AMD launches Radeon R9 285 "Tonga Pro"

After months of rumors and a preview at the end of August, AMD is now launching the graphics processor Tonga, the replacement for the aging Tahiti in the Radeon R9 280 series and the former star HD 7970. The menu features a refreshed architecture and the new Never Settle: Space Edition campaign.

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1 Specifications: Radeon R9 285 “Tonga Pro”

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Specifications: Radeon R9 285 “Tonga Pro”

	R9 290	R9 280X	R9 285	R9 280
GPU	Hawaii Pro	Tahiti XT	Tonga Pro	Tahiti Pro
Technical	TSMC 28 nm	TSMC 28 nm	TSMC 28 nm	TSMC 28 nm
Architecture	GCN 1.1	GCN 1.0	GCN 1.1	GCN 1.0
Streamprocessorer	2 560 st.	2 048 st.	1 792 st.	1 792 st.
Texture units	160 st.	128 st.	112 st.	112 st.
Raster units	64 st.	32 st.	32 st.	32 st.
Memory bus	512-bit	384-bit	256-bit	384-bit
Memory amount	4 GB	3 GB	2 GB	3 GB
Minnestyp	GDDR5	GDDR5	GDDR5	GDDR5
GPU frequency	947 MHz	1 000 MHz	918 MHz	933 MHz
Memory frequency	5 000 MHz	6 000 MHz	5 500 MHz	5 000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	320 GB/s	288 GB/s	176 GB/s	240 GB/s
Trueaudio	And	No	And	No
Power supply	8+6-pin	8+6-pin	6+6-pin	6+6-pin
TDP	250 W	250 W	190 W	200 W

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On paper, the new Radeon R9 285 is very similar to its predecessor R9 280, which will soon be phased out completely. The Tonga Pro graphics processor is manufactured on the same technology and houses 1,792 918 MHz stream processors in the reference version. This includes 2 or 4 GB of GDDR5 memory at 5,500 MHz over a 256-bit memory bus. This gives a total bandwidth of 176 GB / s – significantly lower than the predecessor’s 240 GB / s.

To counteract the loss of bandwidth, the graphics processor compresses data in a lossless format, which it can read from at the same time. The result is said to be up to 40 percent higher bandwidth efficiency compared to its predecessor. At the same time, there is the same Powertune technology that was introduced with the Radeon R9 290X and a fourfold increase in performance during tessellation.

When it comes to the second generation Graphics Core Next, a number of other features are also added, such as the integrated signal processors that make up AMD Trueaudio. In addition, monitor control for dynamic refresh rates in games with Freesync technology is supported.

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AMD is also taking the opportunity to launch the Never Settle: Space Edition campaign, which includes Star Citizen and Alien: Isolation. As before, there are three reward levels, where the selection of game titles and the number of games that can be selected varies depending on which graphics card is purchased. Please note that the promotion only applies to participating retailers.

Radeon R9 285 has a target price of 249 dollars, which should correspond to approximately 2,500 kronor including VAT in Swedish stores.