The Radeon R9 280X Review: Feat. Asus & XFX - Meet The Radeon 200 Series
by Ryan Smith on October 8, 2013 12:01 AM ESTBattlefield 3
Our major multiplayer action game of our benchmark suite is Battlefield 3, DICE’s 2011 multiplayer military shooter. Its ability to pose a significant challenge to GPUs has been dulled some by time and drivers, but it’s still a challenge if you want to hit the highest settings at the highest resolutions at the highest anti-aliasing levels. Furthermore while we can crack 60fps in single player mode, our rule of thumb here is that multiplayer framerates will dip to half our single player framerates, so hitting high framerates here may not be high enough.
Our Battlefield 3 benchmark is another game that traditionally favors NVIDIA, and that’s especially the case here. The 280X is generally well ahead of the GTX 760, but in this case the two are almost at parity. We’re essentially looking at GTX 760 performance for the 280X under BF3. If Battlefield 4 performs similarly, then AMD’s interest in Mantle and its performance improvements will be well placed.
Looking once more at our FCAT results, the delta percentages are extremely unremarkable. For most games this is going to be little more than a checklist; neither party has significant problems with single-GPU configurations at this time.
151 Comments
View All Comments
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. ;)