AMD R7 260X Review

1. Introduction2. AMD R7 260X3. AMD R7 260X (Super High Res Gallery)4. Testing Methodology5. Unigine Heaven Benchmark6. 3DMark117. 3DMark8. Alien V Predator9. Sleeping Dogs10. Total War: ROME 211. Dirt ShowDown12. Tomb Raider13. Metro Last Light14. GRID 215. Splinter Cell: Blacklist16. Thermal Dynamics17. Acoustics Performance18. Power Consumption19. Overclocking20. Closing Thoughts21. View All Pages

Today AMD launch their latest R7 and R9 graphics cards and Kitguru is looking at some of the official designs, as well as one custom partner solution from Sapphire. This review focuses on the latest R7 260x reference card priced at $139. We put this card through its paces against a GTX650ti and the last generation HD7790. Is this card able to power the latest games at high resolution with modest image quality settings?

There was a time not too long ago when a budget solution like the R7 260x could not power a demanding game engine at 1080p but in their official literature AMD are focusing on true HD resolutions. AMD claim the R7 260x has ‘HD5870 performance' for only $139.

The AMD R7 260x will be sold with clock speeds up to 1,100mhz and memory speeds up to 6.5Gbps. It only requires a single 6 pin power connector and complies with the latest PCI E 3.0 standard. Gamers will be happy to hear that it has 896 Stream Processors, matching the HD7790 refresh. It ships with 2GB of GDDR5 – up from 1GB on the HD7790.

AMD are keen to focus on the new programmable audio pipeline. TrueAudio Technology is designed for game artists and engineers, to allow for sound processing. The technology is intended to transform game audio and programmable shaders transformed graphics.

This is featured on the AMD Radeon R9 290X, R9 290 & R7 260X solutions.

• Programmable audio pipeline grants artistic freedom to game audio engineers for sound processing
• Easy to access through popular audio libraries used by top game developers
• Fundamentally redefines the nature of a modern PC graphics card
• Spatialization, reverb, mastering limiters and simultaneous voices are only the beginning

For comparisons today we test the R7 260x against the Nvidia GTX650ti, AMD's HD7790 and as a more expensive reference performance point, the HD7850.


As this is a reference sample, we didn't get retail packaging or any of the goodies normally associated with a new graphics card purchase. The tiny cooler houses a small AMD reference fan. My ears are already twitching.

This is a dual slot card built on a black PCB.

There are full sized DVI-I, DVI-D, HDMI and DisplayPort connectors on board.

The card takes power from a single 6 Pin PCIE connector.

The R7 260x is Crossfire capable in a 2 way configuration.

The cooler is quite small, so it will be interesting to see how it handles under load, later in the review. AMD are using 2GB of SKHynix GDDR5 on this board.

An overview of the AMD reference R6 260X in GPUz. It is built on the 28nm process. It has 16 ROPS, 56 TMUs and 896 Stream Processors. The 2GB of GDDR5 memory runs at 1,625mhz (6.5GBps effective) and is connected via a narrow 128 bit memory interface.

On this page we present some super high resolution images of the product taken with the 24.5MP Nikon D3X camera and 24-70mm ED lens. These will take much longer to open due to the dimensions, especially on slower connections. If you use these pictures on another site or publication, please credit Kitguru.net as the owner/source. You can right click and ‘save as’ to your computer to view later.




For our review today we are using the latest Catalyst 13.11 and Forceware 331.40 drivers. These drivers have the latest performance enhancements and bug fixes.

We are using one of our brand new test rigs supplied by PCSPECIALIST and built to our specifications. If you want to read more about this, or are interested in buying the same Kitguru Test Rig, check out our article with links on this page.

Comparison cards:
VTX3D VChamp HD7790 (1,075mhz core / 1,500mhz memory)

Sparkle GTX650 Ti (1,006mhz core / 1,350mhz memory)
ASUS HD7850 (860mhz core / 1,200mhz memory)

Software:
Windows 7 Enterprise 64 bit
Unigine Heaven Benchmark
Unigine Valley Benchmark
3DMark Vantage
3DMark 11
3DMark
Fraps Professional
Steam Client
FurMark

Games:
Sleeping Dogs
Total War: Rome 2
Dirt Showdown
Tomb Raider
Metro Last Light
GRID 2
Alien V Predator
Splinter Cell Blacklist

All the latest BIOS updates and drivers are used during testing. We perform generally under real world conditions, meaning KitGuru tests games across five closely matched runs and then average out the results to get an accurate median figure. If we use scripted benchmarks, they are mentioned on the relevant page.

