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The AMD Radeon R9 285 Thread

Interesting piece of data regarding bus size-

Tonga's new 'lossless delta color compression' -able to provide ~40% higher memory bandwidth efficiency on the R9 285 vs. R9 280.

AMD is setting an interesting playable gameplay experience level with this video card at 1440p gaming. Our evaluation today has proven to us that 1080p is the sweet spot for the AMD Radeon R9 285. This is also the same for the R9 280. We think the 1440p/1600p realm is better served by the AMD Radeon R9 280X and above.

The AMD Radeon R9 285 is capable of playing at 1080p with maximum details in most cases, though some demanding games do have to be turned down slightly. However, moving beyond 1080p causes too much of a performance hit. We have to sacrifice too many image quality settings in order to achieve gameplay performance that is enjoyable. This lessens the gameplay experience, and it just isn't that good. We simply cannot play with maximum detail settings beyond 1080p like AMD suggests; it is not possible. AMD marketing deserves an "F" on this product. In fast paced games like BF4 where gamers demand that 60FPS+ gameplay experience the R8 285 fails above the 1080P mark. The only way to achieve that needed performance level in BF4 is use 1080p resolution and even then you still have to make some image quality sacrifices.

AMD would be better off marketing this card as, "The Ultimate 1080p Experience."

AMD Answers our Questions
During the evaluation of this video card we had many pointed questions for AMD. Thanks to the response of AMD's Senior Product Manager for Desktop Graphics at AMD and product manager for the AMD Radeon R9 285 GPU, Evan Groenke, we have those questions and answers to share with you today that will shed some light on the thought process behind the AMD Radeon R9 285. We will post our questions in white, and Evan Groenke's answer's in yellow.

Q. - So once inventory on R9 280s is depleted in e-tail and retail channels, will you be re-supplying new R9 280 GPUs, or are you going to let R9 280 die out? I.e. Discontinued.

A. - R9 280 is going away – you’ll find some pretty amazing deals online, so get it while you can!

Q. - If you knew Tonga was planned all along, then can you explain why you developed R9 280 (Tahiti) in the first place?

A. - Simply timing. We made the R9 280 available for gamers who wanted a great 1080p and 1440p gaming experience prior to September 2. And now they can get a product with even more features and tech (or find a crazy deal on a R9 280).

Q. - Since R9 280’s can be found for well under $249 right now, well below its MSRP of $279, how do you justify to gamers purchasing an R9 285 over an R9 280 when R9 280 is cheaper and potentially faster?

A. - Both are great cards, and we recommend gamers buy whichever they prefer. The R9 285 is built on the latest GCN architecture, is more power efficient, will have both 2GB and 4GB options, and offers technologies like bridgeless CF, TrueAudio, newest PowerTune, and FreeSync – you’re getting the latest and greatest. The R9 280 has 3GB and is available for some great prices while supplies last. Gamers can make a great choice with either.

Q. - Do you expect the 256-bit bus and 2GB of RAM on R9 285 to be a hindrance compared to the 3GB and 384-bit memory bus on R9 280 if you are targeting 1440p gaming? Wouldn’t a gamer want to chose the 3GB 384-bit bus card for the 1440p gaming you are targeting over the R9 285 with lesser RAM and memory bandwidth?

A. - You’ll verify this yourself I’m sure, but very very few cases show lose out to the 280 because of frame buffer. Though some of the improvements to our GCN chip on board the R9 285 we have been able to provide ~40% higher memory bandwidth efficiency on the R9 285 vs. R9 280. This is via lossless delta color compression which bridges the gap between the memory bandwidth available on the 384bit R9 280 and the 256bit R9 285 as you pointed out.

That last bit there explains the performance advantage we have been seeing in R9 285 over R9 280. Apparently R9 285 can experience better memory efficiency through the use of the new lossless delta color compression in this third iteration of GCN architecture technology. That explains that.
Click to expand...

http://hardocp.com/article/2014/09/02/msi_radeon_r9_285_gaming_oc_video_card_review/11#.VAW_AfldUV8
 
RavenXXX2 said:
It's more expensive than the 3GB/384 bit cards :confused:
Click to expand...

