AMD Radeon R9 280X Graphics Card – Review

The evolution of graphics libraries and the technology used on video cards, has allowed us to significantly improve the image quality and level of detail of the same, from video games characterized by a handful of pixels, almost photo-realistic scenarios where the player is fully immersed in a virtual world.

The nostalgia of the titles that made the history of gaming, surely regret scenarios ” pixelated ” where the plot was the well-studied catalyst for action, and imagination was going to fill that was not displayed on the screen; but they cannot deny that some of them have come a long way from those days …

AMD Radeon R9 280X – Overview

The challenge to the frames per second, AMD and NVIDIA are today the only two GPU manufacturers contend that the scepter of the more powerful video card on the market by offering both, almost every year, powerful new models.

With the launch of video cards based Graphics Core Next architecture, back in December 2011, AMD has introduced one of the oldest families of GPUs, updating over the last two years with new technologies, but without actually upsetting the original project.

AMD has also failed to require manufacturers of all Next Gen consoles (Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in particular) its integral APU GPU based on the GCN architecture, extending the life of the fact of this technology at least one other about ten years, or the entire life cycle of a console.

With this in mind, the choice to continue with the GCN architecture for the new video card series Radeon R is more than obvious, working more on the drivers on the design of the new ” silicon ” and leaving, some models have greater freedom to partners to propose their own solutions, to attract even the most demanding users.

There are two families of cards that are presented today: AMD Radeon AMD Radeon R7 and R9. Of family cards R7, the most interesting model is the AMD Radeon R7 260X, product dedicated to mid-market with the peculiar characteristic of introducing AMD TrueAudio, which promises to greatly improve the quality of positional games in which the support it. This card will be subject to a future review in the coming weeks.

The family R9 is dedicated to the higher end of the market and includes four tabs, the two already available, namely the Radeon R9 270X and Radeon R9 280x, and two of which you will hear about soon, specifically the Radeon R9 290 and the flagship R9 Radeon 290x.

The R9 270X and R9 280x they replace the successful HD 7950 and HD 7970 with Boost GHz Edition and inherit from the latter, the GPU Codename ” Tahiti “. During today’s review, we will analyze the performance of the new AMD Radeon R9 280x in comparison with the AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition Video Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 competitors and GTX 760.

For the first time, we will be used by the testing methodology based on the Frame Capture Analysis Tool (FCAT for short), which allows a more detailed analysis of the actual frame rate, going to highlight any ” defects ” in the handling of frames from part of the video cards under test.

Specifications

The AMD Radeon R9 280x is a new version of the HD 7970 GHz Edition card, with which it shares architecture and technical specifications. Based on the GPU Codename ” Tahiti “, the Radeon R9 280x is equipped with 2048 Stream Processors that can be achieved, thanks to the AMD PowerTune Technology with Boost, the maximum frequency of 1050MHz.

The project has remained unchanged over the years, but the improvement of production techniques by the foundry TSMC, AMD partners for the production of its GPU and APU, allowed to produce chips more efficient and characterized by lower energy losses (low leakage), thus guaranteeing higher frequencies and lower fuel consumption with less heat production.

The memory bus is 384-bit, managed by a controller unit consists of six dual-channel 64-bit each, which are connected to 3GB of GDDR5 memory operating at a frequency of 1500MHz (6000MHz effective). For a detailed analysis of the Graphics Core Next architecture.

Starting from the R9 series video cards, AMD has officially dropped support for the obsolete displays with VGA connection, integrating two Dual Link DVI-D ports, a Display Port 1.2 and HDMI 1.4a. This choice is entirely acceptable, and is also supported by the other card manufacturers, particularly Intel, which has long planned abandonment of this analog interface.

The Radeon R9 280x is credited with a maximum power consumption of 250W, which is why it is sufficient to use a wireless PCI-E 6-pin and one 8-pin to feed it properly, and of course, the energy supplied by the PCI-E 3.0 x16. As for video cards in the HD 7000 series, including the 280x R9 software allows you to increase the limit of electrical power board 20%, by operating the control within AMD Catalyst Control Center.

Conclusions

The AMD Radeon R9 280x does not bring any innovation compared to the HD 7970 GHz Edition, with performance comparable. The personalized cards from AMD partners are modeled on the earlier models, both in frequency and in cooling systems and power supply. The operations of rebranding the products I’ve never loved and to see something new we will have to wait for the promising R9 290 and R9 290x.

If you own a HD 6000 series card or HD 5000 will be able to assess the upgrade to the new R9 280x jumping directly the HD 7000 series, for which AMD has also announced the near exhaustion of stocks.

AMD Radeon R9 280X 3GB HDMI PCI Express Video Graphics Card for Apple Mac Pro, outperforms ATI Sapphire Radeon HD 2600, 4870, 5770, 7950, 9000, 9800 Gigabyte

• AMD RADEON R9 280X 3GB for APPLE MAC PRO 2008 to 2012 3,1 4,1 5,1
• Includes required Mac Pro power booster cables and installation instructions
• Support up to macOS 10.13 High Sierra for MAC PRO 2010, 2012 at this time

$268.68

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