Unigine provides an interesting way to test hardware. It can be easily adapted to various projects due to its elaborated software design and flexible toolset.

A lot of their customers claim that they have never seen such extremely-effective code, which is so easy to understand.

Heaven Benchmark is a DirectX 11 GPU benchmark based on advanced Unigine engine from Unigine Corp. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. Interactive mode provides emerging experience of exploring the intricate world of steampunk.

Efficient and well-architected framework makes Unigine highly scalable:

• Multiple API (DirectX 9 / DirectX 10 / DirectX 11 / OpenGL) render
• Cross-platform: MS Windows (XP, Vista, Windows 7) / Linux
• Full support of 32bit and 64bit systems
• Multicore CPU support
• Little / big endian support (ready for game consoles)
• Powerful C++ API
• Comprehensive performance profiling system
• Flexible XML-based data structures

We use the settings shown above at 1920×1080.


Excellent start with this older Direct X 10 benchmark, scoring higher than the overclocked VTX3D VChamp HD7790.
3DMark 11 is designed for testing DirectX 11 hardware running on Windows 7 and Windows Vista the benchmark includes six all new benchmark tests that make extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading.

After running the tests 3DMark gives your system a score with larger numbers indicating better performance. Trusted by gamers worldwide to give accurate and unbiased results, 3DMark 11 is the best way to test DirectX 11 under game-like loads.If you want to learn more about this benchmark, or to buy it yourself, head over to this page.

A really impressive score, actually delivering a higher graphics score than the reference clocked HD7850.

3DMark is an essential tool used by millions of gamers, hundreds of hardware review sites and many of the world’s leading manufacturers to measure PC gaming performance.

Futuremark say “Use it to test your PC’s limits and measure the impact of overclocking and tweaking your system. Search our massive results database and see how your PC compares or just admire the graphics and wonder why all PC games don’t look this good.

To get more out of your PC, put 3DMark in your PC.”


The AMD R7 260X has a clear performance edge over the overclocked VTX3D VChamp HD7790, scoring over 4,000 points in the graphics section of the test. The reference clocked HD7850 is out in the lead by around 400 points.
Aliens V Predator has proved to be a big seller since the release and Sega have taken the franchise into new territory after taking it from Sierra. AVP is a Direct X 11 supported title and delivers not only advanced shadow rendering but high quality tessellation for the cards on test today.

To test the cards we used a 1920×1080 resolution with DX11, Texture Quality Very High, MSAA Samples 1, 16 af, ambient occulsion on, shadow complexity high, motion blur on.

The AMD R7 260X outperforms both GTX650ti and overclocked HD7790.
Sleeping Dogs started development as an original title, but was announced in 2009 as True Crime: Hong Kong, the third installment and a reboot of the True Crime series. As a result of the game’s high development budget and delays, it was canceled by Activision Blizzard in 2011. Six months later, it was announced that Square Enix had picked up the publishing rights to the game, but the game was renamed Sleeping Dogs in 2012 since Square Enix did not purchase the True Crime name rights.

This game is still a system killer at these maximised settings. We test at 1920×1080.

This engine is extremely demanding and all cards would need image quality settings reduced to get perfectly playable frame rates. That said, the R7 260X manages to slightly outperform the HD7790 from the last generation.
Total War ROME 2 is the eighth stand alone game in the Total War series, it is the successor to the successful Rome: Total War title. The Warscape Engine powers the visuals of the game and the new unit cameras will allow players to focus on individual soldiers on the battlefield, which in itself may contain thousands of combatants at a time. Creative Assembly has stated that they wish to bring out the more human side of war this way, with soldiers reacting with horror as their comrades get killed around them and officers inspiring their men with heroic speeches before siege towers hit the walls of the enemy city. This will be realised using facial animations for individual units, adding a feel of horror and realism to the battles.

