R9 280 3GB or R9 285 2GB in 2018 for 1080p gaming?

[Moloko]

Hi all,

building a secondary (budget) rig and was wondering which card would be better for gaming in 2018.

R9 280 3GB or R9 285 2GB

Not much between them but would you go for the newer card or the older card with extra Vram? both cards are priced the same secondhand.

Thanks

 

[4K8KW10]

Hi,

3GB is better when otherwise the performance is identical. If you hit memory amount wall, the 50% more VRAM may improve your experience.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The R9 285 does tessslation better though - the R9 380 4GB is the same card as the R9 285 but with 4GB of VRAM.

 

[Moloko]

Hi,

3GB is better when otherwise the performance is identical. If you hit memory amount wall, the 50% more VRAM may improve your experience.

Thanks for the reply

I'll go with the R9 280. Just didn't know if the R9 280 was powerful enough to even use the extra 1gb vram.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The R9 285 also supports FreeSync.

 

[Moloko]

The R9 285 does tessslation better though - the R9 380 4GB is the same card as the R9 285 but with 4GB of VRAM.

I think the R9 285 has better graphics compression too, to make up for the lack or Vram.

 

[Moloko]

The R9 285 also supports FreeSync.

Would you go with the R9 285 or r9 280?

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Would you go with the R9 285 or r9 280?

Hard to say - the R9 285 also probably supports DX12/Vulkan better as it is based on the same GCN generation as the R9 290/290X. However,2GB of VRAM can be an issue in modern games too.

Edit!!

I would imagine the R9 285 should get driver updates longer.

 

[4K8KW10]

I would take the Tahiti card over the Tonga card, even more so when the Tonga card is with only 2GB.

Of course, the Tonga card has its advantages:
As you say: newer version of the architecture, supporting some things better, like Freesync, maybe colour compression, UVD...
Lower power consumption, too...

 

[Poneros]

Unless you want freesync then the 280 is without a doubt the better card in terms of performance.

 

[Moloko]

Unless you want freesync then the 280 is without a doubt the better card in terms of performance.

Thanks, I don't really need freesync. Think I'll go with the R9 280.
Even with longer driver support for the R9 285 I can't imagine the experience will be good with 2gb vram.

 

[Lokken86]

Yeah go with 280 it's the better card. Still more then capable at 1080p even now.