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Seven Radeon R9 280X Graphics Cards, Rounded-Up
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1. Seven Radeon R9 280X Cards, Rounded-Up

Consider this your reference for Radeon R9 280X comparisons. We’re deliberately not including a group picture in the introduction because, as we receive more third-party boards, we'll update today's piece with them, making comparisons easier. To this end, the benchmark and measurement results are split into different categories and mostly presented as tables.

We're also taking your feedback into account and including specifications that don't appear in every manufacturer's technical specifications, but still matter for installation, and might consequently be an important factor in your buying decision. The videos are back too, in addition to fan speed and temperature diagrams as well.

A run-down of each card's differentiators, including BIOS tweaks and a picture gallery of each board, round out this new story format. For the first time, we’re combining a round-up, single-card reviews, and picture galleries into one handy, continually updated package.

Graphics Cards Overview

Asus
R9 280X
DirectCU II OC
Club3D
R9 280X
royalKing OC

Update:
Added: 10/21/2013

Gigabyte
R9 280X
WindForce 3X OC

HIS
R9 280X
IceQ X²

MSI
R9 280X
Gaming OC

Sapphire
R9 280X
Toxic OC

Sapphire
R9 280X
Vapor-X OC

2. Technical Specifications And GPU-Z Screens

Technical Specifications Overview Table

All of the AMD Radeon R9 280X graphics cards feature the same 28 nm Tahiti XT2 processor from AMD with 2048 shaders and a 384-bit memory bus. The differences between cards comes down to the detailed technical specifications.

Model
GPU Clock
MHz (Boost)

Memory Clock
MHz

Memory Bandwidth
GB/s

Pixel Fillrate
GPixel/s

Texture Fillrate
GTexel/s

Asus R9 280X DirectCUII OC
1070
1600
307.2
34.2
137.0
Club3D R9 280X royalKing OC
1100
1500
288.0
35.2
140.8
Gigabyte R9 280X WindForce 3X OC
1100
1500
288.0
35.2
140.8
HIS R9 280X IceQ X²
1050
1500
288.0
33.6
134.4
MSI R9 280X Gaming OC
1050
1500
288.0
33.6
134.4
Sapphire R9 280X Toxic OC1150
1600
307.2
36.8
147.2
Sapphire R9 280X VaporX OC
1070
1550
297.6
34.2
137.0

Asus R9 280X DirectCU II OC

Club3D R9 280X royalKing OC

Gigabyte R9 280X WindForce 3X OC

HIS R9 280X X² 

MSI R9 280X Gaming OC (New BIOS)

Sapphire R9 280X Toxic OC

Sapphire R9 280X Vapor-X OC

3. Dimensions And Weight

A Note about the Dimensions

The dimensions reported here aren’t necessarily identical to those claimed by each manufacturer's technical specifications, but they represent the results of our measurements shown in the diagram. We do not include the height of the PCIe power cable plugs, which needs to be added depending on the specific plug and cable used.

Model
Length L
Height H
Depth D1
Depth D2
Asus R9 280X DirectCU II OC
287 mm
139 mm
38 mm
3 mm
Club3D R9 280X royalKing OC265 mm
112 mm
36 mm
5 mm
Gigabyte R9 280X WindForce 3X OC
270 mm
112 mm
37 mm
4 mm
HIS R9 280X IceQ X²
297 mm
130 mm
34 mm
3 mm
MSI R9 280X Gaming OC
268 mm
120 mm
34 mm
3 mm
Sapphire R9 280X Toxic OC301 mm
112 mm
34 mm
5 mm
Sapphire R9 280X Vapor-X OC
280 mm
122 mm
44 mm
5 mm

Graphics Card Weight

A graphics card’s weight can be interesting to know in case you need additional support, or if you're planning to build a CrossFire-based configuration that doesn't break the motherboard.