How many times, they are EOL!

280 and 280X have being sold way below their MSRP for a long time as people have being dumping stock. 280X was just shy of £250 when launched, they are reduced to £200 to clear!

280 was launched at £199, they are £150 to clear.

Do not compare stock clearing prices to new launch prices. In a years time when 285 is being replaced it will no doubt be around £120, but its MSRP is £169-£200 and AMD have positioned it to compete with 760 which it does very well, matching it for price and beating it by approximately 15% in performance and offering True Audio. :)
 
I don't know, I think this card doesn't make any sense.
It will replace a card with higher specs, less true audio, for the same price...
Also I would not call a NEW card...
 
The 285 looks like a half decent performer when up against it's Nvidia opposition in the gtx760. It's main problem is the r9 280 is still floating about in good numbers. The 280 is cheaper and a higher spec. I think Amd might have scored an own goal here.
 
TheRealDeal said:
The 285 looks like a half decent performer when up against it's Nvidia opposition in the gtx760. It's main problem is the r9 280 is still floating about in good numbers. The 280 is cheaper and a higher spec. I think Amd might have scored an own goal here.
Click to expand...

Only AMD win then. They sell all of their 280's and then people buy the 285's.

Also as predicted all of our competitors are launching at £200+, OcUK has them from £169.99, OcUK leads the market again! :)
 
Darujhistan said:
Who is going to buy a 285 with 2GB VRAM? not the people who were going to buy a 280 before they were sold out. I don't doubt they will sell, but they're a clear downgrade from a 280.

Not really a like for like comparison.
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They have 290 with 3GB and you can get them for around £265 inc from OcUK which is marginally more than 280X was originally sold for.

Also 4GB 285's will come for about £30-£40 premium. :)
 
MSI Radeon R9 290 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card @ £295.99 inc VAT

GX-239-MS_400.jpg



Was [£295.99] Inc. VAT

Only £295.99 inc VAT - use "MSI10" at checkout for 10% off

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Gibbo said:
They have 290 with 3GB and you can get them for around £265 inc from OcUK which is marginally more than 280X was originally sold for.

Also 4GB 285's will come for about £30-£40 premium. :)
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They had 280xs with 3GB cheaper than that. This card isn't as good as a 280x or even 280 with 3GB VRAM.

You can get a a Sapph 280 with 3 GB of VRAM for 187 on here. That's no ref too.
 
Not impressed if those reviews are anything to go by, it has same performance and power consumption as the 280, it costs the same despite having 1GB less vRam.

Basically, they haven't improved efficiency at all, removed a third of the vRam and then slapped the same price on it it as the better GPU its replaced.

Its a backward step. even saying it has the same performance as the 280 is a little generous. its a 200 Watt GPU with similar performance of the old low clocked 7970; 200 Watt GPU.
 
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AMD's new Tonga-based Radeon R9 285 leaves me with mixed feelings. Performance has really seen no significant improvements since Tahiti, i.e. the R9 280(X). Sapphire's overclocked board performs exactly as well as the HD 7970, which is almost three years old now.

Pretty much.
 
humbug said:
Not impressed if those reviews are anything to go by, it has same performance and power consumption as the 280, it costs the same despite having 1GB less vRam.

Basically, they haven't improved efficiency at all, removed a third of the vRam and then slapped the same price on it it as the better GPU its replaced.

Its a backward step. even saying it has the same performance as the 280 is a little generous.
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I have slammed NV for VRAM ripoffs, this is AMD pulling exactly the same trick.

I clicked on the thread expecting to see a improved 280x with 3GB VRAM, what I got was a downgraded 280 with less 1GB VRAM.

Epic fail.

No-one previously looking 280x or 280 would buy one of these.
 
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