XFX R9 280 Black Edition OC Review @ Vortez

Aside from a very small boost in clockspeed (reference) and a redesigned cooler, the R9-280 is near identical to the HD7950 refreshed 'boost' edition. Not that this is a bad thing of course because when we tested the HD7950 we were thoroughly impressed. Time has since moved on but with a few driver tweaks and XFX's own speed boosts being that our review sample is the 'Black Edition OC' we hope to see some good figures.

Ignoring the obvious rebadge, the new card does boast some new modern updates to wring even everything it can from its chips.  Making solid use of beefed up cooling componants, with monster heat spreaders and piping resting underneath dual fans, along with a factory overclock on the Tahiti GPU and memory that takes it close to the limits of the hardware to earn it's membership as a Black-edition card.  This could be one seriously scrappy underdog contender for value buyers.

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