MSI Radeon R9 280X Video Card

The graphics card has 2048 shader units and a 384-bit memory interface, with 3 gigabytes of GDDR5 and 288 gigabytes per second of bandwidth. We have all, by this point, read many of the reviews published on AMD's 'new' GPU portfolio. Aside from the 290 and 290x, the cores in the mid-range and below were just updated versions of those in the previous generation. Except for the MSI Radeon R9, most of what Overclockers.com brought to your attention was the reference variety.

This time, we will examine a gaming card manufactured by MSI and branded as the R9 280x. Because this card employs the identical Twin Frozr IV cooler used on earlier generations' cards, we should be in possession of a card that runs quietly and efficiently. Let's take a look at what MSI has to offer, and see how it compares to other options.

Details and Requirements

The MSI website provides the following list of the specs for the product. As can be seen, except for the clock speeds, this is a rebrand of the HD 7970, as was mentioned in earlier reviews, and can be shown once again by glancing below. In all honesty, there isn't a lot to look at here; however, two things that stand out are the 1000 MHz Core that can "boost" to 1050 MHz and the 384-bit memory bus that clocks in at 1500 MHz (GDDR5 6000 Quad Pumped).

Compared to NVIDIA's boost, AMD's does not come close in terms of performance. GPU-Z shows the base clock on NVIDIA cards, whereas AMD cards display the increase right out of the gate. NVIDIA cards boost their ultimate clock speed after reaching their base clock speed. To figure out the precise amount of the boost, needing to utilize software graphing or logs is something that I find to be a lot less convenient than having this transparency.

Accessories

As can be seen, we have a comprehensive accessory stack consisting of a PC power connection, a speedy user guide, and the driver disc

The Card

Okay, guys, the 797 is in front of you right now. Sorry about that. I meant the MSI R9 280X Gaming 3G. As is well known, it is equipped with the respectable Twin Frozr IV cooler, which is situated above the Tahiti-based core and is responsible for keeping everything cool. There isn't much to look at on the reverse of the card, which is unfortunate. This video card has robust connections with 6 and 8 pins to power all the components.

Performance and Overclocking

Overclockers.com does its hardware reviews using various sources, which is common knowledge. To guarantee that the results are the same regardless of who does the analysis, we have a specialized testing system with the following procedures and settings in place:

Test System

• Intel i7 4770K @ 4 GHz, 1.1 V
• Motherboard: MSI Z87 XPower 240 GB OCZ Vertex 3 SSD 9-9-9-24 Seasonic 1000 W Power Supply Unit

Overclocking Software – MSI Afterburner

In all honesty, there isn't all that much to see here. There is no question that, at this point, all of us are familiar with MSI Afterburner and its capabilities. I thought it would be helpful to highlight the variety of available voltage settings, so I created the following illustration. The core voltage will reach 1.3 V, while the memory will run at 1.7 V. That leaves a lot of area for maneuver in terms of speeding up the clocks.

Synthetic

Let me say this right off the bat: Every single one of these cards works precisely as it should in the given situation. Since both the MSI R9 280X and the HIS 280X card that Lvcoyote tested have identical clock speeds, it can be concluded that both cards fall within the margin of error. In most cases, the reference card will be positioned a few percentage points below it. The R9 280x is superior to the GTX 770, which costs more than $385 and outperforms the GTX 770 for $85 less.

Consumption of Electricity and Cooling

How about the performance of the Twin Froz IV? As we can see above, you've done well on the core. As is my custom, I used the Auto profile and let the fan operate according to its preferences. At these temperatures, the lover of the Twin Frozr IV only increased its speed to a modest maximum of 26 percent (Heaven Overclocked). It was almost peaceful. Without a shadow of a doubt, I could not hear it above the five Yate Loon Highs that I had spinning at about 800 revolutions per minute.