AMD Radeon R9 280 - HD 7950 in new suit

AMD continues to broaden the range of graphics cards according to the company’s new name scheme. A few weeks ago, the mid-range Radeon R7 265 was launched, and now it’s time for the performance-oriented R9 series to be expanded with another model.

Contents hide

1 Prestandatester

2 Summary and reflections

2.1 Related posts:

According to AMD, the Radeon R9 280 primarily challenges the Nvidia Geforce GTX 760. The goal is to deliver sufficient performance for gaming in a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels and up, together with a pressed price tag.

	R9 280X	R9 280	HD 7950 Boost	R9 270X
GPU	Tahiti XTL	Tahiti Pro	Tahiti Pro	Curacao XT
Technical	TSMC 28 nm	TSMC 28 nm	TSMC 28 nm	TSMC 28 nm
Architecture	GCN	GCN	GCN	GCN
Streamproc.	2 048 st.	1 792 st.	1 792 st.	1 280 st.
Memory bus	384-bit	384-bit	384-bit	256-bit
Memory amount	3 GB	3 GB	3 GB	2/4 GB
Minnestyp	GDDR5	GDDR5	GDDR5	GDDR5
GPU frequency	–	–	850 MHz	–
Turbo frequency	1 000 MHz	933 MHz	925 MHz	1 050 MHz
Memory frequency	6 000 MHz	5 000 MHz	5 000 MHz	5 600 MHz
Memory bandwidth	288 GB/s	240 GB/s	240 GB/s	179,2 GB/s
Rek. pris (USD)	$299	$279	–	$199

Under the shell, however, it is not about any world-changing news. The Radeon R9 280 is based on the same graphics circuit as the HD 7950 from 2012, ie slightly stripped down Tahiti Pro. That means 1,792 stream processors according to the GCN architecture, which is paired with 3 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit memory bus.

By default, the clock frequencies are at a maximum of 933 MHz GPU and 5,000 MHz for GDDR5 memory. This means a top rating of only 8 MHz over the previous Radeon HD 7950 Boost, on paper a barely measurable difference. AMD believes, however, that the R9 280 also comes with a more generous power supply, which leaves the card in its maximum frequency more or less constant.

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model	Graphics circuit	Based on
Radeon R9 290X	Hawaii XT	–
Radeon R9 290	Hawaii Pro	–
Radeon R9 280X	Tahiti XTL	Radeon HD 7970
Radeon R9 280	Tahiti Pro	Radeon HD 7950
Radeon R9 270X	Curacao/Pitcairn XT	Radeon HD 7870
Radeon R9 270	Curacao/Pitcairn XT	Radeon HD 7870
Radeon R7 265	Curacao/Pitcairn Pro	Radeon HD 7850
Radeon R7 260X	Bonaire XTX	Radeon HD 7790
Radeon R7 260	Bonaire Pro	–
Radeon R7 250X	Cape Verde XT	Radeon HD 7770
Radeon R7 250	Oland XT	–
Radeon R7 240	Oland Pro	–

In the Radeon family in 2014 as a whole, the R9 280 slides in between the R9 270X and big brother R9 280X, graphics cards based on the HD 7870 and HD 7970 from the older generation, respectively. As with other GCN-based models, support for DirectX 11.2 and AMD Mantle is provided, the latter so far with some performance issues. However, there is no support for Trueaudio or Crossfire with XDMA, features that are exclusive to the Bonaire and Hawaii graphics chips.

According to AMD, the Radeon R9 280 will reach stores in March with a recommended price tag of 279 USD – corresponding to approximately SEK 2,300 including VAT. Just as with the R9 280X, it is primarily the partner manufacturers who are responsible for the violets through several different variants with special coolers.

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Prestandatester

Unfortunately, no test copy of the Radeon R9 280 has landed at the editorial office, which means that the HD 7950 Boost may be on duty. According to AMD, the newcomer’s performance is more or less exactly the same as raising the clock frequency to 933 MHz and turning up the “Power Limit” by 20 percent.

The basic system and approach are the same as for other reviews, ie an overclocked Intel Core i7-4960X together with 16 GB of RAM. Reference values come from previous reviews.

In the lower resolution, the Radeon R9 280 manages to beat the Geforce GTX 760 on the fingers in several modes. In fact, the model even pushes past the Geforce GTX 770 in the sequence for Hitman: Absolution.

When the resolution is increased, no major changes await. Radeon R9 280 is consistently ahead of lower clocked HD 7950 Boost and often also Geforce GTX 760, but behind faster R9 280X and Geforce GTX 770.

Summary performance index for the lower resolution places the Radeon R9 280 about 2.5 percent ahead of competing Geforce GTX 760. The performance gain against the HD 7950 Boost is about 8 percent, and against the original variant of the HD 7950 about 13 percent.

When the resolution is increased, the Radeon R9 280 pulls away a bit and lands about 6 percent ahead of the Geforce GTX 760. Against the Radeon HD 7950 Boost and HD 7950, the performance gains are about 8 percent and 12 percent, respectively.

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Summary and reflections

It is difficult to make any longer explanations about the Radeon R9 280. The card is basically the same as the older HD 7950 Boost, except for the higher clock frequency for the graphics processor. The performance is then – on average about 8 percent above its predecessor.

Against the closest competitor Geforce GTX 760, the model therefore performs well. Of course, the result varies depending on the game title, but overall the Radeon R9 280 comes out as the faster alternative. The step up to the Radeon R9 280X is noticeable, however, big brother is on average about 15 percent faster.

As usual, a lot is about pricing. According to Swedish dealers, the Radeon R9 280 is expected to land around SEK 2,400, in round slings SEK 300 over the Geforce GTX 760 and only a few hundred bucks under price-pressed R9 280X models. It feels straightforward as too much money, where a future price adjustment may well be relevant.