Model
Weight (Graphics Card Only)
Asus R9 280X DirectCU II OC
1074 g
Club3D R9 280X royalKing OC779 g
Gigabyte R9 280X WindForce 3X OC
794 g
HIS R9 280X IceQ X²
963 g
MSI R9 280X Gaming OC
769 g
Sapphire R9 280X Toxic OC1092 g
Sapphire R9 280X Vapor-X OC
1052 g
4. Temperatures

A Note about the Temperatures

We measured the temperatures by running Unigine Heaven's benchmark mode in a loop. This should simulate the most taxing gaming workload that AMD's Radeon R9 280X will encounter. Depending on the title, the temperatures you see will likely be somewhat lower.

Model
Idle
Full Gaming Load
Asus R9 280X DirectCU II OC
32°C
75°C
Club3D R9 280X royalKing OC34 °C
74 °C
Gigabyte R9 280X WindForce 3X
28°C
30°C
63°C
73°C (new BIOS)
HIS R9 280X IceQ X²
31°C
69°C
MSI R9 280X Gaming OC
34°C
34°C
>90°C throttling (VRM)
72°C
Sapphire R9 280X Toxic OC33 °C
72°C
Sapphire R9 280X Vapor-X OC
32°C
80°C

Temperature Diagram

The temperature curve in the diagram is influenced by each Radeon R9 280X’s cooler, fans, and the fan profile in the card’s BIOS. We’re also collecting data for cards with available or announced firmware updates.

Asus R9 280X DirectCU II OC

Club3D R9 280X royalKing OC

Gigabyte R9 280X WindForce 3X OC

HIS R9 280X X² 

MSI R9 280X Gaming OC (new BIOS)

Sapphire R9 280X Toxic OC

Sapphire R9 280X Vapor-X OC

5. Noise And Fan RPM

Noise

We measure the Radeon R9 280X’s noise level in different usage scenarios, for which we use a studio microphone with the same calibration found in our PC audio reviews. The mic is positioned perpendicular to the middle of the graphics card at a distance of 50 cm.

Model
Idle
Moderate Load
Full Load
Asus R9 280X DirectCU II OC
30.4 dB(A)
36.8 dB(A)
40.8 dB(A)
Club3D R9 280X royalKing OC30.4 dB(A)
42.3 dB(A)
47.4 dB(A)
Gigabyte R9 280X WindForce 3X
31.4 dB(A)
42.8 dB(A)
38.3 dB(A) Modified
47.9 dB(A)
42.7 dB(A) Modified
HIS R9 280X IceQ X²
30.5 dB(A)
37.2 dB(A)
41.7 dBA
MSI R9 280X Gaming OC
30.8 dB(A)
30.8 dB(A)
35.2 dB(A)
41.5 dB(A) New BIOS
39.2 dB(A) Throttling
52.9 dB(A) New BIOS
Sapphire R9 280X Toxic OC32.2 dB(A)
43.4 dB(A)
48.8 dB(A)
Sapphire R9 280X Vapor-X OC
32.7 dB(A)
46.1 dB(A)
56.8 dB(A)

Fan RPM

The number of fans, fan diameter, and fan rotational speed all play big roles in determining each card’s noise level. We’re showing the curve for every board separately to keep things from getting cluttered. Diagrams for cards that have received a BIOS update sport more than one curve.

Asus R9 280X DirectCU II OC

Club3D R9 280X royalKing OC

Gigabyte R9 280X WindForce 3X OC

HIS R9 280X X²

MSI R9 280X Gaming OC (new BIOS)

Sapphire R9 280X Toxic OC

Sapphire R9 280X Vapor-X OC

6. Noise Comparison Videos

A Note about the Videos

The videos show each Radeon R9 280X running Unigine Heaven's benchmark mode in a loop, which is about as demanding as a gaming load should get. This is the same loop that’s used for the temperature and fan RPM measurements.

