Conclusion
AMD has debuted a number of mainstream and enthusiast graphics cards today. New branding doesn't masquearade the fact that the premium cards, R9 280X, R9 270X and R7 260X, are based on existing Radeon 7-series technology. AMD has changed frequencies and lowered prices, sure, yet don't expect brand-new GPUs until the R9 290/X arrive in a short while.
So if these new graphics cards are derivations of products we've seen before, the crucial question is whether they worth it? Let's take the three X-branded parts, reviewed today, in turn.
AMD's Radeon R9 280X is a Radeon 7900-class of card now invested with a new name. Roughly analogous to the HD 7970 GHz Edition in performance, representing the best of the current generation, the prominent feature is the $299 (£230) price, which is (currently) substantially lower than the perf-equivalent GeForce GTX 770 from Nvidia. The new Radeon is powerful enough to play most modern games at a 2,560x1,440 resolution allied to high image quality, and the 3GB framebuffer is ideally suited to running Battlefield 4 at maximum settings.
Moving on, the $199 (£150) Radeon R9 270X can legitimately be thought of as an overclocked Radeon HD 7870. The underlying architecture enables decent performance at the usual 1,920x1,080 setting. Nvidia's GTX 760 (£180+) is a little quicker in our benchmarks, intimating that AMD has priced the R9 270X just right.
The Radeon R7 260X, meanwhile, is a card suitable for 1,920x1,080 gaming with medium/high image settings in tow. A faster variant of extant Radeon HD 7790 and competitively priced against the Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti/Boost cards, AMD ensures it has a strong presence at almost all pricing levels.
Don't be confused by the new names; these are certainly not true next-generation cards. AMD's using a three-pronged attack of new naming, frequency-modified architecture, and keener pricing to invigorate the mainstream graphics card market for its roster of board partners. The real winner out of this is you, the buyer, because there's simply more in-game performance for every pound spent.
Finally, we believe that AMD's Radeon R9 280X, 270X, and R7 260X set new price-to-performance benchmarks and can therefore be recommended, even if, as we've mentioned ad nauseam, the technology is rehashed. Nvidia is likely to counter with a round of price cutting, one would assume, thus making the graphics decision for the next PC upgrade or build even more interesting.
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AMD Radeon R9 280X
AMD Radeon R9 270X
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TBC.
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