Reviews - AMD Radeon R9 280X, R9 270X and R7 260X

[Roobubba]

Not too worried, having bought a 780 recently. Obviously these are much cheaper, but if the higher power draw, load temps and noise are anything to go by, the R9 290X isn't going to be a complete 780-slayer (even if it will probably take the crown in a handful of titles that are AMD favoured).

I moved from a 5870, which has given me 4 years of awesomeness, but it doesn't look at first glance as though AMD will pull out another '5870' moment with this series. And if they do, ho hum - the 780 is still a great card!

I hope there is good competition at the top end though, it's been a while since AMD was up there...

[Tarinder]

Let's see what the retailers do with the 7970 GE stock they currently have. Also, no overclocking benchmarks?

We're leaving overclocking for partner cards. The R9 280X, if you'll see, is actually a downclocked Asus DCU II TOP - AMD wouldn't sample standard cards for this model. Review on that coming very, very soon.

[ZaO]

So the R9280X is basically just a rebranded 7970GHZ. Just looked on scan and you can get them significantly cheaper than 7970's as well! I hope 7970 prices drop real soon so I can CF mine

By the way - where the hell do you get the amd 13.11 drivers?? The latest I can see is 13.10 Beta2!

[Jimbo75]

Multiple reviews have stated that Nvidia will not lower the price of the 770. Perhaps Hexus should ask Nvidia for a comment on that and update the conclusion appropriately? Basically put, the 770 is an absolute joke at current prices.

[scaryjim]

... if the higher power draw, load temps and noise are anything to go by, the R9 290X isn't going to be a complete 780-slayer ...

Can't really draw any conclusions about power draw/temps/noise of the R9 290X from these reviews, as the R9 290X is a completely new chip, whereas these are basically re-releases of the existing generation with minor firmware tweaks.

That said, the 290X is a bigger chip than the 280X/7970, and it's still on 28nm, so they'll have had to pull off an absolute miracle to stop it pulling more power than a GTX780....

[Defiant]

Very disappointing in my view, cant see a reason to move from my 6970 to these cards. 290x better be something good on the new archie or NVidia might be my next card

[Andcog]

The price when tax is added will not be £230, look on scan and see the prices for pre-order. I'm in the middle on these, not bad but could be better.

[cptwhite_uk]

To think that in 2 months, the last generation of cards will be nearly 2 years old, and 2 years on the main stay of their refreshed line up is...the same thing again. That means realistic AMD will have gone maybe 3 years before a major overhaul of their product line up :|

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Can't really draw any conclusions about power draw/temps/noise of the R9 290X from these reviews, as the R9 290X is a completely new chip, whereas these are basically re-releases of the existing generation with minor firmware tweaks.

That said, the 290X is a bigger chip than the 280X/7970, and it's still on 28nm, so they'll have had to pull off an absolute miracle to stop it pulling more power than a GTX780....

The GTX780 uses an even bigger chip though??

The thing is the R9 series appear to have low clockspeeds like the GTX780 and Geforce Titan with high boost clocks,unlike the HD7970 which has much higher stock clockspeeds.

[jigger]

The price when tax is added will not be £230, look on scan and see the prices for pre-order. I'm in the middle on these, not bad but could be better.

Scan always get excitable on price but plenty of retailers have them starting from £230 delivered.

I think at £230 the R280X is still over priced.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Where are all the salvage parts of Pitcairn and Tahiti going?? No new SKUs seem to use them!!

[jigger]

Not too worried, having bought a 780 recently. Obviously these are much cheaper, but if the higher power draw, load temps and noise are anything to go by, the R9 290X isn't going to be a complete 780-slayer (even if it will probably take the crown in a handful of titles that are AMD favoured).

Who gives a monkey's about power use! All will be forgiven as long as the performance is good enough.

[abychristy]

Well now I can buy the R9-280X and guys that is the price-performance value I like, Great Job AMD Radeon !

[abychristy]

Just found A MSI R9 280X Review here

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/R9_280X_Gaming/

and it has crossfire !

[Domestic_Ginger]

@CtV 270x is pitcairn?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

@CtV 270x is pitcairn?

Yep.