Perhaps fortunately, AMD's reference Radeon R9 280X is a bit of a phantom outside our own labs. If you're shopping for one of these Tahiti-based boards, you're looking at third-party solutions. We round up seven models and show what makes them different.
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 | ![]() |
- Seven Radeon R9 280X Cards, Rounded-Up
- Technical Specifications And GPU-Z Screens
- Dimensions And Weight
- Temperatures
- Noise And Fan RPM
- Noise Comparison Videos
- Asus R9 280X DirectCU II OC
- Club3D R9 280X royalKing OC
- Gigabyte R9 280X WindForce 3X OC
- HIS R9 280X IceQ X² Turbo
- MSI R9 280X Gaming OC
- Sapphire R9 280X Toxic OC
- Sapphire R9 280X Vapor-X OC







Hope my ignorance doesn't get me butchered.
Also, I noticed that the 280x Twin Frozr, only employs one 'fat' heat-pipe, whereas the one on the 780 employs two 'fat' heat pipes. I realise those cards are at very different price points, but considering the more thirsty nature of tahiti, I might have thought it would've helped a lot. Overall, the Asus variant seems like the best all rounder. And the HIS as well, although I find it somewhat dull in terms of its design (that's not the real point ofc).
I guess the MSI does well considering its size and weight (it's both smaller and lighter than I imagined it to be), but the previous BIOS didn't seem great, and the new one is a bit on the aggressive side.
reason i say this?. the other day the forum was asked whats the diff between these 10 or so cards. in reality they were all pretty much identical other than the coolers. but there was at least 2 differences... asus's digi-vrm, and there mofset setup which gave the card a slight advantage when over clocking. but many retailers dont give these details in there descriptions. to me its as important as the cooling solution as a way to differentiate different manufacturers with the same class of card.
I have it myself and it was pretty cheap and seems quitter and runs less hot then the vapor-x.
not sure thats gonna happen with bf4 for anything other than the 290/290x. amd have recently trimmed the titles available in the bundle deals.
source?. linus tech's live stream from last friday/sat 15-16th nov 2013...
Yes it is ambiguous