XFX Radeon R9 280X DD Black Edition Review
Overview
The graphics card I’m reviewing here is the little brother of the current mainstay Graphics Card of the pcG Test Rig, the XFX Radeon R9 280X DD Black Edition
Where the XFX Radeon R9 280X DD Black Edition differs from a reference card, is most obviously the dual fan XFX Double Dissipation custom cooler, which promises better thermal performance and acoustics than that of the original AMD reference cooler. We also gain performance over the reference card with a GPU Core Clock speed of 1080MHz compared to the reference card’s 1000MHz, and the 3GB DDR5 memory speed running at 1550Mhz (6200MHz effective). The XFX Radeon R9 280X DD Black Edition features a 384bit Bus and 2048 Stream Processors, along with AMD Eyefinity, AMD HD3D, AMD Hybrid Graphics, AMD PowerPlay, AMD Stream and AMD CrossFireX Technologies. The card offers five outputs (1x DL-DVI-I, 1x HDMI, 2x Mini DisplayPort & 1x SL-DVI-D) to offer you the ability to use up to 6 displays supported with DisplayPort 1.2 Multi-Stream Transport. As with most of the recent AMD cards, we also gain the use of AMD Mantle.
This looks to be a very nicely specified and designed card. I’m looking forward to testing it out!
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‘XFX Black Edition With GPU Edging The Black Edition graphics card represent our highest achievement in GPUs XFX’s exclusive Black Edition graphics card are the most rigorously tested graphics card. They are pre-overclocked to the maximum core clock achievable and come from the highest quality yield GPUs which make up the top 1% of those produced in the world. In addition, we pair it with the highest quality components to ensure there are no bottle necks so you can be certain you are getting the best graphics card possible on the market today.’ |
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The front of the XFX R9 280X box is predominately black, with bright almost lightning-like flashes of detail in the background. The box shows the XFX logo, indicates that it contains a R9 280X Radeon Graphics Card and that the version is the Black OC Edition. We are also informed of the following features:
- Double Dissipation – Dual Fan Maximum Airflow & Cooling
- Big 90MM Fan – Lower Noise, Greater Airflow & Cooling
- Unlocked Voltage – Digital Power & Max Power
The back of the box highlights various further features of the XFX R9 280X DD Black Edition as well as the AMD technologies used by the card.
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Inside the outer packaging there is a secondary inner box. Not a particularly flashy one either in that it is plain brown cardboard. It does however have the XFX logo and name pressed onto the lid, as well as the XFX slogan ‘Play Hard’.
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Under a cardboard tray containing the cards paperwork we find the graphics card itself. It’s well packaged in an anti-static bag and is a snug fit in the inner box.
Coming back to that upper tray, this contains the cards associated paperwork. The contents list of the graphics cards includes:
- XFX R9 280X DD Black Edition
- AMD Graphics Card Drivers Disc
- Quick Installation Guide
- Drivers Installation Guide
- Warranty Information
- XFX Product Information
- Dual 4-pin MOLEX to 6-pin Power Adapter Cable
- Dual 6-pin Power to 8-pin Power Adapter Cable
- A Cross-Fire Cable
At the time of review the XFX Radeon R9 280X Black Edition is currently available for £186.53 on Amazon
Specifications/Features
courtesy of XFX
GeneralProduct Description : BLACK DD RADEON R9 280X 1080M 3GB D5 2XmDP HDMI 2XDVI UPC Number : 778656065253
Processor & BusBus Type : PCI-E 3.0 Chipset version : Tahiti XTL GPU Bus (bit) : 384 GPU Clock : 1080MHz Performance Category : Performance Stream Processors : 2048
MemoryMemory Bus : 384 bit Memory Clock : 6.2 GHz Memory Size : 3 GB Memory Type : DDR5
Feature TechnologiesAMD HD3D Technology : Y AMD Hybrid Graphics Technology : Y AMD PowerPlay Technology : Y AMD Stream Technology : Y
EnvironmentalRoHS : Y
Display OutputDisplay Port ready : 1.2 HDMI Ready : 1.4a Max Supported Resolution (ANALOG) : 2048 x 1536 Max Supported Resolution (DIGITAL) : 2560 x 1600(DVI);4096 x 2160(HDMI;DP) Output – DL-DVI-I : 1 Output – HDMI : 1 Output – mini DP : 2 Output – SL-DVI-D : 1
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PhysicalCard Profile : Dual Thermal Solution : DD Fansink Thermal Type : Dual Card Dimension (cm) : 29.5 x 14.3 x 4.2 Card Dimension (inch) : 11.61 x 5.63 x 1.65 Master Carton Dimensions (cm) : 51.5 x 33.7 x 37.1 Master Carton Dimensions (inch) : 20.28 x 13.27 x 14.61 Master Carton Weight (Kg) : 15.39 est. Master Carton Weight (lb) : 33.93 est. Package Dimensions (cm) : 16 x 33.6 x 9.8 Package Dimensions (inch) : 6.3 x 13.23 x 3.86 Package Weight (Kg) : 1.44 est. Package Weight (lb) : 3.17 est. Units/Carton : 10
Includes6-pin to 4-pin power cable : 1 8-pin to 6-pin power cable : 1 Cross Fire Bridge : 1 Installation CD with Multi-Language User Guide :1 Promotional Bundles : PSU Cross Marketing Insert Quick Installation Guide : 1 XFX Serial Number Card : 1
RequirementsExternal Power – 6-pins : 1 External Power – 8-pins : 1 Minimum Power Supply Requirement : 750 watt XFX Recommended Power Supply : XFX 850W PSU |
* Additional details available here
First Impressions
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First impressions of the card are very good with the double fans giving the feeling of what should be a cool running card. The logos on the front of the card and the top edge of the card give it a certain class and mean that you can see the logo on rigs with a windowed side panel. No evidence of a light up logo though like you get on the XFX R9 290X, but all in all very pleasing to look at.
