The Radeon R9 280X Review: Feat. Asus & XFX - Meet The Radeon 200 Series
by Ryan Smith on October 8, 2013 12:01 AM ESTBioshock: Infinite
Bioshock Infinite is Irrational Games’ latest entry in the Bioshock franchise. Though it’s based on Unreal Engine 3 – making it our obligatory UE3 game – Irrational had added a number of effects that make the game rather GPU-intensive on its highest settings. As an added bonus it includes a built-in benchmark composed of several scenes, a rarity for UE3 engine games, so we can easily get a good representation of what Bioshock’s performance is like.
Bioshock has always favored NVIDIA GPUs to some extent, and of course this will carry over to 280X. The 280X is still well clear of the cheaper GTX 760, but it’s not going to be catching the GTX 770 any time soon. Nor will the factory overclock of the Asus card close that gap, though it will at least get the performance of a 280X card above 50fps.
Looking at our FCAT data quickly, the data is unremarkable. Bioshock has more variance than most other games, but even so everyone is able to stay under 3%.
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nathanddrews - Tuesday, October 8, 2013 - link
GTX700 = GTX770, derp.Da W - Tuesday, October 8, 2013 - link
Sure. Just go to your job every day and work hard just to give free stuff at people.nathanddrews - Tuesday, October 8, 2013 - link
Who said anything about giving "free stuff at people"? I'm talking about competitive pricing - the NVIDIA lineup is overpriced.Mondozai - Tuesday, October 8, 2013 - link
Speaking of which, we could use an edit function ;)Mondozai - Tuesday, October 8, 2013 - link
Nah, they are more logical now. People are just bitching because their head hurts when re-adjusting.JPForums - Tuesday, October 8, 2013 - link
So, the 280X is a 7970(not quite)GHz edition that is not quite price competitive with overclocked 7970s that give you essentially the same thing.The 270X is a 7870 with a token boost clock and better memory bandwidth. Unfortunately it is priced $20 ($50 w/MIR) more expensive than the generally more powerful 7870XT.
The 260XT is a 7790 with a somewhat meaningful boost clock. Too bad it is priced closer to a 7850 than a 7790. Mail-in-Rebates only make the situation worse.
Well, ... , I'm underwhelmed.
7970 (OC) - $300 ($280 w/MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
7870XT - $180 ($150 w/MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
7850 - $145 ($125 w/MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
7790 - $120 ($100 w/MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
JPForums - Tuesday, October 8, 2013 - link
Note: The AMD news section seems to be penta-posting articles. Please remove this comment once corrected.noeldillabough - Tuesday, October 8, 2013 - link
I loved the 290x specs chart :0alfredska - Tuesday, October 8, 2013 - link
Ryan, you need a better editor -- or an editor, period. Here's the first four paragraphs of your "Final Words", cleaned up and less abrasive:Bringing this review to a close, the initial launch of the Radeon 200 series is something of a warm-up act. AMD’s Big Kahuna, the R9 290X, is not yet here and will be a story of its own. In the meantime, AMD has kicked off 2014 with the bulk of their graphics lineup.
As far as performance is concerned, the 200 series is more of a refresh of the existing Tahiti, Pitcairn, and Bonaire GPUs than a revolution. The performance is is only a few percent better on average. While I wouldn't call this a new coat of paint on the 7000 series, these products are still largely unchanged from those we’ve seen over the last two years.
Today’s launch represents a consolidation of products and a formalization of prices. The number of products based on the each GPUs has been cut down significantly; there’s now only 1 card per GPU as opposed to 2 or 3. AMD can lower the prices on existing products, redefining the high-end, enthusiast, and mainstream markets, as opposed to flogging cards based on the 7970 as sub-$300 enthusiast parts. Nearly two years in, these parts are hitting what should have been their introductory prices.
Today, there’s no getting around the fact that similar 7000 series products are going to be equal in price or cheaper than 200 series products. Once this supply dries up, however, the 200 series will settle into a more typical product stratification. Then, we'll see AMD’s partners react to competitive pressure and adjust prices and bundles accordingly. We expect to see the return of the Never Settle Forever program for these cards.
Razorbak86 - Tuesday, October 8, 2013 - link
"Is is" that so? "The each GPUs" reveals your true editorial prowess.Pro-tip: Don't quit your day job. ;)