To test the cards today we use the ULTRA profile settings shown above at 1920×1080.

All graphics cards on test today hold playable frame rates at 1080p at ULTRA settings. Both R7 260X and VChamp HD7790 are closely matched.
Dirt Showdown is the latest title in the franchise from Codemasters, based around the famous Colin McRae racing game series, although it no longer uses his name, since he passed away in 2007.

Today we test the hardware at 1920×1080 with the Ultra profile and 8 x MSAA.

Solid performance all round, although the Sparkle GTX650ti is running a little out of steam at these settings, close to the borderline for smooth frame rates.
After a delayed release from late 2012 to March 2013, the game received much anticipation and hype. Tomb Raider received much acclaim from critics, who praised the graphics, the gameplay and Camilla Luddington’s performance as Lara with many critics agreeing that the game is a solid and much needed reboot of the franchise. Much criticism went to the addition of the multiplayer which many felt was unnecessary. Tomb Raider went on to sell one million copies in forty-eight hours of its release, and has sold 3.4 million copies worldwide so far.

We use the ULTIMATE profile shown above and test at 1920×1080.

A demanding game at these high settings, although the R7 260X maintains a >25 frame rate most of the time, dropping below only in a couple of instances.Metro: Last Light takes place one year after the events of Metro 2033, proceeding from the ending where Artyom chose to call down the missile strike on the Dark Ones. The Rangers have since occupied the D6 military facility, with Artyom having become an official member of the group. Khan, the nomad mystic, arrives at D6 to inform Artyom and the Rangers that a single Dark One survived the missile strike.

4A Games’ proprietary 4A Engine is capable of rendering breathtaking vistas, such as those showing the ruined remnants of Moscow, as well as immersive indoor areas that play with light and shadow, creating hauntingly beautiful scenes akin to those from modern-day photos of Pripyat’s abandoned factories and schools.

We test this game with the built in benchmark with very high quality settings at 1920×1080 – details shown in the image above.

The R7 260X has a slight performance edge over the HD7790.
Grid 2 is the sequel to the racing video game Race Driver: Grid.  It was developed and published by Codemasters. The game includes numerous real world locations such as Paris, numerous United States locations, and many more, and also includes motor vehicles spanning four decades. In addition, it includes a new handling system that developer Codemasters has dubbed ‘TrueFeel’, which aims to hit a sweet spot between realism and accessibility.

We test at 1920×1080 with the Ultra image quality preset, as shown above. 8x MSAA was enabled to improve image quality.

The R7 260X is a couple of frames faster than the VChamp HD7790.
Splinter Cell Blacklist is the sixth installment in the series. The game begins with Sam Fisher and his old friend Victor Coste who are about to depart from Andersen AFB in Guam when an unknown enemy force destroys the entire base. Assisted by hacker specialist Charlie Cole, Sam and Vic manage to escape, although Vic is injured after protecting Sam from a grenade.

Soon after, a terrorist group calling itself “The Engineers” assumes responsibility for the attack and announce that it was the first of a deadly countdown of escalating attacks (called “The Blacklist”) on United States assets, declaring that they will halt the attacks only after the U.S. government accomplish the demand of calling back all American troops deployed abroad.

We test with a series of high image quality settings as shown above and with 4x MSAA and 16 x Anisotropic filtering enabled.

Another very demanding title at 1080p. None of the hardware on test can really handle this game at these settings without dropping well below 25 frames per second.

The tests were performed in a controlled air conditioned room with temperatures maintained at a constant 24c – a comfortable environment for the majority of people reading this. Idle temperatures were measured after sitting at the desktop for 30 minutes.Load measurements were acquired by playing Crysis Warhead for 30 minutes and measuring the peak temperature.

We also have included Furmark results, recording maximum temperatures throughout a 30 minute stress test. All fan settings were left on automatic.


The reference cooler on the R7 260X holds a temperature close to 80c when gaming, which is disappointing. The Sparkle GTX650ti by comparison peaks around 55c under load.