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The front of the XFX R9 280X is mainly taken up by those massive twin 90MM fans. As stated before there should be a lot of cooling given from these two. The fan holes themselves are surrounded by a chrome edging, and the hubs are circled in red with “XFX Graphics” written on them. The large XFX Logo on the front of the card is very nicely picked out in glossy black, but that lack of a light up logo (after seeing the XFX R9 290X) is a bit of a let down.
Turning over the card reveals… No back plate… which is a shame considering how good the rest of the graphics card looks. I think XFX missed a trick here.
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Looking at the top of the card we can see the depth of the heatsink. The styling continues here in that the edges of the heatsink cover is beautifully shaped and edged with chrome (like the fan holes). At the back plate end of the card there is an XFX logo again picked out in glossy black along with two crossfire connectors. At the other end of the card are the two power connectors one 6-pin and one 8-pin. One thing to note here is that the orientation of the connectors means that when the power plugs are inserted the release tabs are pushed pretty much up against the heatsink fins. This results in a slightly difficult removal of the plugs in that you have to carefully put your finger tip between the clip and the heatsink, I’ve slightly flexed the heatsink while removing these plugs on this card and also the XFX R9 290X that suffers the same issue.
The bottom of the card has no stand out features, but shows the dual slot format of the card, with a depth of 42mm.
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The connectors end of the card shows the connections available which are 1x DL-DVI-I, 1x HDMI, 2x Mini DisplayPort & 1x SL-DVI-D. Also visible here is the air output grill, which on this card is nicely cut to show the XFX logo!
The other end of the card shows nothing of note, other than the ends of the copper heatpipes.
Hardware Installation
Installation into our Test Rig‘s motherboard and case was pretty simple. The XFX R9 280X Black Edition is reasonably large measuring in at 295mm(L) x 143mm(W) x 42mm(D), but our Test Rig case the Cooler Master HAF XB is well up to the task of accommodating the card, leading to no installation issues.
| Case |
Cooler Master HAF XB
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Power Supply |
Corsair Professional Series AX 760i
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| Motherboard |
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97X Killer
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CPU |
Intel Core i5-4690K
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| CPU Cooler |
Raijintek Themis
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RAM |
HyperX Savage 2400MHz 8GB Kit
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| Graphics Card |
XFX Radeon R9 280X DD Black Edition
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SSD |
HyperX FURY 120GB
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Testing Methodology/Setup
Our Test Rig was treated to a fresh install of Windows 7 Professional N 64Bit (Service Pack 1) with all associated drivers also installed. AMD Catalyst Omega 14.12 was installed and used throughout testing.
For testing purposes we use MSI Afterburner (here), to help us with our testing and overclocking.
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Overclocking with MSI Afterburner is slightly different with an AMD Graphics Card and in fact ever so slightly easier. The reason behind this is MSI Afterburner will give you the actual full GPU Core Clock and Memory Clock values as opposed to the additional values. Then to make life even easier, we don’t have Nvidia GPU Boost technology to worry about.
