The R7 250X is an old card with a fresh paint job, and that’s okay.
Aimed squarely at gamers looking for low-cost 1080p performance, the $99 R7 250X is a capable card, especially when you factor in the sub-$100 price point. The already low price should go down even further with manufacturer rebates and hardware sales.
The 250X packs 640 stream processors, coupled with up to 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, and a 1 GHz operating frequency. You’re also sure to see vendors upping the speed, if only a tad, with overclocked versions of the 250X. With a 95W TDP, a 6-pi PCI Express connector will be required.
If these specs are causing you to have a case of GPU déjà vu, it’s because they’ve been seen in an AMD GPU before. The 250X is a rebadged Radeon 7770 GHz Edition, albeit at a lower introductory price (the 7770 GHz is also around $100, although it launched at $159). Rebadging isn’t all doom and gloom, especially if it’s bringing the price down on already capable hardware. And with both the R7 Series and the older 7000 series supporting AMD’s new Mantle API , you’re set as a current 7000 series owner, or a prospective R7 buyer.
The R7 250X is likely worth a look if you’re currently running an older low-end GPU, like a cheaper 6000 or 5000 series Radeon.
Published: Feb 11, 2014 09:45 pm