Difference between XFX Black Edition and normal?

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Linnaeus

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http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/compare/xfx-video-card-r9280xtdbd%2Cxfx-video-card-r9280xtdfd/

I'm looking at these two video cards right now. They look completely the same except the black edition is clocked higher and it's $20. Should I spend the extra money on the black edition or just go for the cheaper one? Not sure if the black edition is better.
 
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Damn_Rookie
You're correct, the increased clock rates (both core clock and memory clock) are the main difference between the two. Supposedly the black edition GPUs are selected through binning, so in theory they should be capable of a higher overclock and/or run cooler, but that's difficult to know for sure. Also, to note, the two cards are the same physical size, contrary to what PCPartpciker suggests.

In theory you should be able to overclock the normal edition to equal the performance of the black edition, but as always with overclocking, all chips are different, so you cannot be assured of that. I'd probably recommend paying the $20 difference if you either a) would prefer the convenience of having the card pre-overclocked, or b) are...
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Damn_Rookie

Damn_Rookie

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Feb 21, 2014
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You're correct, the increased clock rates (both core clock and memory clock) are the main difference between the two. Supposedly the black edition GPUs are selected through binning, so in theory they should be capable of a higher overclock and/or run cooler, but that's difficult to know for sure. Also, to note, the two cards are the same physical size, contrary to what PCPartpciker suggests.

In theory you should be able to overclock the normal edition to equal the performance of the black edition, but as always with overclocking, all chips are different, so you cannot be assured of that. I'd probably recommend paying the $20 difference if you either a) would prefer the convenience of having the card pre-overclocked, or b) are aiming for a significant overclock yourself, and have faith that XFX's binning process will guarantee a good chip on the Black edition card.
 
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