XFX Radeon R9 285 Black Edition Review: Maximum Overdrive

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logainofhades

logainofhades

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If you can afford the GTX 970, it is a great card. Many cannot afford one. An R9 290, @ $60+ less is good, and the 280x @ $100+ less isn't bad either. The card that I think will really shake things up is the GTX 960.
 
cleeve

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It does. It compares to other Radeon R9 285s.

We already compared how a stock 285 performs compared to all other cards, we did that at launch as it says in the article. We included a link for those who'd like to refresh their memory. ;)
 
mortsmi7

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"2GB is more then enough for 1080p gaming which the card is designed for."

Then you haven't played Wolfenstien on ultra @ 1080p (which is only possible with a 3GB or more card). It's probably more accurate to say that 2GB fits the performance tier of the card.
 
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moshenokoji

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It depends on what you pay for a card. A 280 may be a better buy if the 285 is $250 and the 280 is $230. But, I grabbed a Power Color R9 285 Turbo Duo on Thanksgiving for $200 with a $20 rebate effectively making it $180. $180 for a card that is similar to the 280 and extremely close to the GTX 770 or as fast as with a small overclock - I'll take that.
 
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aonex

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The lower clocked version of this card is $190 after rebate at the egg, and that includes Alien Isolation and Star Citizen... mighty tempting.
 
iam2thecrowe

iam2thecrowe

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2GB is more then enough for 1080p gaming which the card is designed for.
Click to expand...
there are a few games now that will break 2gb vram usage at 1080, however the detail settings and aa you need to enable will probably make the card run too slow. But a 3gb 280x can be had for around the same price and a 4gb 290 for a little more.....well i know what i would chose.
 
buzznut

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Would have been nice to see at least the 280X compared. I mean, the 280X can be had around $200 for similar performance. So then you're just paying a premium to go without a crossfire bridge. Which is cool enough, but still one could put enough extra together to get a second card..
Anyway, a comparison to competing cards would have been nice.
 
mamasan2000

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"...just shy of a 20% performance increase. That gets us into Radeon R9 280X territory."
Which costs just as much.

And in the beginning of the article there was something about a 850W PSU. As if...500 W is enough.
 
Lutfij

Lutfij

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True the card can run off of lower power units but when a brand supports you with products to review, I don't think it's polite to refuse and suggest for something less.

In all likelihood the PSU may also be involved in a PSU review of sorts. Perhaps a multi GPU review with a PSU shootout...?
 
mamasan2000

mamasan2000

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It is also not truthful to suggest that the card needs 850 W power supply.

"Graphics cards like the Radeon R9 285 require a substantial amount of power, so XFX sent us its PRO850W 80 PLUS Bronze-certified supply."

You could probably use a PSU with half as much wattage.
No, it does not require a substantial amount of power. So B doesn't follow from A. Logic fails.

Polite has nothing to do with it.
In that case what the article could have said is "XFX was kind enough to send us a 850 W PSU also, although this card for certain does not need all that much wattage".
 
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Negatron69

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Why the R9-285 deserves consideration at its current price point:

1) Size. Check out the size of most of the R9-285's out there, with the notably-oversized exceptions, such as the Asus STRIX. Sapphire's offering, all of XFX's 285 models, and one of HIS's models all fit neatly into a mid-tower case (such as my CoolerMaster N600) with a 200mm side fan, noting that the sides of my case do not bulge out to make room for side fans. Thus, a short and NARROW card is a definite plus.

2) Efficiency. Sure, the R9-280X might be faster, but it also requires a whopping 750W power supply-- or a minimum of 1000W if you want to run in Crossfire. The R9-285 gets close enough to that level of performance with a SUBSTANTIAL increase in efficiency, and a significant decrease in power requirements.

3) The only reason the R9-290's are so cheap right now is because they're being cleared to make room for its successor (R9-390?), which will utilize many of the Tonga architecture's efficiency improvements. When the 290's successor is released, I'm willing to bet it will be at a $450-$500 price tag.

There's also rumor of an R9-285X on the horizon, with more stream processors and a 384-bit memory controller...
 
mamasan2000

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I can't imagine the 280X drawing so much power. With amd fx-8350 and asus ROG 290X, I'm pulling 550 W under load from the wall. 600 W+ when overclocking.
Thats with an old, tired Tagan Silverpower 850W from 2007 or something.

But AMD seems to have a thing for power efficiency and cost, also on the CPU side with the new chips. The new ones come at a premium. FX-8370E for example. A bit less performance, better power efficiency but almost same price as 8350.
Seems to be their marketing strategy.
 
A_Goat

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Oh please, I played wolfenstein just fine at Ultra on a 1GB 7850.
 
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