FRONTPAGE AMD XFX R9 280X Graphics Card Review

[Overclockers.com]

AMD is launching three graphics cards today, the R7 260X, R9 270X and the R9 280X. The 280X is the most powerful of the launching cards today and that's the one we're looking at here. The 280X isn't new by hardware standards. Most people know it by its original name - the HD 7970. It's higher clocked and cheaper this time around though, so maybe that's not such a bad thing after all.

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[SF101]

lost stability after 1100mhz due to voltage lock?
barely more clock for clock efficient than 7970..

If this is the case im pretty disappointed with these results most 7970's were stable to around 1200 atleast.

can only hope they get those voltages unlocked soon otherwise i don't see much point in buying this over the 7970s kicking around ive seen some down to 250-225$ on sale.

 

[wagex]

except the 7970 stock will probably be sold out soon. so you will only be able to buy them used. this much power coming from a mid range card seems kinda good to me.

edit: err im kinda confused by the numbering. is this mid range or high end? would be kinda dumb to use a refresh of the last series as anything more than a mid range...

 

[hokiealumnus]

lost stability after 1100mhz due to voltage lock?
barely more clock for clock efficient than 7970..

If this is the case im pretty disappointed with these results most 7970's were stable to around 1200 atleast.

can only hope they get those voltages unlocked soon otherwise i don't see much point in buying this over the 7970s kicking around ive seen some down to 250-225$ on sale.

This:

except the 7970 stock will probably be sold out soon. so you will only be able to buy them used. this much power coming from a mid range card seems kinda good to me.

Voltage control wasn't available on the 7970s at first. Afterburner will be updated eventually and we'll have voltage control over these too. Of the three 7970s to pass through my hands, only one would do over 1200MHz - and it stopped at 1280MHz. The other one would do 1200 and the worst did ~1150. This 280X isn't a great chip at stock voltage, but I'm quite sure it would do what every other HD 7970 would do given voltage control.

In any case, if you missed it, this is literally a HD 7970, just clocked at 1000MHz and selling for cheap. If you think you'd have better luck with a 7970, buy one now before they're gone - but don't buy one that costs more than $299 (ok, probably $319 with a good cooler), because the 280X will be a better deal.

 

[wagex]

edit: dont pay attention to this post

the post that quotes this one two posts down is correct

 

[Humanoid1]

Even then, its nice to see the 7970 / 280X doing so well against the GTX 770 in so many benchmarks - nothing new ofc...

I know this is just the beginning of the fun, but seems to me AMD have really stepped up their strategic side of the game for this round!

and really... R9 290 for perhaps only $399 going by that recent rumoured slide... and a bunch of Free games I seem to own none of that I actually want too!

Think I am going to go and quickly put my Asus 7950 Direct CUII TOP up for sale ^_^
...kinda missed my trusty old modded fanless 8800GT anyways xD

 

[Humanoid1]

not to mention the 7970 wont support mantle if / when it releases.

Mantle is supported by any GCN GPU

 

[wagex]

poop, i stand corrected.
sorry i was unaware of this. thank you lol.

 

[hokiealumnus]

not to mention the 7970 wont support mantle if / when it releases.

This:

Mantle is supported by any GCN GPU

All GCN GPUs will support Mantle.

 

[hokiealumnus]

Side note: We're working to add some more games as time goes on (though we won't be re-testing all previous GPUs). The XFX R9 280X managed 73 FPS in Bioshock: Infinity.

 

[wagex]

 

[bluezero5]

so basically.. R9-280x is about the same as GTX 770.. its counterparty.. but a little cheaper?

... I guess I will wait for 290X's performance before making a conclusion, but for now.. very underwhelming... ...

...

 

[wagex]

so im still kind of confused like if these were the 9xxx series would this pretymuch be the 9870 (mid range?) still folowed by the 290/x290x (9950/9970) (high range?) so wouldnt this be expected performance?

 

[Janus67]

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

 

[ninjacore]

so im still kind of confused like if these were the 9xxx series would this pretymuch be the 9870 (mid range?) still folowed by the 290/x290x (9950/9970) (high range?)

That kinda makes sense. Does anyone remember launch prices for the 7950/70?

 

[EarthDog]

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

Not sure on that, but I know it isn't used now and will make its debut by the end of the year in BF4 with an update to the game.

 

[ninjacore]

Nice review, by the way. LOL at the 797AXXCB sticker


EDIT: Also, anyone else notice that the 7950 (and maybe 7970?) prices went up by 2-5% recently?

 

[wagex]

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.

 

[hokiealumnus]

so basically.. R9-280x is about the same as GTX 770.. its counterparty.. but a little cheaper?

... I guess I will wait for 290X's performance before making a conclusion, but for now.. very underwhelming... ...

...

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.

AMD isn't calling it a rebrand, just like NVIDIA didn't call the GTX 770 & 760 rebrands, but the rest of us can call a spade a spade. There isn't anything here that's meant to be really exciting other than the reduced MSRP. I guess what I'm saying is to save your judgement for the 290/290X, about which I know nothing. Nothing I tell you!

so im still kind of confused like if these were the 9xxx series would this pretymuch be the 9870 (mid range?) still folowed by the 290/x290x (9950/9970) (high range?) so wouldnt this be expected performance?

That's a pretty good analysis if they kept with the old naming scheme. You can also look at it as the same thing NVIDIA did. Maybe I should have put a chart in the review. Disregarding higher clocks and/or slight optimizations/knee-cappings, this is how both companies "new" lineups break down:

NVIDIA

GTX TITAN - New
GTX 780 - New
GTX 770 = GTX 680
GTX 760 = GTX 670

AMD

R9 290X = New
R9 290 = New
R9 280X = HD 7970
R9 270X = HD 7870
R7 260X = HD 7790

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

Not quite sure how it would. Mantle is specifically designed to give hardware-level access to GCN GPUs and is not an open source project as far as I understand it.

That kinda makes sense. Does anyone remember launch prices for the 7950/70?

The HD 7970 had no competition when it launched (GTX 680s hadn't come out yet and it trounced the GTX 580). It was priced at $549.

Not sure on that, but I know it isn't used now and will make its debut by the end of the year in BF4 with a driver update game patch.

FTFY.

 

[wagex]

thanks hokie, i was just making sure i had it all right. so no reason to complain about performance people, flagship is still to come i suspect it will be rather well considering how its looking now.