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The MSI R9 280 Gaming ships in a compact box featuring the distinctive MSI ‘Dragon'. No pictures of the hardware on the front sadly but the company do mention the Twin Frozr IV cooler bottom left.
The bundle includes a software disc, some video and power converter cables and some literature on the product. I was pleasantly surprised to see a Crossfire bridge cable also included.
The MSI R9 280 Gaming is a nice looking card, finished like many of the other cards in their range. The Black and red cooler comprises two large fans with a MSI badge set between them. The PCB is black to match.
The MSI R9 280 Gaming is fully Crossfire capable. There is a BIOS switch which offers different speeds.
933MHz Core (Boost Clock:1000MHz) (OC mode)
933MHz Core (Boost Clock:972MHz) (Gaming mode)
We test the card in the default 972mhz position today.
It takes power from a single 8 pin and 6 pin connector.
The fan connector is located right at the edge of the card. For some reason it was disconnected on our card when we received it, but it was easy enough to reconnect.
It is a good looking solution from any angle – with some tasty heat pipe exposure along the upper length.
On the backplate is a DVI connector, alongside an HDMI and two mini DisplayPort connectors.
The Twin Frozr IV cooler is a very effective design. MSI have formed it around a nickel plated core with 5 heatpipes. One of the heatpipes is thicker than the other four and runs along the length of one of the heatsinks.
The core clock speed of this card is 972mhz. The Tahiti core is manufactured on the 28nm process. It has 32 ROP's, 112 texture units and 1792 unified shaders. The 3GB of Hynix GDDR5 memory runs at 1,250mhz (5Gbps effective) and is connected via a 384 bit memory interface.
Well the R9 280 may perform better over all, there are other reasons to get the Nvidia over the AMD, one of which is the built in streaming to twitch in the Nvidia software, for anyone looking to stream games it’s a big plus as it’s super easy to use. Just food for thought as it’s not always about max performance per dollar.
R9 290 = GTX 780
R9 280 = GTX 770
R9 270 = GTX 760
(roughly)
Sadly, the price does not reflect this (for Nvidia that is). No wonder the 280 won that round – it’s a good card for the price.
Funny that in my country you can get gigabytes windforce GTX 770 for the same price as R9 280x (from the store not forums or sth).
Sadly i see almost all pictures say that they use 290 not 280, so ofc it will win.
BREC there is No r9 290 in this review, its an R9 280 Gaming.
Yep, it is better than my Radeon HD 5450…
I have this card and it’s a beast you just can’t beat it for the price I run Titanfall everything maxed (maxed AA) on 24″ at 1080p never dropping below 60fps I bought mine for £167 from scan and that deal is on again right now! 3 free games included. Also you get free streaming software for 6 months with it xsplit game caster which is great. Brilliant card.
i think im in love <3
MSI R9 280 IS BETTER THAN NVIDIA GTX 760 I REALLY WANT IT BECAUSE OF THIS SO MUCH INTENSE POWER GAMING. I WANT TO REVIEW ANT TO KEEP THIS CARD FOREVER IN MY LIFE.
Id like to review this because it looks like a beast, moreover id like to get this because gta V is on its way 🙂
Would love to review this card… keeping fingers crossed.
I’d love to review one of these!
I have an msi gtx 760 OC and i would love to review and compair these.
Thank you so much for this amazing opportunity. I would love the chance to review and keep these cards. I would give you a great review. Thank you again
ITS A good card for high gaming i thnk
Ilove MSI
i want to have this someday 😀
The R9 280 is in-between the high end GPU and the budget friendly r9 270x.. If you are looking for a heavy duty,power kicking GPU the r9 280 would deliver it at your doorstep .
With its dual fan,overclocking enthusiast would drool on the possibilities this baby can do.
The r9 280 is a must get GPU for me..if you have the budget go for it.
I am currently studying Computer Hardware Servicing and although I am new I know that this video card is surely a one of class just by looking at it the design was really extremely fantastic or should I say a design with sole purpose, I think with this kind of memory type and clock speed you shouldn’t worry about having some game lags on any game and experience high quality gaming experience. I commend this GPU as one of the most leading card today that anyone should have.