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R9 280 vs R9 285 for Gaming

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  • Gaming
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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September 5, 2014 5:16:39 PM

titles says everything

More about : 280 285 gaming

a b 4 Gaming
September 5, 2014 5:19:43 PM

The 285 would be better because
1, It's newer
2, Its model number is higher, as opposed to nVidia's naming scheme
It might be a little more expensive, though.
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September 5, 2014 5:44:13 PM

A 280 is pretty much a 7950. A 285 is a cut down R290, more or less. There is an article on the 285 on Tom's here if you search for it.
The difference is not huge, but there are some that might make the extra cost worth it for you. Mantle being one, not needing a bridge for crossfire, and a few other features.
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a b 4 Gaming
September 5, 2014 6:07:45 PM

theoretically the 280 should be slightly faster(though not noticable) as it has 3gb of 384bit vram compared to the tongas 2gb of 256bit ram. though noted in reviews, you will likely never see a memory bottleneck due to the architecture of tonga. otherwise, they are pretty much the same, same streams, tmus, and rops. core clock would be the deciding factor one why one or the other performs better.

i would say if you can get a 285 for the same price or less than the 280, do that, but i doubt you will find it cheaper.

the 285 is more power efficient and "should" create less heat and thus a lower fan noise for the same performance. if this is important to you then it might be a better choice. the only other question is which overclocks better. i dont think the 285 has been out long enough to determine if it overclocks better, worse, or the same as the tahiti chip, but im going to guess its probably about the same.

you can find the 280 for $50 cheaper than the 285, and at those prices, the 280 is a better choice if performance is the only thing that matters. also the 280x, which is definitely faster than both the 280/285, can be found for a few $$$ more than the 285 and would still be a better choice.
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