Gigabyte R9 280X Windforce OC Video Card Review & Benchmarks

The End Game

Although the card is essentially a 7970GHz Edition card with a new name, Gigabyte does what they can with what they were given to work with, as it’s not their fault how the chips fall so to speak. AMD has added a few new twists to try and make users forget about the rebrand and although they in no way have reinvented the wheel, they have done a few very significant things lately.

AMD’s Mantle is another story all unto itself, but that move will either be the biggest thing AMD as yet to do, or will flop on its ass. I don’t think it will go quite the way AMD envisions, but it will most assuredly change the game, as AMD will now work closer to developers than ever before and have thus far dominated the console market.

Gigabyte took the R9 208X gave it a bigger and better cooler along with their own PCB and the Windforce OC version of the AMD R9 280X was born. Windforce cooling works and the card never ran hotter than 66 Celsius even under full load and taking into consideration that the 7970GHz Edition ran at 73-75 Celsius that is a significant reduction in temperature, which will relate to a longer lifespan for the card, or more headroom for overclocking. The price on the card is at the $299.99 range, give or take a few bucks allowing for variation in market price, and that is more than a $100.00 of the previous generation HD 7970GHz Edition. Better support, better drivers and better cooling along with a lower price tag makes this card very appealing.

In the end game, I can really think of nothing negative to say about what Gigabyte has done here, as their options were rather limited out of the gate as far as anything radically new was concerned. Taking the time to go beyond reference is something no enthusiast can complain about, and if you remember correctly just a few years back a non-reference card would cost you much more than a reference AMD jobber, now it’s a mere $10-$20 most of the time. The price reduction now puts this card in a new position as at $299.99 it’s a really good deal, and with the Windforce cooling and overclocking options Gigabyte has a solid solution for the gamer on their hands. AMD fans will be cheering and for those looking for a new card to upgrade they’re existing system or building a new system, The Gigabyte Windforce OC Edition R9 280X is also an editors choice. Thanks for reading Tech Of Tomorrow folks, if you have something to say let us hear it in the comments below.

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