The XFX Radeon R9 280X DD Black Edition is pre-overclocked in the XFX factory. Instead of a GPU Core Clock of 1000MHz, we gain a small performance increase with a stock GPU Core Clock of 1080MHz. This is apparently the theoretical maximum based on the XFX website, but using the sliders within MSI Afterburner we show that not to be the case (please note that due to the nature of the silicon lottery, you are not guaranteed any extra MHz at all). On this particular test card, we can increase the GPU Core Clock by a further 70MHz giving a total of 1150MHz and the memory up from 6200MHz effective, to 6600MHz effective. Which gives us an approximate gain of 6.5% on the GPU Core speed and coincidentally another approximate 6.5% increase to the Memory Clock. These overclocks could only be obtained stably by pushing the Power Limit up by its maximum 20%. |
Hardware Performance
| Benchmark | Ambient Temperature | Max GPU Temp | Delta Temp | Result |
| Batman Arkham Origins | 21.50 | 55.00 | 33.50 | 141.00 FPS (average) |
| Tomb Raider | 21.50 | 52.00 | 30.50 | 67.5 FPS (average) |
| Metro Last Light | 22.00 | 55.00 | 33.00 | 58.33 (average) |
| UNiGiNE Heaven | 22.00 | 53.00 | 31.00 | 938 |
| 3DMark (Fire Strike) | 22.00 | 54.00 | 32.00 | 7281 |
| Benchmark | Ambient Temperature | Max GPU Temp | Delta Temp | Result |
| Batman Arkham Origins | 21.50 | 56.00 | 34.50 | 149.00 FPS (average) |
| Tomb Raider | 21.50 | 55.00 | 33.50 | 72.0 FPS (average) |
| Metro Last Light | 22.00 | 56.00 | 34.00 | 61.67 (average) |
| UNiGiNE Heaven | 22.00 | 54.00 | 32.00 | 1013 |
| 3DMark (Fire Strike) | 22.00 | 55.00 | 33.00 | 7880 |
Comparative Test Results (at stock):
NOTE: Please note that all of these benchmarks are valid and correct at the time of review and we do not use historical data. Each benchmark is re-run every time (against our Test Cards) for each new GPU review using the latest Drivers at that time. Therefore the scores may fluctuate between reviews as Driver optimizations come into play…
 Results measured in FPS (average) |
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| All Graphics Card Results 2015 |
 Results measured in FPS (average) |
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| All Graphics Card Results 2015 |
 Results measured in FPS (average) |
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| All Graphics Card Results 2015 |
 Benchmark Results |
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| All Graphics Card Results 2015 |
 Benchmark Results |
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| All Graphics Card Results 2015 |
Compared with the other cards in our standard line up the R9 280X sits in it’s rightful place, which is pretty much middle point of our graphs. The overclocking headroom on the card wasn’t very large on my tests, but I managed to gain a little bit of performance on stock speeds.
Temperature wise the card didn’t really work up a sweat, even overclocked. The small increase on the overclock certainly wasn’t stopped due to thermals with the card peaking out at 56 degrees even on the overclock tests. I put this down to those lovely large fans doing their job of dispersing that heat!
With temps like these you’d expect the fans to be running fast and therefore producing plenty of noise. Well that just simply wasn’t the case, with a maximum of 52dB being produced with the fans running at 100%. This cooling solution really does step up when needing to keep the card cool.
Final Thoughts
This is a difficult final thoughts for me, as the card has performed as expected, looks the part, and overclocks reasonably well. I want to like it a lot (and do), but I can’t help thinking that the R9 290X is where the buyers money should be spent!
I’ve spent quite a bit of time with the XFX R9 290X and so I know the layout of this range of cards. The XFX Radeon R9 280X DD Black Edition
The packaging of the XFX R9 280X (and in fact all the cards in this range) is smart, informative and fully functional. What it isn’t is too large. I’ve seen some of the higher range of graphics cards appear in very large boxes (the Palit GTX 980 I reviewed is case in point), and you sometimes have to question why? XFX have done a great job in selecting a box size and shape that protects the card adequately without being oversized.
Once out of the box the XFX R9 280X really looks the part. It’s smart in it’s matt black finish and is beautifully edged with chrome detailing (including the fan holes). The large Double Dissipation fans really give you a feeling of confidence that the card will shrug off the heat, and the Logos are lovely in gloss black and placed in what I think are the perfect positions. I miss the light up XFX logo of the R9 290X, but I guess you have to keep the best features for the top of the range card. The only gripe I’d have on the style of the card is the lack of a back plate. The rest of the card is so beautiful, why scrimp on a back plate. Although not necessarily required I think having a nice back plate fitted would have just finished off the card nicely.
Performance wise, the card delivers what you’d expect at this level in the range and at this price point. There is some overclocking overhead there, but not much. The real area the card shines in is the cooling. This card ran very cool even on the overclocked tests (admittedly they weren’t massive overclocks). The noise produced by the card was also a pleasant surprise as I thought that those too massive fans were going to whirr away in the rig and be potentially quite distracting. I couldn’t have been more wrong in that even on full speed the noise levels were only 52dB.
At this price point the XFX R9 280X is a nice card and performs well, but I can’t help thinking that you could buy an XFX R9 290X (like Mike Reviewed) for an extra £45. If you look at the graphs above you can see how much more performance you might get for that extra outlay and I just can’t get away from the view that although priced well for its performance in the current market, that the R9 290X would be where prospective R9 280X buyers should be looking. Of course that assumes that the buyer can find that extra £45 from somewhere!
Verdict
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Where possible we always use Amazon’s price for Value… |
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Many thanks to XFX for providing this sample for review
