AMD Radeon R9 and R7 Series Re-branding Introduction @ [H]

FrgMstr

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AMD Radeon R9 and R7 Series Re-branding Introduction - AMD is announcing a new re-branding structure for its video cards. The AMD Radeon R9 and R7 series will make up AMDs new video cards moving forward. Most are re-brands of current series GPUs, but two will be next generation. We will discuss each model announced with specifications and comparison.
 
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If the R9 280X is simply a rebranded 7970Ghz Card, can I crossfire it with my MSI 7970 Lightning? Or am I now on the hunt for a card that just cost almost 500$ used for < 300$?
 
If the R9 280X is simply a rebranded 7970Ghz Card, can I crossfire it with my MSI 7970 Lightning? Or am I now on the hunt for a card that just cost almost 500$ used for < 300$?

I would like to know the answer to this as well.
 
Fixed, thanks for the extra eyes. - Kyle

Mantle is interesting and exciting tech for sure.
 
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Confirmed: ASUS R9 280X DC2T CrossFire with Reference HD 7970 GHz Edition video card.

Crysis 3 running stable, performance increase as expected.

Will make a separate thread so others will see it, please discuss the topic there.
 
I was looking at a pair of 7970s for BF4 (which is 90% of my gaming) and this announcement is welcome news. I really doubt I'd be able to stretch to the 290x but maybe a pair of 280s's will cost less and perform better!

Anyway looking forward to the 290/x reviews and the prices of these cards (and any price drops inthe 79 series cards?) arriving in New Zealand
 
So is the R9 280 considered a mid range card since its essentially a rebrand of the 7970 or what?
 
So is the R9 280 considered a mid range card since its essentially a rebrand of the 7970 or what?

Didn't realize the 7970 was mid-range. But for this new generation, yeah it seems to be so.
 
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Honestly I would've prefered the R9 280 (7950) at $250 and R9 275 (7970 XT) at $200, but I imagine they only have a limited supply of the gimped Tahiti GPUs for the 7870 XT. I supposed these could still happen, but the 33% gap between the 270X and 280X needs to be filled.

In the mean time, if you're looking for a bargain pick up one of the $180 7950s while they're still in the supply channel.
 
Brent & Kyle, I see your points from the article, but it feels like a "bittersweet" situation. Bitter, because it's simply a re-brand of what we all already know & get great value from, but at the same time sweet with the new pricing, forthcoming technology, & bundles.

Overall, did either one of you "not" see this coming? I was expecting something different, & not from some over-hyped thread, but a more cut-throat approach of a new product. For example a product that outlined the higher specs you outlined in the review.

All of this just feels like a good and bad thing. "Can't quite hate, but also can't just overall love it."
 
Honestly I would've prefered the R9 280 (7950) at $250 and R9 275 (7970 XT) at $200, but I imagine they only have a limited supply of the gimped Tahiti GPUs for the 7870 XT. I supposed these could still happen, but the 33% gap between the 270X and 280X needs to be filled.

In the mean time, if you're looking for a bargain pick up one of the $180 7950s while they're still in the supply channel.

I'm guessing that there eventually will be "non-X" versions of the cards... 280 = 7950, for example.
 
Nice article guys. I like the way this puts pressure on NV. I am almost tempted to buy an AMD card and I am ripe for a new GPU. But being an NV fan, I'm hesitant. Let's see how NV responds. If they drop the 760 to $200 or the 770 to $250-$300 then I'm sold and NV gets to keep me in their camp.
 
Brent & Kyle, I see your points from the article, but it feels like a "bittersweet" situation. Bitter, because it's simply a re-brand of what we all already know & get great value from, but at the same time sweet with the new pricing, forthcoming technology, & bundles.

Overall, did either one of you "not" see this coming? I was expecting something different, & not from some over-hyped thread, but a more cut-throat approach of a new product. For example a product that outlined the higher specs you outlined in the review.

All of this just feels like a good and bad thing. "Can't quite hate, but also can't just overall love it."

My opinions are in the article, I was hoping it would get a bump to clock and memory speed, to give it an edge.
 
"if there will be differences between Windows 7 gaming and Windows 8.1 gaming on AMD GPUs. We will have to wait for game support"

Umm check the battlefield 4 beta thread.huge gains with 8/11.1 vs 7/11
 
This is why I feel that AMD's Mantle will work just fine on HD 5000 cards and HD 6000 cards. Because they haven't really changed the architecture much. The Linux OpenGL guys actually found out that AMD limit's DVI to HDMI adapters that aren't AMD.

So yea, I expect there to either be hacks to existing Mantle drivers or open source made ones. Cause if you own a HD 5950, then there's no reason to upgrade to anything else. Not enough of an upgrade. This also goes for HD 6950 as well.
 
