AMD Radeon R7 260X – Bonaire was an undercover agent
Maybe the most interesting product, at least released today, is the AMD Radeon R7 260X (replacing the Radeon HD 7790). Once again, the ASIC between these two cards is identical. Specifications and performance should be nearly indistinguishable when compared. I was intrigued to learn that the HD 7790 GPU was the test subject for two new technologies: an updated CrossFire integration and AMD TrueAudio. These hidden features have a chance to be enabled with future drivers.
AMD talked quite a bit about the TrueAudio technology during the Hawaii / GPU14 tech day live stream but to be completely honest I don’t think there is much to discuss quite yet. The idea and goal is clear and it makes sense to begin moving audio processing to the GPU. This is a great direction. This fully programmable audio pipeline is integrated into the ASIC but does not share the resources of the GPU directly; it can merely access some memory locations for shared data communication.
Multiple integrated Tensilica HiFi audio DSP cores are integrated as a dedicated audio solution for game sound effects that can guarantee real-time performance and services regardless of the CPU the graphics card is installed with. The streaming DMA engine is multi-channel and uses a scatter-gather memory architecture. There is 384KB of shared memory while the bus interface has support to access the frame buffer on the graphics card. The ability for a sound API and middleware software package to actively know what is going on inside a game engine could result in substantial changes in the way game audio is designed; programmed rather than planned.
The AMD TrueAudio API can be accessed by developers of audio engines and AMD has already showed commitment from the developers behind Murdered: Soul Suspect, Thief and Lichdom. We don’t yet have any usable demonstration to test the benefits of TrueAudio and its promise to lower CPU usage while improving flexibility quite yet, but when we do I’ll be sure to discuss it further.
As for the updated CrossFire technology, currently being dubbed XDMA (External DMA I think), the R7 260X supports it but we are going to wait for the release of the R9 290X (that also integrates it) to see how it changes Eyefinity and 4K CrossFire configurations. More soon!
Back to the specifications on the 260X, and again we find only modest changes from the HD 7790 it is replacing. The clock speed of the GPU is higher at 1.1 GHz (versus 1.0 GHz on the HD 7790), the memory clock is 500 MHz faster at 6.5 GHz effective and the theoretical performance peak jumps from 1.79 TFLOPS up to 1.97 TFLOPS. Maybe most surprising is that the typical board power has been increased from 85 watts up to 115 watts, a 35% increase over the card it portends to replace. The 128-bit memory bus is going to be able to access a 2GB frame buffer by default (as opposed to 1GB previously).
Once again, the rest of the GPU configuration remains the same. This is a 28nm, 2.08 billion transistor GPU with 896 shaders, 56 texture units and 16 ROPs that mirrors the Radeon HD 7790.
What about pricing? The Radeon R7 260X will MSRP for $139 which pretty much matches the pricing of the Radeon HD 7790 over the last couple of months. The big difference though is the doubling of the frame buffer from 1GB to 2GB, giving the new R7 260X the advantage.
The R7 260X is a pint sized little card but in its reference form still requires a dual-slot installation.
The 260X is powered by a single 6-pin connection and has a short enough PCB length to fit into many smaller HTPC-style chassis.
Consistency – I like it. The R7 260X reference card continues with the DL-DVIs combined with HDMI and DP.
AMD R7 250 and R7 240
Finally, though we don’t have test samples today, AMD is also releasing new cards in the sub-$100 market, the R7 250 and R7 240.
The AMD Radeon R7 250 is a 384 shader GPU running at 1.05 GHz that runs without need for external power. The reference card shown here requires a dual slot configuration but I’d assume some partners will make single slot versions.
The R240 is built with a half-height PCB and includes 320 shaders running at up to 780 MHz. With a 30 watt TDP it could be a great option for fanless designs.
ugh, pre-order sites have it
ugh, pre-order sites have it at $650-729.
this is not good. hope they are wrong
Great Review and Video
Great Review and Video Showcase Ryan. That Asus 280x looks amazing. The price /performance of the 7970, I mean the 280X makes it even better as Im looking to upgrade from my 1gb 7850 to play Battlefield 3 at Ultra at 1080p, which is essentially the only game I play. Bf4 beta isnt to kind to it(7850) either, hopefully I will upgrade son.
Anyhow, keep up the great work, waiting anxiously for the Juggernaut 290X and 290 review!
I don’t understand what all
I don’t understand what all the hate with these cards is about. If you are someone that is coming from say a card 3 gens ago then this is a good deal. The price is 300 for a card that can max out any game right now at 1080p and even at 1440p depending on the game.if your not going to buy it then just Waite for the 290x which is expecting to be 600. Not everyone has that type of money
Agree 100%.
Agree 100%.
i heard the r9 280x can be
i heard the r9 280x can be crossfired with the 7970
is it true?
Yes, they can be put into a
Yes, they can be put into a crossfire configuration.
I wish AMD would get there
I wish AMD would get there shit to together and fix their drivers before bring out a new card I am very disappointed with AMD having said that I do like the way the new cards look.
does msi r9 280 include
does msi r9 280 include mantle?
Yeah,
The wait is over.
Yeah,
The wait is over. Right now there is a 7770 in my system.
And i was waiting for the new chips so the 7970 would drop in price.
I dont mind that it is called a 280x now.
Finaly my rig is complete, high end cpu, SSD and now a good GPU.
(lol a complete rig.. that does not exist..)
I always find it strange how
I always find it strange how close these cards are. I find it hard to believe that this by chance. Clearly AMD and Nvidia are working together, at least at some levels, to ensure maximum profit. There is no competition here.
I think you are right.
But
I think you are right.
But when the prices are to high for to long there will come a thirth party.
Maybe Intel wil come in a few years with good parallel processors.
Who knows
No Hawaii…false advertising
No Hawaii…false advertising by AMD…BOO !
Ryan has my dream job.
Ryan has my dream job.
Mantle is a diversion for
Mantle is a diversion for their not fixing their frame rating issues.
Believe or not I don’t play
Believe or not I don’t play any games, however, I do a lot of animation, which is best NVIDIA OR AMD, I can’t find an answer anywhere? Do you know. Thanks Steve
I understand you put work
I understand you put work into this, But why did you have to use graphs like that to show FPS, Many people are just going to search for other reviews that show simple numbers instead of having to strain their eyes following a stupid line just to learn a cards performance. C’mon man!