I ran the benchmarks on the following page for AMD Radeon R7 260 Review: The Bonaire GPU Rides Again, where I went into depth on average frame rates and frame time variance. For the sake of brevity, I'm emphasizing frame rates this time around. If you want deeper analysis, we invite you to check out the Radeon R7 260 launch story.
What we're adding to the mix are screenshot to show how the detail settings we're choosing actually look at 1920x1080. My intention there is to show that dialing back image quality doesn't necessarily mean AMD's Radeon HD 7770/R7 250X is forced down to ugly levels of game play.
| Test System | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i5-2550K (Sandy Bridge), Overclocked to 4.2 GHz @ 1.3 V | ||||
| Motherboard | Asus P8Z77-V LX. LGA 1155, Chipset: Intel Z77M | ||||
| Networking | On-Board Gigabit LAN controller | ||||
| Memory | Corsair Performance Memory, 4 x 4 GB, 1866 MT/s, CL 9-9-9-24-1T | ||||
| Graphics | XFX Radeon R7 250 GDDR5 1000/1050 MHz GPU, 1 GB GDDR5 at 1150 MHz (4600 MT/s) Reference AMD Radeon HD 7750 800 MHz GPU, 1 GB GDDR5 at 1125 MHz (4500 MT/s) Gigabyte Radeon HD 7770 (Representing Radeon R7 250X) 1000 MHz GPU, 1 GB GDDR5 at 1125 MHz (4500 MT/s) Gigabyte Radeon R7 260 1000 MHz GPU, 1 GB GDDR5 at 1500 MHz (6000 MT/s) Reference Radeon R7 260X 1100 MHz GPU, 2 GB GDDR5 at 1625 MHz (6500 MT/s) Reference Nvidia GT 640 900 MHz GPU, 1 GB DDR3 at 891 MHz (1782 MT/s) Gigabyte Nvidia GTX 650 1058 MHz GPU, 1 GB DDR3 at 1250 MHz (5000 MT/s) Reference Nvidia GTX 650 Ti 925 MHz GPU, 1 GB DDR3 at 1350 MHz (5400 MT/s) | ||||
| Hard Drive | Samsung 840 Pro, 256 GB SSD, SATA 6Gb/s | ||||
| Power | XFX PRO850W, ATX12V, EPS12V | ||||
| Software and Drivers | |||||
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 8 Pro x64 | ||||
| DirectX | DirectX 11 | ||||
| Graphics Drivers | AMD Catalyst 13.11 Beta 9.5, Nvidia GeForce 332.21 WHQL | ||||

We've almost completely eliminated mechanical storage in the lab, and instead lean on solid-state drives to alleviate I/O-related bottlenecks. Samsung sent all of our offices 256 GB 840 Pros, so we standardize on these exceptional SSDs.

Naturally, discrete graphics cards require a substantial amount of stable power, so XFX sent along its PRO850W 80 PLUS Bronze-certified power supply. This modular PSU employs a single +12 V rail rated for 70 A. XFX claims that this unit provides 850 W of continuous power (not peak) at 50 degrees Celsius (a higher temperature than you'll find inside most enclosures).
| Benchmark Configuration | |
|---|---|
| 3D Games | |
| Metro: Last Light | Version 1.0.0.14, Built-in Benchmark |
| Grid 2 | Version 1.8.85.8679, Built-in Benchmark Scene D6 |
| Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag | Version 1.05, Custom THG Benchmark, 40-Sec |
| Battlefield 4 | Version 1.0.0.1, Custom THG Benchmark, 90-Sec |
| BioShock Infinite | Version 1.1.24.21018, Built-in Benchmark |
Why wouldn't we? What's wrong with an overclocked 2500K?
If you read this review you would see that the R7 250X is *exactly* the same as the 7770.
It does not have 384 shaders, it has 640. You're thinking of the R7 250, not the new R7 250X.
We'll have to agree to disagree on that. We use detail settings that make sense for the boards we test.
Seeing a 290X get 200 FPS at low settings doesn't provide much insight, nor does it make sense to use high resolutions and details playable on the 290X that deliver 8 FPS on low-end cards.
That's not how it works, Achoo. I mention Newegg because I use them as a price indicator, not because we have any directive to do so.
The content management system will automatically target any keywords that pay and highlight them as links. Welcome to the future...
Why wouldn't we? What's wrong with an overclocked 2500K?
If you read this review you would see that the R7 250X is *exactly* the same as the 7770.
It does not have 384 shaders, it has 640. You're thinking of the R7 250, not the new R7 250X.
Because:
1) it works
2) for most games and low/mid-range GPUs, it is also just about as fast as the fastest current CPUs so there is no actual urge to use the highest-powered, newest and latest CPUs available.
You can't even buy a 2500K new. Use something newer that a new build with this card might actually have in it or be able to buy new.
You're kidding, right?
You responded to a thread titled:
"Radeon R7 250X Review: Reprising Radeon HD 7770 At $100"
with the words:
"why would you get this card? why not get the 7770 that's now in the same price range and has 256 more shaders instead."
...I mean, come on. That doesn't make a lot of sense in context.
You can't even buy a 2500K new. Use something newer that a new build with this card might actually have in it or be able to buy new.
An overclocked 2500K is worlds faster than a stock 4650K. Stock they're incredibly close when it comes to gaming.
Really, Intel hasn't improved IPC much since Sandy Bridge. Ivy and Haswell have been all about graphics improvements.
They may have some i5-4670k rigs but that does not mean all reviewers have access to it: individual reviewers have their own permanent rigs based on their long-term testing requirements (act as a reference CPU so all future benchmarks for the foreseeable future remain valid comparisons against the original rig) and other parts may get shuffled around between reviewers located in different cities, states or even countries. Using "one of their 4670k" is easier said than done if the reviewer lives 500km from the nearest other THG reviewer who happens to have one to spare.
We'll have to agree to disagree on that. We use detail settings that make sense for the boards we test.
Seeing a 290X get 200 FPS at low settings doesn't provide much insight, nor does it make sense to use high resolutions and details playable on the 290X that deliver 8 FPS on low-end cards.
That's not how it works, Achoo. I mention Newegg because I use them as a price indicator, not because we have any directive to do so.
The content management system will automatically target any keywords that pay and highlight them as links. Welcome to the future...
Most people shopping for a new graphics card already know either the price range or performance level they are interested in and ignore anything that is more than about a rung up/down from that since this is all they usually need to confirm that prices seem to line up with expectations.
Having more models for a full-blown roundup/chart, sure. But for a review more intended to pin down for whom this model may make sense, comparing it to its nearest equivalents and next models up/down the food chain is fair enough IMO.