Test Methodology
Sapphire R9 285 Dual-X OC Specification |
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GPU Comparisons |
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| Graphics Card | Peak Core Clock (MHz) |
Stream Processors |
Memory Clock (MHz) |
Memory Bus (bits) |
Graphics Driver | |
| Sapphire Radeon R9 285 Dual-X OC 2GB | 965 | 1,792 | 5,600 | 256 | Catalyst 14.8 beta | |
| XFX Radeon R9 280 DD 3GB | 933 | 1,792 | 5,000 | 384 | Catalyst 14.8 beta | |
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 2GB | 1,033 | 1,152 | 6,000 | 256 | GeForce 340.52 | |
HEXUS Graphics Test Bench |
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| Hardware Components | HEXUS Review | Product Page | |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-4770K (3.50GHz, 8MB cache, quad-core) | June 2013 | Intel.com |
| CPU Cooler | Corsair Hydro Series H75 | March 2014 | Corsair.com |
| Motherboard | Asus Z97-A | May 2014 | Asus.com |
| Memory | 16GB Corsair Vengeance Pro (2x8GB) DDR3 @ 1,866MHz | - | Corsair.com |
| Power Supply | Corsair AX760i | - | Corsair.com |
| Storage Device | Crucial M500 240GB SSD | July 2013 | Crucial.com |
| Chassis | Corsair Graphite Series 600T | October 2010 | Corsair.com |
| Monitor | Philips Brilliance 288P6LJEB/00 (3,840x2,160) | - | Philips.co.uk |
| Operating system | Windows 8.1 (64-bit) | October 2012 | Microsoft.com |
HEXUS High-End Benchmark Suite |
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| GPU Benchmarks | Mode and Resolutions | Quality Settings |
| 3DMark | DX11 at 1,920x1,080 and 2,560x1,440 | Fire Strike and Fire Strike Extreme |
| Batman: Arkham Origins | DX11 at 1,920x1,080 and 3,840x2,160 | Ultra/Enhanced Preset |
| BioShock Infinite | DX11 at 1,920x1,080 | Ultra Preset |
| Crysis 3 | DX11 at 1,920x1,080 | 0xMSAA, High Preset |
| Far Cry 3 | DX11 at 1,920x1,080 | 2xMSAA, Ultra Preset |
| GRID 2 | DX11 at 1,920x1,080 and 3,840x2,160 | 4xMSAA, Ultra Preset |
| Just Cause 2 | DX10 at 1,920x1,080 | 8xMSAA, High Preset |
| Total War: Rome II | DX11 at 1,920x1,080 and 3,840x2,160 | Ultra Preset |
| General Benchmarks | Description | |
| Power Consumption | To emulate real-world usage scenarios, we record mains power draw both when idle and while playing Far Cry 3 | |
| Temperature | To emulate real-world usage scenarios, we record GPU core temperature both when idle and while playing Far Cry 3 | |
| Noise | A PCE-318 meter is used to record noise levels when idle and while playing Far Cry 3 | |
Test Notes
Despite our best protestations, AMD sent us a slightly overclocked Sapphire Radeon R9 285 GPU, running up to 47MHz higher on the core and 100MHz on the memory. We wanted clean numbers on the latest drivers - beta or otherwise - so re-ran a stock-clocked Radeon R9 280 and GeForce GTX 760 at a 1080p resolution with image settings close to maximum.
We also tested a trio of games at 4K, albeit by dropping the AA quotient to 0x, to see if these £150-£175 could handle the ultra-high resolution at playable framerates.
