Sapphire,PowerColor and XFX R9 285 also pictured

[Bloodyvalley]

Pictured above is the Sapphire Radeon R9 285 ITX Compact Edition

 

It will feature Dual-BIOS (likely the only R9 285 to do so) and it is cooled by 1 100mm fan. The card uses 2 6 pin connectors and the external outputs are the following: two mini-DisplayPort 1.2, one HDMI 1.4a, and a dual-link DVI, which has analog (VGA) pins, and an adapter for that is included. The card is stock but Sapphire plans to release an "OC edition", which adds 10mhz more to the core clock and keeps the memory clock stock (lmao). It is, although, 6.7 inches long (approx 17cm).

 

 

Here's the PowerColor R9 285 Turboduo (looks much better than the Sapphire, although it is bigger). This one is probably meant for OCers, although I think most OCers will go for ASUS' card.

 

The external outputs are the following: two dual-link DVI ports, one HDMI port and one DisplayPort. This one is actually factory overclocked to 945 mhz, instead of the 915 mhz that AMD offers.

 

 

 

Also, there was the ASUS R9 285 that was pictured but someone posted about that. Here's the thread if you want to take a look at it, it contains the specs of a reference R9 285.

 

 

Here are some more pictures that were not in that thread I believe:

 

 

 

I also managed to find the XFX Double Dissipation edition, and DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN it's sexy. XFX is starting to impress me.

AMD's website (which was actually removed, I had to used the cached version of Google) says that this card beats the GTX 760.Click here for the Cached version

 

 

 

[geogga]

So it's worse than the 280/X...gg

[PhantomChevron]

So it's worse than the 280/X...gg

They said its mean't to compete with the GTX 760, so it really is not a surpise, since the 280X competes with the 770

But they should have called it the R9 275(x)

[dragoon20005]

PowerColor unit cooling fans look like the one taken from the Devil 13 290X Dual

 

Sapphire model with one fan?! o.0

[Faceman]

The card doesn't make any sense to me.  It doesn't fit into the market anywhere.

[imthewalrus]

The card doesn't make any sense to me. It doesn't fit into the market anywhere.

Then neither does the 760 which is the most common NVIDIA graphics card ever.

[geogga]

They said its mean't to compete with the GTX 760, so it really is not a surpise, since the 280X competes with the 770

But they should have called it the R9 275(x)

I know...but they like to fuck around and troll people by putting it near the high end spectrum of their GPU lineup when it's mid end.

Geniuses.

Then neither does the 760 which is the most common NVIDIA graphics card ever.

Um you don't understand.

There already is the 270/X which rivals the 760, 280/X to the 770, and the 290X to the 780ti.

It would be logical to have the 285 match the 780 (actually wasn't thinking about that, just did right now, AMD just said fuck the 780 and rivaled the 780ti instead). This pos doesn't deserve to live. Almost as bad as the 720.

TLDR AMD has so many GPUs in its lineup it's stupid to confuse it even more, whereas nvidia has less but distinct(as in performance) GPUs

[dragoon20005]

Then neither does the 760 which is the most common NVIDIA graphics card ever.

true

 

really hate renames of the old GPU

 

the 285 is the HD7870XT rename which i found out

[Faceman]

Then neither does the 760 which is the most common NVIDIA graphics card ever.

No, the 760 has a place in the market because it was there a long time ago and it is a staple in the way Nvidia releases cards.  x60, x70, x80.  Are there better options than the 760 for a lower price, yes.  But this is a staple in how Nvidia does things.

 

This 285 makes absolutely no sense though.

[imthewalrus]

No, the 760 has a place in the market because it was there a long time ago and it is a staple in the way Nvidia releases cards. x60, x70, x80. Are there better options than the 760 for a lower price, yes. But this is a staple in how Nvidia does things.

This 285 makes absolutely no sense though.

If you are referring to the name scheme then yeah I agree

[TechFan@ic]

true

 

really hate renames of the old GPU

 

the 285 is the HD7870XT rename which i found out

No it's not a re-brand, it's a brand new GPU.

Which is why it supports features only found in the Hawaii (290 series) GPU. Like XDMA bridge-less CrossfireX.

The HD 7870 XT is a Tahiti LE card based on the same GPU as the 280X and the 280, it doesn't support in-game FreeSync, TrueAudio or XDMA CrossfireX. All of which are hardware features found only in the Sea Islands and Volcanic Islands uArchitecture, Tahiti is an older Southern Island GPU.

Tonga (The 285) is primarily a mobile GPU that introduces R9 280 performance at 60W lower TDP. Making it the undisputed fastest mobile GPU when it hits the market.

AMD's mobile discrete graphics sales jumped 30% last quarter purely due to the introduction of Tonga to the OEM market & that alone is telling of how desirable this GPU is in the mobile segment.

[MetroP]

No, the 760 has a place in the market because it was there a long time ago and it is a staple in the way Nvidia releases cards.  x60, x70, x80.  Are there better options than the 760 for a lower price, yes.  But this is a staple in how Nvidia does things.

 

This 285 makes absolutely no sense though.

A card that's faster than the 760 and has more features for the same price makes no sense? you're the one that's making absolutely no sense.

[Danielm888]

I know...but they like to fuck around and troll people by putting it near the high end spectrum of their GPU lineup when it's mid end.

Geniuses.Um you don't understand.

There already is the 270/X which rivals the 760, 280/X to the 770, and the 290X to the 780ti.

