Win A Sapphire R9 285 Mini ITX Graphics Card By Showing Us What You Do On Your AMD Tea Break
- Thread starter LtMatt
- Start date
Hey everyone,
Just an update.
Stu I've got your address details and your 285 will be on its way to you in the next few days.
I've tried to make contact with all the runners up to get their address details. Most of you will have an email or a tweet from me asking you to send me an email with more info. Once i get your emails i can start dispatching your AMD mugs and the other bits and bobs!
I'll give everyone a few days to email me first before i start arranging for the packs to be sent out.
I was unable to trust the following people, so please can these people send me a Direct Message on twitter to provide me with their details.
Ronson12
Ahkey
JamesKennedy97
Yebol
FL630
Louie2411
maltrabob
Last edited:
Soldato
- Joined
- 7 Jan 2009
- Posts
- 6,689
Replied back to you Matt. 
Cheers!
Cheers!
Associate
- Joined
- 9 Jan 2012
- Posts
- 906
- Location
- Wirral
Congrats to Stu and to runners up!
Soldato
- Joined
- 20 Jun 2011
- Posts
- 3,675
- Location
- Livingston
Replied to your email Matt. Thanks again
Soldato
- Joined
- 23 Dec 2013
- Posts
- 3,547
- Location
- North Wales
Soldato
- Joined
- 23 Dec 2013
- Posts
- 3,547
- Location
- North Wales
I'm about to send you a trust message.
Do you get my email with my details, Matt?
Soldato
- Joined
- 27 Dec 2009
- Posts
- 2,727
- Location
- Gillingham, Kent
Got home last night to a parcel! Opened to find some haribo - yay! Oh, and included with the haribo was a box.
Opened the box to find a tiny little GPU:
Seriously, it's tiny! Look at how long it is (isn't) compared to the PCI-E connector. It's miles shorter than my 7950 Twin Frozr, and even shorter than my older 7850 Dual-X (I change GPUs a fair bit between PCs and friends). It feels very solid, the metal on the heatsink looks and feels lovely, and the whole card exudes "quality" with nothing feeling cheaply made or skimped. This is not a card that's been cut down to a price, and shows it.
Getting this GPU into the case was MUCH easier than getting the 7950 in or out. The 7950 took up the whole length of the case and required inserting at just the right angle or it wouldn't fit. The R9 285 leaves acres of room inside the case.
Myself and friends have just finished a LAN weekend, so seemed a good time to compare noise levels and heat compared to the 7950 in the same case. I therefore fired up the more demanding games we use on our LAN weekends, and Heaven bench because it was installed too.
Heaven benchmark (1600x1200, 8xAA) - 7950 hit around 75C with stock voltage, around 70C with lowered voltage (1v), and the fan noise was noticeable but not too distracting. The R9 285 topped out at 70C with the fan at 47%. This was audible with the case on the desk next to me (quiet room) but wouldn't have been noticeable if the case was under the desk. Very, very quiet.
Far Cry 2 - 7950 hit 85C in this with stock voltage, and 80C with lowered voltage, and was pretty loud in both cases (loud from across the room with other PCs running with stock voltage). The R9 285 topped out at 70C again, with the fan audible but wouldn't have heard it from across the room or if another PC was running. Very impressive.
Crysis Wars - similar story to Far Cry 2 but a bit more intense, 7950 was hitting almost 90C with stock voltage, 85C eventually with lowered voltage, and was very loud while doing it. The R9 285 did reach 72C and 50% on the fan, but this was still very, very quiet - just with a slightly more urgent tone than the fan at 47% (odd that such a small difference produces a noticeably different tone). Certainly wouldn't have been able to hear the PC if one or two of the other ones were up and running (they all run 5770's).
Overall, I am very, very impressed with the card. It runs all the games I use this PC for with absolute ease, and has made it now a very quiet machine. It's quieter than when I ran the 7850 in it, but is SO much faster and more powerful. I was very impressed how cool the card runs, especially given the small dimensions of the case and the position of the PSU so close to the GPU fan. It looks amazing, and the card feels built to survive a bomb blast. My 7950 has now been donated to a friend (to replace his struggling Nvidia 570) and is going to be happier in a case with more generous dimensions and airflow, and I couldn't be happier with the R9 285, which really is in it's element in a small case with a window to show off its looks.
Thank you so much to AMD and Matt for their generosity, and you've made two people very happy (and converted one from the Green team to the Red in the process).
Opened to find some haribo - yay! Oh, and included with the haribo was a box.
Opened the box to find a tiny little GPU:
Seriously, it's tiny! Look at how long it is (isn't) compared to the PCI-E connector. It's miles shorter than my 7950 Twin Frozr, and even shorter than my older 7850 Dual-X (I change GPUs a fair bit between PCs and friends). It feels very solid, the metal on the heatsink looks and feels lovely, and the whole card exudes "quality" with nothing feeling cheaply made or skimped. This is not a card that's been cut down to a price, and shows it.
Getting this GPU into the case was MUCH easier than getting the 7950 in or out. The 7950 took up the whole length of the case and required inserting at just the right angle or it wouldn't fit. The R9 285 leaves acres of room inside the case.
Myself and friends have just finished a LAN weekend, so seemed a good time to compare noise levels and heat compared to the 7950 in the same case. I therefore fired up the more demanding games we use on our LAN weekends, and Heaven bench because it was installed too.
Heaven benchmark (1600x1200, 8xAA) - 7950 hit around 75C with stock voltage, around 70C with lowered voltage (1v), and the fan noise was noticeable but not too distracting. The R9 285 topped out at 70C with the fan at 47%. This was audible with the case on the desk next to me (quiet room) but wouldn't have been noticeable if the case was under the desk. Very, very quiet.
Far Cry 2 - 7950 hit 85C in this with stock voltage, and 80C with lowered voltage, and was pretty loud in both cases (loud from across the room with other PCs running with stock voltage). The R9 285 topped out at 70C again, with the fan audible but wouldn't have heard it from across the room or if another PC was running. Very impressive.
Crysis Wars - similar story to Far Cry 2 but a bit more intense, 7950 was hitting almost 90C with stock voltage, 85C eventually with lowered voltage, and was very loud while doing it. The R9 285 did reach 72C and 50% on the fan, but this was still very, very quiet - just with a slightly more urgent tone than the fan at 47% (odd that such a small difference produces a noticeably different tone). Certainly wouldn't have been able to hear the PC if one or two of the other ones were up and running (they all run 5770's).
Overall, I am very, very impressed with the card. It runs all the games I use this PC for with absolute ease, and has made it now a very quiet machine. It's quieter than when I ran the 7850 in it, but is SO much faster and more powerful. I was very impressed how cool the card runs, especially given the small dimensions of the case and the position of the PSU so close to the GPU fan. It looks amazing, and the card feels built to survive a bomb blast. My 7950 has now been donated to a friend (to replace his struggling Nvidia 570) and is going to be happier in a case with more generous dimensions and airflow, and I couldn't be happier with the R9 285, which really is in it's element in a small case with a window to show off its looks.
Thank you so much to AMD and Matt for their generosity, and you've made two people very happy (and converted one from the Green team to the Red in the process).
Soldato
- Joined
- 27 Dec 2009
- Posts
- 2,727
- Location
- Gillingham, Kent