We hope to get a look soon at some of the custom cooled R7 260X graphics cards.
We have built a system inside a Lian Li chassis with no case fans and have used a fanless cooler on our CPU. The motherboard is also passively cooled. This gives us a build with almost completely passive cooling and it means we can measure noise of just the graphics card inside the system when we run looped 3dMark tests.

Ambient noise in the room is around 20-25dBa. We measure from a distance of around 1 meter from the closed chassis and 4 foot from the ground to mirror a real world situation.

Why do this? Well this means we can eliminate secondary noise pollution in the test room and concentrate on only the video card. It also brings us slightly closer to industry standards, such as DIN 45635.

KitGuru noise guide
10dBA – Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves
20-25dBA – Whisper
30dBA – High Quality Computer fan
40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refridgerator
50dBA – Normal Conversation
60dBA – Laughter
70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer
80dBA – City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal
90dBA – Motorcycle or Lawnmower
100dBA – MP3 player at maximum output
110dBA – Orchestra
120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine
130dBA – Threshold of Pain
140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range)
160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum

When idle, the small R7 260X fan spins at 1,100rpm which is basically inaudible. Under load however this rises to just over 3,000 rpm – very noticeable with an annoying pitch.

After analysing the thermal curve and noise characteristics of the reference AMD cooler, there is only one conclusion – it is very disappointing. We are confident AMD partners will be releasing technically superior solutions over the coming weeks however.
To test power consumption today we are using a Keithley Integra unit and we measure power consumption from the VGA card inputs, not the system wide drain. We measure results while gaming in Crysis 2 and record the results.

Overall power consumption of the R7 260X is excellent, peaking at 68 watts when gaming – very good results indeed.
To overclock today we are using the latest version of MSI Afterburner.


There is still some headroom on the core, as we managed to push it by another 13.3 percent, to 1,247mhz. The memory could be increased further from 1,625mhz to 1,727mhz (6.9Gbps effective).


The overclock pushes the graphics score from 6,046 points to 6,693 points.
The AMD R7 260X graphics card has delivered slightly higher performance than an overclocked HD7790 in our review today. In most of the games we tested at 1080p the frame rates were maybe 1-3 better. This isn't a huge improvement over the last generation part, but noticeable in specific games that fall close to the 25 frame per second cut off point.

At this end of the market, price is everything.

AMD have said this card will cost $139 and it will be interesting to see how this translates to the UK market … we are hearing too many things behind the scenes to present accurate prices to our readers at launch today. Prices will certainly settle over the coming week.

Using an online dollar to pound converter (on 5th Oct) translates the R7 260X $139 asking price to £86. With 20% VAT you need to add £17 to get around £103. Online retailers told us that the prices will be between £110 and £130.

How does this compare to current AMD prices? Right now you can pick up a custom cooled, overclocked HD7790 for £97.99 inc vat. So it seems fairly closely matched on price to the last generation part. Some overclocked HD7850's are currently selling for £119.99 inc vat which poses a problem for AMD.

There is no doubt the R7 260X is faster than the gutless Nvidia GTX650Ti, which is priced around £100 in the UK today. This is a weak price zone for Nvidia however, even though the rest of their range is very strong in October.

Reviewing reference samples is always difficult. I don't like this AMD reference cooler at all. The core hits 80c under gaming load, and 86c under synthetic Furmark load. When you factor in the poor noise characteristics it doesn't have a lot going for it. That said, we know in the coming weeks AMD partners will be releasing much better solutions with enhanced coolers and lower noise emissions. We can however only review what we have in front of us today.

The R7 260X is certainly a capable graphics card that can handle many of the latest Direct X 11 engines at 1080p, but we need to wait and see what AMD partners bring out in the coming weeks, because this reference cooling solution is far from inspiring.

Pros:

• Slightly better performance than an overclocked HD7790.
• Can power many titles at 1080p.
• programmable audio pipeline.
• 2GB GDDR5.

Cons:

• Not a huge performance step up from an overclocked HD7790.
• Reference AMD cooler is not good at all.

Kitguru says: Potentially a very good card, once it gets into AMD partner hands. More reviews coming soon.

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