It would be logical to have the 285 match the 780 (actually wasn't thinking about that, just did right now, AMD just said fuck the 780 and rivaled the 780ti instead). This pos doesn't deserve to live. Almost as bad as the 720.

TLDR AMD has so many GPUs in its lineup it's stupid to confuse it even more, whereas nvidia has less but distinct(as in performance) GPUs

 

I don't think AMD just said fuck the 780 and rivaled the 780ti instead. You must have forgotten about the R9 290 (which I have the Tri-X version) that rivals the GTX 780 and 290x for 780ti is my understanding.

[Faceman]

A card that's faster than the 760 and has more features for the same price makes no sense? you're the one that's making absolutely no sense.

The R9 280 for $200 is already available for that exact purpose. 

[MetroP]

The R9 280 for $200 is already available for that exact purpose. 

The 280 doesn't support TrueAudio or freesync and it has a much higher TDP.

Plus the official price for the 280 is 250$, it's on sale right now because retailers want to clear their inventories before the 285 shows up.

AMD makes next to nothing on 280s because the cards are quite expensive to make. The 285 is less expensive to make than the 280 because of its smaller memory buss which means higher margins for AMD and the lower TDP allows AMD to compete more aggressively in mobile.

The aformentioned reasons are why the 285 makes sense for AMD.

 

[Faceman]

The 280 doesn't support TrueAudio or freesync and it has a much higher TDP.

Plus the official price for the 280 is 250$, it's on sale right now because retailers want to clear their inventories before the 285 shows up.

AMD makes next to nothing on 280s because the cards are quite expensive to make. The 285 is less expensive to make than the 280 because of its smaller memory buss which means higher margins for AMD and the lower TDP allows AMD to compete more aggressively in mobile.

The aformentioned reasons are why the 285 makes sense for AMD.

 

Unless you specifically need those features, which some people really will need-- When you see a 280 next to a 285 with the 280 $50 less expensive with better stats, I'm taking the 280.

[MetroP]

Unless you specifically need those features, which some people really will need-- When you see a 280 next to a 285 with the 280 $50 less expensive with better stats, I'm taking the 280.

Better stats don't matter if the 285 ends being faster.

And like I said you won't find any 280s in retail very soon because they've been clearing them from inventories for the past month.

[Faceman]

Better stats don't matter if the 285 ends being faster.

And like I said you won't find any 280s in retail very soon because they've been clearing them from inventories for the past month.

Bring on the benchies!

[Techhog]

It's shocking how so many people aren't willing to wait for reviews. It's obviously worse than the 280X, but the 280? I doubt it, but we'll see.

 

Also, in what universe do you guys live in where the 270X is even close to the 760? I know that the 760 trades blows with the 7950/280.

[dragoon20005]

No it's not a re-brand, it's a brand new GPU.

Which is why it supports features only found in the Hawaii (290 series) GPU. Like XDMA bridge-less CrossfireX.

The HD 7870 XT is a Tahiti LE card based on the same GPU as the 280X and the 280, it doesn't support in-game FreeSync, TrueAudio or XDMA CrossfireX. All of which are hardware features found only in the Sea Islands and Volcanic Islands uArchitecture, Tahiti is an older Southern Island GPU.

Tonga (The 285) is primarily a mobile GPU that introduces R9 280 performance at 60W lower TDP. Making it the undisputed fastest mobile GPU when it hits the market.

AMD's mobile discrete graphics sales jumped 30% last quarter purely due to the introduction of Tonga to the OEM market & that alone is telling of how desirable this GPU is in the mobile segment.

looks like i stand corrected

 

but if it a new GPU 

 

why the downgrade of the memory bus to 256 bits instead of 384 bit?

 

or it was a carry over from the mobile GPU production

[Psykomantis00]

I don't understand their naming conventions. 

[MEC-777]

looks like i stand corrected

 

but if it a new GPU 

 

why the downgrade of the memory bus to 256 bits instead of 384 bit?

 

PCperspective discussed this on their podcast a couple weeks ago, how the new Tonga GPU (285) can perform better with a 256bit bus vs 384bit. You can take a listen at the 1:21:00 mark here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt2X3PFAMGo

It has to do with reduction in redundancies, better optimization and efficiency in the architecture. There's actually no need or benefit for it to be 384bit.

 

 

Sapphire model with one fan?! o.0

That's a mini-ITX version - notice how much shorter that card is?

 

It's meant for much smaller cases where full-length GPUs will not fit.

 

It's shocking how so many people aren't willing to wait for reviews. It's obviously worse than the 280X, but the 280? I doubt it, but we'll see.

 

Also, in what universe do you guys live in where the 270X is even close to the 760? I know that the 760 trades blows with the 7950/280.

The 7950 and 280 is, on average, a little stronger than the 760. The 270X isn't far behind the 7950/280 and thus, puts it very close to the 760. Here are some benchmarks: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1043?vs=1038

 

The 270X doesn't trail far behind the 760 and actually matches or out-performs the green team in several games/tests. So it seems that in this very universe, the 270X is very close to the 760.

 

I really don't understand why the 760 is so popular when it's actually significantly over-priced, compared to what AMD has to offer. The 280 costs less, performs better and has more Vram. And now the 285, while it has the same amount of Vram, will still out-perform the 760, cost less and use less power. 

 

 

Also, just a note for those complaining AMD went backwards by offering only 2GB Vram for the 285; they did mention there will be 4GB versions of the 285 as well during the reveal.