New Display Output Configuration and Eyefinity Changes
All three launch cards we are testing today (the Radeon R9 280X, the R9 270X and the R7 260X) are going to ship with a new standard output configuration. Rather than the somewhat scatter-shot collection of outputs in most Radeon HD 7000-series cards (even HD 7900s and HD 7800s), most of the new lineup will include a pair of dual-link DVI outputs, a full-size HDMI and a full-size DisplayPort. This is likely a pretty familiar collection of display outputs for PC Perspective readers as the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 700 family of enthusiast products adopted it as well in mid-2012.
Regardless of who did it first, I still prefer this configuration. Despite AMD’s claims that DisplayPort would be the dominant input option when the HD 7970 was first shown in 2011, plenty of users are still using and buying monitors that use DVI and HDMI and this configuration gives those gamers more flexibility.
Along with this change comes an update to Eyefinity. Gone is the requirement that one of your monitors (in a three display setup) be connected via DisplayPort and instead AMD is going to a solution that mirrors what NVIDIA current supports in its Surround technology. Users of the R9 cards will be able to connect monitors to any output on the card and have the capability to enable Eyefinity. DVI + DVI + HDMI? No problem this time around.
This is enabled thanks to a slight rework of the display timing on the cards themselves. Because two display controllers now share a timing generator you can now support Eyefinity without requiring any kind of DisplayPort adapter on legacy displays. This works with single link and dual link port configurations as well.
As it turns out, because the HD 7000 series is so similar to the R9/R7 cards that are launching today, users are going to be allowed to run them in CrossFire configurations in mixed pairs. That means if you have a Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition card in your PC now you can add in an R9 280X and run them in CrossFire. The same is true with the HD 7870 and the R9 270X as well as the HD 7790 and R7 260X. If anything is indicative that these releases are really just rebrands, it is that.
Also, because of that fact (or maybe despite it) there are no changes to the CrossFire pacing concerns that exist today on the HD 7000 series of cards; everything should perform and behave exactly the same. While you may have noticed that the R9 290X does not have CrossFire bridges in the various photos that have come out, the R9 280X/270X definitely do have them and they are required for CrossFire to function.
This means the work AMD has put into addressing frame pacing in CrossFire for resolutions of 2560×1600 and lower are applied to the R9 series of cards. That also means that the Eyefinity/4K + CrossFire issues that we recently explored that continue to exist with the HD 7000s also continue to exist with the R9 280X and R9 270X. AMD has promised a fix for both th R9 cards and the HD 7000 cards this fall.
There is a chance that the 260X is actually already fixed on Eyefinity + CrossFire scaling thanks to it being the test platform for the newer XDMA CrossFire integrating but we really want to test it on the R9 290X that actually has the compute power necessary to push bandwidth limits.
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!