MSI R9 280X GAMING Video Card Review @ [H]

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

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MSI R9 280X GAMING Video Card Review - On our test bench today is the new MSI R9 280X GAMING series video card. Equipped with the Twin Frozr IV cooling system and high end components, we hope to see low temperatures, high performance, and solid overclocking. We will also take a look at its performance compared an overclocked GeForce GTX 770 and GeForce GTX 760.

Literally within minutes of publishing this review, NVIDIA has changed its GTX 770 BASE pricing.

GeForce GTX 780 Ti will be available for sale starting on November 7th at a suggested e-tail price of $699.

As a result of GTX 780 Ti joining our lineup, the new suggested e-tail price for GTX 780 is $499 and GTX 770 is $329. These prices will be live in e-tail by 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, October 29th.
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Wow! great to see a response from NV on the $300 front.


and nice review ;) Things are finally heating up in the mainstream and high end market.
 
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The R9 series is seeming like a real comeback for AMD. Great to see that competition is alive and well in the video card market.
 
For the first time in years, my new build PC Ive just ordered has gone the AMD route with a 280X. Perfect price / performance with the option of going cross fire later on if needed should I upgrade my screen to 27" etc.

I also considered the 770 but the extra money, and recent hit-miss reviews on the BF4 Beta made me think of going AMD this time around.
 
In some of the images the card shows a standard display port, one HDMI, and two DVI ports; in others, 2 mini-display ports, one HDMI port and one DVI port. Same 280x card? What did I miss?...;)
 
WaltC said:
In some of the images the card shows a standard display port, one HDMI, and two DVI ports; in others, 2 mini-display ports, one HDMI port and one DVI port. Same 280x card? What did I miss?...;)
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I think what you are seeing are preliminary press pictures from MSI that we used that do NOT match the actual card.
 
The MSI 280X GAMING card should outperform the MSI 280X SEXTING model for sure.

Who the hell names these things?
 
WaltC said:
In some of the images the card shows a standard display port, one HDMI, and two DVI ports; in others, 2 mini-display ports, one HDMI port and one DVI port. Same 280x card? What did I miss?...;)
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The top row of pics, the first 4 card pics, are MSI supplied photos before the 280X launch. Under that, are our pictures of the card we reviewed. I think the design changed between those press photos, and the real retail unit. Below those pictures, of our card, is what to expect in retail on the card.
 
New price does not come into effect until Tues. the 29th according to the article.
 
PureBlackFire said:
the 770 and 760 could use some price adjustments to be honest.
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I'd like to see:

GTX 770 - $300
GTX 760 Ti - $250 - Based on the GTX 670, but with faster clocks
GTX 760 - $200
GTX 750 Ti - $170 - Based on the GTX 660, but with faster clocks
GTX 750 - $130 - Based on the GTX650 Ti/BOOST, but with faster clocks

....you know....because it would make sense.
 
the MSI R9 280X comes in at USD 310. even with the USD 330 price on GTX 770 this MSI R9 280X card is a very good deal. moreover 3GB VRAM is already making its presence felt in the latest games. overclocking as usual is a lottery and not too much can be made out from that.

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphi...-and-R7-260X-Review/Bioshock-Infinite-R9-280X

read the comments where its said that bioshock infinite hitches and stutters on Nvidia GTX 770 (which is reflected in frametime issues at 1440p) as the game is using 2.4 GB VRAM. all these factors have to be considered. this card was deserving of a gold award.
 
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raghu78 said:
the MSI R9 280X comes in at USD 310. even with the USD 330 price on GTX 770 this card is a very good deal. moreover 3GB VRAM is already making its presence felt in the latest games.

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphi...-and-R7-260X-Review/Bioshock-Infinite-R9-280X

read the comments where its said that bioshock infinite hitches and stutters on Nvidia GTX 770 (which is reflected in frametime issues at 1440p) as the game is using 2.4 GB VRAM. all these factors have to be considered. this card was deserving of a gold award.
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Agreed 2GB VRAM cards are about to become completely obsolete.
 
did they raise the msrp for this card? i bought the day of release for $299, but i've seen prices fluctuate on newegg between $299 and $309, and anywhere from $299 to $340 on amazon depending on availability (it's been OOS on newegg several times since release).
 
ClutchAutomatic said:
Is anyone else getting coil whine while gaming? Did I receive a bad card?
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What is "coil whine"? I have heard this referred to several times, but not sure what it is. Does it happen under certain conditions, or is it constant? Is it something some people are sensitive to, and not others?

My card is as quiet as can be. I cannot hear it whatsoever over the sound of the radiator fans, which are pretty quiet as is. I even took the side case off and stuck my head next to the card, trying to figure out what "coil whine" is, and I could not hear a thing.
 
CaiNaM said:
What is "coil whine"? I have heard this referred to several times, but not sure what it is. Does it happen under certain conditions, or is it constant? Is it something some people are sensitive to, and not others?

My card is as quiet as can be. I cannot hear it whatsoever over the sound of the radiator fans, which are pretty quiet as is. I even took the side case off and stuck my head next to the card, trying to figure out what "coil whine" is, and I could not hear a thing.
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This is coil whine

It is very annoying.
 
Okay maybe it's not coil whine I am getting, It sounds more like an electric hair cutter buzzing away when I am running bf3. It goes away immediately when I exit the program.
same as this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9rPRKhMBs4
Edit
Switched it out with a gtx 780 lightning. No more buzzing sounds while running a game.
 
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ClutchAutomatic said:
Good to hear that you got a perfect card, I traded it in for a gtx 780 lightning. I still want to try out a r9 290x though.
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the 290 seems like the card... except the loud fans. they should be interesting when they get some third party cooing solutions.
 
I bought a MSI R9 280X GAMING. Good card got a great price for a open box item. :D No coil wine etc. Really nice compared to the 2X6850s I had. Performance wise I've had no issues. Using GPU-Z during my gaming sessions the highest gpu temp reading was 64C.
 
i recently bought one of those 280X gaming, and lock there it is voltage locked!
I wrote to msi and they replied that the only cards that are with voltage control are the 290's (X) and the 270's (X) Gaming and Hawk - so all the other cards but not that one.
Basically nice review but not actualy the same card anymore.

With one exception - the Gpu temp. monitoring, there is no other, so you dont realy know how hot the rest of the card is getting.
You can mod a bios or the ABurner to get some control over the voltage but
the boost algorithmus is pushing the voltage down anyway, and with higher
clock's the card throttles like a lot. While furmark(burnin 720/windowed 1175/1500) it was
at peak
~130 FPS / load ~99%
at bottom
~100 FPS / load ~66%
const.GPU temp 80°C.
The temp's are not so high while Heaven 4.0 ca. 70°C(the card did not pass the benchmark at 1175), but also the voltage variate's (fall's) from (const settings) 1.206 to 1.109, so you get the idea how the XTL works.
The card is complitley useless for OC'ers.
For gaming i guess if you dont want to OC or like +50 to 100Mhz then you will be fine i guess.
I think the group that they focused on by designing this card was the miners.
You wont get a solid frame rate with that one if OC, and by my expirience if you dont go with the clock as high as you would do with the 7970's you will get a better average fps than the throttled one and the card will run much cooler - so yea...

...how to know what to buy if all the rewied cards are differnt than the one's that are sold for the mass.
 
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