AMD Radeon R9 280X (ASUS DirectCU II TOP) benchmarked and reviewed

Conclusion

OK. So now that we have all our numbers, lets talk about the performance first. The R9 280X version we tested was an ASUS DirectIICU 280X TOP model. Performance wise, the 280X performed slightly better than the GTX 770 in most cases, with it being trumped by the later in only a handful. In some rare cases, the Radeon’s performance almost touched that given by the GTX 780, which is a massive feat. This brings up to the conclusion that in terms of performance and raw power, the R9 280X is one capable beast.

It is also worthy to mention that AMD has almost entirely gotten ridden of the frame latency issues its previous generation of GPUs had. This area was something the Nvidia cards always nailed. AMD’s team has reinforced its Catalyst drivers considerably to put it on the same boat as its competition, finally.

Speaking about the acoustics, we have to admit, the R9 280X is the quietest card we tested. The results won’t be that evident during an idle state, but fire up a demanding game and the Radeon is even quieter than the inferior GTX 760 and R9 270X. ASUS’s massive fan design has done wonders to this meaty GPU. The 280X also managed to stay the coolest of the lot during stress tests. This card keeps getting better and better the more tests we throw at it.

So, we’ve seen the performance numbers, and they’re great. To add to the icing on the cake, is the price that the AMD Radeon R9 280X commands. At Rs. 22,000 (excluding taxes), that Radeon is a solid Rs. 6,000 cheaper than the GTX 770. A no brainer for anyone considering either, the 280X is your go to card. This beast is priced with aggressiveness that might give Nvidia the blushes. Nvidia needs to drop the price of their own variants now, to stay competitive, because AMD is catching up, and faster than one would expect.

Now to the question of whether you should upgrade your GPU or not. If you’re rocking any of the previous AMD (HD 7xxx) or Nvidia (GTX 6xx) generation cards, then upgrading to the 280X will give you a performance boost, but not a considerable one, since they’re all based on the same silicon with a few minor adjustments. However, upgrading to one of these is your way to go if you don’t have a GPU that can run most games at 1080p in high settings.

The R9 280X is one of the most interesting GPUs to have launched recently. For a Rs. 22,000 price point, this is a card that run any game at the highest settings even at a resolution of 2560×1440. Now that is something. Such performance at this price would have never been thought of say, three months back. For that reason, we award the R9 280X our Editor’s Choice Award. This is a high end card with class A performance at a very reasonable price.