Asus R9 280X DirectCU II OC

Asus R9 280X DirectCUII OC - Full Load

Club3D R9 280X royalKing OC

Club3D R9 280X royalKing OC - Full Load

Gigabyte R9 280X WindForce 3X OC

Gigabyte R9 280X Windforce 3X - Full Load

HIS R9 280X IceQ X² 

HIS R9 280X IceQ X² Turbo - Full Load

MSI R9 280X Gaming OC (new BIOS)

MSI R280X Gaming OC - Full Load

Sapphire R9 280X Toxic OC

Sapphire R9 280X Toxic OC - Full Load

Sapphire R9 280X Vapor-X OC

Sapphire R9 280X VaporX OC Full Load


7. Asus R9 280X DirectCU II OC

Brief Technical Specifications
Model
Asus R9 280X DirectCU II OC
PCIe Power Connectors
1 x 8-pin, 1 x 6-pin
Connectors
1 x DVI-I (dual-link + analog)
1 x DVI-D (dual-link)
1 x HDMI
1 x DisplayPort (full-size)
Form Factor
Two slots
Dual BIOSYes

Picture Gallery: Front and Back

Picture Gallery: Sides

Picture Gallery: Connectors

8. Club3D R9 280X royalKing OC

Brief Technical Specifications
Model
Club3D R9 280X royalKing OC
PCIe Power Connectors1 x 8-pin, 1 x 6-pin
Connectors
1 x DVI-I (dual-link + analog)
1 x HDMI
2 x mini-DisplayPort
Form Factor
Two slots
Dual BIOSYes

Picture Gallery: Front and Back

Picture Gallery: Sides

Picture Gallery: Connectors

9. Gigabyte R9 280X WindForce 3X OC

Brief Technical Specifications
Model
Gigabyte R9 280X WindForce 3X OC
PCIe Power Connectors1 x 8-pin, 1 x 6-pin
Connectors
1 x DVI-I (dual-link + analog)
1 x HDMI
2 x mini-DisplayPort
Form Factor
Two slots
Dual BIOSYes

Picture Gallery: Front and Back

Picture Gallery: Sides

Picture Gallery: Connectors

10. HIS R9 280X IceQ X² Turbo

Brief Technical Specifications
Model
HIS R9 280X IceQ X² Turbo
PCIe Power Connectors2 x 8-pin
Connectors
1 x DVI-I (dual-link + analog)
1 x HDMI
2 x mini-DisplayPort
Form Factor
Two slots
Dual BIOSYes

Picture Gallery: Front and Back

Picture Gallery: Sides

Picture Gallery: Connectors

11. MSI R9 280X Gaming OC

Brief Technical Specifications
Model
MSI R9 280X Gaming OC
PCIe Power Connectors1 x 8-pin, 1 x 6-pin
Connectors
1 x DVI-I (dual-link + analog)
1 x HDMI
2 x mini-DisplayPort
Form Factor
Two slots
Dual BIOSYes

Picture Gallery: Front and Back

Picture Gallery: Sides

Picture Gallery: Connectors

12. Sapphire R9 280X Toxic OC

Brief Technical Specifications
Model
Sapphire R9 280X Toxic OC
PCIe Power Connectors2 x 8-pin
Connectors
1 x DVI-I (dual-link + analog)
1 x DVI-D (dual-link)
1 x HDMI
2 x mini-DisplayPort
Form Factor
Two slots
Dual BIOS
Yes

Picture Gallery: Front and Back

Picture Gallery: Sides

Picture Gallery: Connectors

13. Sapphire R9 280X Vapor-X OC

Brief Technical Specifications
Model
Sapphire R9 280X Vapor-X OC
PCIe Power Connectors2 x 8-pin
Connectors
1 x DVI-I (dual-link + analog)
1 x DVI-D (dual-link)
1 x HDMI
1 x DisplayPort (full-size)
Form Factor
Three slots
Dual BIOS
Yes

Picture Gallery: Front and Back

Picture Gallery: Sides

Picture Gallery: Connectors