSes, even if the biggest part of the change is the model number.

Oooo...I forgot to put another amusing thing in the article.

With WHQL Catalyst 13.9, this is what GPUz looked like for the 280X:



...with the Catalyst 13.11 beta used in the review, it looked like this:

The GTX760 (1152 shaders) is a cut down GTX670 (1344 shaders), so GTX760 = GTX670 isn't correct. The only direct rebrand from NVIDIA is the GTX770 = GTX680. Needed to clear that up

MattNo5ss said:

The GTX760 (1152 shaders) is a cut down GTX670 (1344 shaders), so GTX760 = GTX670 isn't correct. The only direct rebrand from NVIDIA is the GTX770 = GTX680. Needed to clear that up

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Heh, I would direct you to the text above the model numbers.

Disregarding higher clocks and/or slight optimizations/knee-cappings, this is how both companies "new" lineups break down:

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If you want me to be more specific...

NVIDIA

GTX TITAN - New
GTX 780 - New
GTX 770 = GTX 680 (pretty close to exact)
GTX 760 = GTX 670 (kneecapped shaders)

AMD

R9 290X = New
R9 290 = New
R9 280X = HD 7970 (higher clocked)
R9 270X = HD 7870 (higher clocked)
R7 260X = HD 7790 (higher clocked)

SO in a nut shell for $299 you can get the 280x which out preforms the gtx 770 for about $100 less and free games! Guess who's the winner this round???

hokiealumnus said:

This:

All GCN GPUs will support Mantle.

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which is a amazing feature to gain on all the 7000 series cards in itself.

I have yet to regret going amd on my 7970 series card it just keeps getting better and when i put it in my guest pc its nice to know they are still adding functions like mantel to its capability and the card isn't just fading away easily.

things like that make my decision to buy a 290x all the more easy to pull the trigger on.

wagex said:

6970 was as fast as the 7870 cept in the freakish games of dirt 3 and civ v it was very similar performance.
"mid range" "9870"(280x) being (literally) same as "7970" i dont think its too far off and therefor don't see a reason to be disappointed by performance, im guessing people are just getting confused that the flagship gpu's NDA still aren't to release for another week.

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No i just expected some optimizations/enhancements to it is all . maybe a 5% performance increase like the 580 saw over the 480 but i guess this wasn't a die shrink or anything so its tough to squeeze out those extra ponies.

Kemosabe89 said:

SO in a nut shell for $299 you can get the 280x which out preforms the gtx 770 for about $100 less and free games! Guess who's the winner this round???

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Not so sure of that part yet....A few of the reviews/articles I've read today state that the 200 series, as of now, will not be included in the Never Settle Bundle.

As far as benchmarks, I've seen quite a range of FPS/scores compared to the nVidia house. Overall, I wouldn't say that the 200 series "absolutely crushes" or "outperforms" the GTX 700 series...The 760, yes, but the others not so much. It is a pretty close run between them.

As far as pricing, the 200 series is indeed nice and I am still considering it for my next upgrades. But I'll wait a little longer for 2 reasons, the final specs of the 290x and for other companies to release all their versions of the 280x. Not to mention, I wouldn't doubt it if the prices for the 200 series dropped a tiny bit more in a few weeks after the hype dies.

The prices now are great, and I love that. It just means I can just grab a few 280x's and xFire if need be. But then you have to look at personal usage. Benchmarks and all aside, would I really need 2 for one monitor running 1080? Not really, could a 760 suit my needs? It very well could. Hard to say it will be the "zomghaxxorzpwncard" when it varies from party to party. I do love the green team, as I have never experienced any issues from them like I did AMD. However, times have changed and I will not strictly say that I am a fanboy of either group. I go for value/performance overall, I'll sit back for the 290x and decide a little while after its release.

It is indeed too early to judge right now, as this is just the first bit of it. So I'll wait...somewhat patiently lol

Here's a small bit of the reviews/articles I read:

AnandTech

PC World

H-OCP

Techpower Up

Tom's Hardware

Tech Report

The prices on the 7970's saw massive sale type 100$ off adjustments within a month after release i got my Giga OC 7970 about a month or 2 after 7970 release and it was 150$ off sticker price i got it for i think under 500$ which at the time was the price of the stock reference cards.

So i'm probably going to wait a bit with these aswell unless a sale hits again.

You need to remember, nvidia blew amd's line out of the water a few months after amd's line was out. Nvidia saw the amd performance and actually held titan back for almost a product cycle. I remember reading how kepler was going to be massive and amazing, then the release cards were aroung the midgrade of what the leaks were saying out of nvidia. As far as I can tell, the rumors for the 600 series turned out to be the truth of the 700 series. There was a pre-kepler rumor thread here I was ninja trolling

Kemosabe89 said:

SO in a nut shell for $299 you can get the 280x which out preforms the gtx 770 for about $100 less and free games! Guess who's the winner this round???

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Well the 770 is the winner because it came out in May or so..... Now Nvidia can probably do a price drop or release a new card or something.

These cards are rehashes despite what AMD says. True Audio is something to be excited about, but we will have to see if games will support it. Mantle is probably the most exciting thing about this launch, and that will be available on the 7000 series.

hokiealumnus said:

I very highly doubt they would work together. Completely different BIOSes, even if the biggest part of the change is the model number.

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BIOS flash possible? (Either a 7970 to a 280x or a 280x down to a 7970)

I've done a little reading on the xFire between the series, and apparently it will work. That is just one site though, so take it as you will

Clicky-Clicky

Avulsion said:

Not so sure of that part yet....A few of the reviews/articles I've read today state that the 200 series, as of now, will not be included in the Never Settle Bundle.

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The Anandtech article mentions that, if anyone else was wondering

I find it hard to imagine AMD not eventually including 200-series cards in the Never Settle bundle. It does expire December 31, however, so maybe they won't include it with the cards at release and launch another program in 2014? Pure speculation there and I hope it isn't true. I was hoping for BF4 to be added to Never Settle at some point

Yep, I'd imagine something along those lines. 2014 is probably the likely time to see it bundled, but still too early to really say for sure. Only time will tell

Avulsion said:

I've done a little reading on the xFire between the series, and apparently it will work. That is just one site though, so take it as you will

Clicky-Clicky

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thats awesome, they do say its 100% works and they get almost double the frames with it.

That's crazy, thanks for the link. Our 7970 DC II is also 1000/1500, I'll see if I can get ours to work too.

I'm also thinking that although NVidia also announced some price drops along with 7** GTX versions that until Maxwell in the spring of '14, AMD seems to have timed this brilliantly. Intro of cards at this time gives reviewers time to report, competition to heat up as the various AIBs get product into the channel, and enthusiasts time to save up for Christmas, or at least get the begging to an annoying pitch.

I think I saw somewhere that you can flash a 7970 to the 280x.