If they drop the 760 to $200 or the 770 to $250-$300 then I'm sold and NV gets to keep me in their camp.

I think this was spelled out as not happening just yet fairly clearly?

Ummm, I don't really understand what you just said. If you mean that the article hinted at those prices, then my post was to reinforce the fact that if it Actually happens then, they got me sold.
 
Ummm, I don't really understand what you just said.

NV just lowered the 650 Ti Boost and 660 msrp. The 760 was not included. It's unlikely they would announce a second price adjustment so soon.
 
Am I missing something here? R9-270x is a rebadged Radeon HD-7870? I can get that card for $200 now...
 
Am I missing something here? R9-270x is a rebadged Radeon HD-7870? I can get that card for $200 now...

The same argument can be made for the 7970GE and 280x at $300. It's how it's been for quite some time. Re-branding/bading for a "new" line of products. This was the same case with 680/770 and 760/670.

Would have been nice to see some sort of implementation of one of the new feature sets like TrueAudio
 
Am I missing something here? R9-270x is a rebadged Radeon HD-7870? I can get that card for $200 now...

The 7870, like all 7000 series cards, will dry up in the channel. You'll have no option but to get the 270X in time. So grab those good deals on 7000 series while you can.
 
I am seeing a discrepancy between the base and boost speeds for the stock 280x, on the various hardware review sites.
The base core clock is reported as 850, 950 and 1000. The boost clock is reported as 1000 and 1050.
What are the correct stock core clocks?
 
I think 850/1000 stock. The MSI gaming card is 1050 with a 5% oc out of the box.
 
Regardless no matter how you spin it still not a fan of rebranding:( gonna launch a new line? then launch a new line.not some rehashed crap.they should've just waited till the 20nm refresh.looks like That's what nvidia is doing.anyways i understand the need for 290x or whatever its called with the release of the titian/780 but overall just not impressed with this Ru series.but hey at least we got ruby back!:D
 
AMD is doing exactly what Nvidia did with the 700 series.

Release two new cards at the top, rebrand the rest.
 
I think 850/1000 stock. The MSI gaming card is 1050 with a 5% oc out of the box.


HardOCP will have to change their last 2 reviews if that is the case. They listed the boost speed as 1050.

That is a bonehead move by AMD to make the replacement slower then the previous 7970 GHz edition.
 
On a side note, I wonder if the coil whine issue has been resolved with the updated design for the "new" 280x cards.
 
HardOCP will have to change their last 2 reviews if that is the case. They listed the boost speed as 1050.

That is a bonehead move by AMD to make the replacement slower then the previous 7970 GHz edition.

Sure, it's boneheaded to you because you know, but to the majority of people who will buy this they wouldn't know, so it wouldn't matter to them and to AMD.
 
I wonder if mantle will always require an AMD card, or if nvidia will make some sorta compatible setup.
 
I wonder if mantle will always require an AMD card, or if nvidia will make some sorta compatible setup.
No chance. It's a low level API tailored specifically to GCN architecture. It will not be compatible with NVIDIA hardware.
 
Thanks for the article guys. my head was already spinning trying to figure out what AMD was doing. :confused:

The 7870, like all 7000 series cards, will dry up in the channel. You'll have no option but to get the 270X in time. So grab those good deals on 7000 series while you can.

This seems to be the best advice going around, there is a minor bump in speed for the 270x, but a good deal is a good deal. (this applies to the 280x as well)
 
With speeds capable on good chips, reckon the 280x is lower binned version of 290x - the same thing with a speed bump.

My 1.3GHz Ref 7970 keeps the latest single cards honest in most situations, approaching 2 years now.. surely they can package this or better via speed binning for the 290x.

There were some water cooled cards leaked in 2012 which were supposed to be similar speed but never heard anything more about them..
 
The fact has never been hidden that the R9-280(X) are rebadged HD 7970's. Considering the R9-290X is indeed a brand-new design, this isn't true.
 
The fact has never been hidden that the R9-280(X) are rebadged HD 7970's. Considering the R9-290X is indeed a brand-new design, this isn't true.

PCB change/revision and a few features of course, pretty standard for refreshed cards.

Personally believe it will be slightly tweaked, speed binned 280x die. Same format as always for many years. E.g. even in 2004 with R400s; - X800XT > X800XT PE > X850XT

Two yearly tick/tock standard.

Reason: AMD usually don't waste their hard earned $ making expensive, custom chip halo cards just to compete with a Titan. They don't need to, just clock the 7970/280x design up, we know that today it can match most relevant offerings from Nvidia already.

They have both consoles. That's better marketing than any halo card.
 
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