AMD Radeon R7 200 Series: specs, reviews

Today we will talk about a number of AMD Radeon R7 200 series video cards. It will be about four representatives: 260, 250 and 240 series. Despite the fact that there are several separately taken options, the difference between them is not so great. All the most notable differences we will definitely point out and consider, so you do not have to think twice about what to buy.

Price

Let's start right away with the price category of these cards. Notwithstanding that they are all high-performance graphics processors and allow easy processing of large data streams, they are in the so-called economy sector. On average, you will have to pay up to 10,000 rubles for such a card, depending on the particular model and store, which can not but rejoice.

Although modern games are created exclusively for the newest video cards, and ultra-settings work only on video processors from 50,000 rubles, this does not mean that cheap cards can not replace them. The fact is that AMD Radeon R7 200 series reviews from users receive extremely positive, and therefore, are in high demand.

Characteristics

Let's start with the most common characteristics of AMD Radeon R7 200 series video cards. All of them are made by the process technology, which determines the crystal size 28 nm. The value is not too high, compared to other video cards, could be better. In another case, this would cause the card to overheat, but two built-in cooling coolers nullify this design flaw in the AMD Radeon R7 200 series. Photos in the article is clearly demonstrated. The only drawback is that you will have to clean the cooling system more often.

AMD Radeon R7 200 series, whose characteristics we are considering, are connected via PCI-E x16 interface version 3.0. It's quite standard, but it's much better than AGP. When buying just pay attention to this nuance.

Monitor

As for the output of the information on the screen, then the AMD Radeon R7 200 series driver gives the heat. If in 240 series the video card supports only two monitors, then in all subsequent there are several possibilities.

• If you use DVI and HDMI connectors, you can connect up to 3 screens.
• With the DisplayPort connector, their number increases to four.
• When using the MST, you can connect as many as 6 monitors.

At the same time, these video cards support the resolution of 4096x2160. These video cards are suitable for both conventional and widescreen screens. Thus, video cards are capable of supporting multi-monitor systems, and the software supplied with them will help the user with the implementation of the intended.

TTX

Let's now talk about the technical component of the AMD Radeon R7 200 series. The characteristics of these video cards are such that they are capable of supporting the performance of the most modern and demanding games without much effort. The exception is AMD Radeon R7 240. But it was released long ago.

For example, the frequency of the graphics processor, which largely determines the performance of the video card, fluctuates around 1 GHz and can vary depending on the manufacturer. At the same time in 240 models this value is approximately 800 MHz.

The memory of the video card has the formats GDDR5 and DDR3. But if old models use only out-of-date memory, then the new ones (260 series) contain exclusively modern technology.

The amount of video memory can also vary significantly within a single model. It also depends entirely on the manufacturer. However, despite all the efforts, you can not find the AMD Radeon R7 200 series video card, the characteristics of which contain memory more than 2 gigabytes. But this is not necessary if you are interested in modern games and the requirements for them.

Based on the memory format, the bandwidth of the AMD Radeon R7 200 series also follows. The characteristics that we get at the output, as well as possible demonstrate the working capabilities of these video cards:

• 250 and 240 series have a bandwidth of up to 72 GB / s;
• 260, 260x and 265 provide a data transfer rate of 96/104/180 GB / s, respectively.

As you can see, with many other equal parameters only the newest models win. However, with an average price of 7700 rubles, buying this video card to upgrade your PC will not be a big problem.

Computing process

Having reviewed the general data available to the buyer on the price tag in the store, we move on to more accurate figures. The characteristics of AMD Radeon R7 200 series will allow us to say exactly which of these video cards is better than the rest.

We start with the number of universal processors. With their help, the color and shape of objects displayed on the screen are calculated. As you understand, the speed of the card as a whole depends on this parameter. And here we can safely say that the 240 model lags far behind its counterparts in the series.

• AMD Radeon R7 240 has only 5 computational units, and this is 320 processors.
• AMD Radeon R7 250 contains 8 blocks, and 250x - already 14.
• The AMD Radeon R7 260 has 12 blocks, 260x has 14, but the 265 model contains as many as 16 computing devices. Explanations here it is not even required.

Additionally

Undoubtedly, the technical characteristics of the AMD Radeon R7 200 series are very important. What technologies a modern video card can support, determines its functionality and utility for the user.

The video cards in this series feel confident when working with Direct X 12.0 and with Open CL 1.2. In addition, they perfectly interact with Open GL 4.3. And CrossFire technology has long ceased to amaze and is also perfectly supported by these cards. What are the differences then?

1. The first stumbling block is AMD TrueAudio. This technology was created to maintain a better sound. But only not all games use it, as not all equipment can support it. Of all the cards presented, this technology only supports 260 and 260x.
2. Also, the VCE decoder responsible for HD video can be a problem. It is supported only in cards from 250x and higher.

Reviews

Finally, consider the AMD Radeon R7 200 series customer reviews. The opinions of users on the account of video cards of this model are completely unambiguous. The majority of buyers are satisfied with the functionality received for the invested money.

Of the pluses, silence and low temperature are noted, despite the technological problems, which we mentioned. But from the shortcomings of many customers indicate problems with installed software and drivers. In addition, in idle mode on the desktop can hang and give out a blue screen.

In general, you get decent enough video chips for affordable money, which fully pay off. But, based on the shortcomings, users recommend adding money and buying a card better, or, conversely, taking GeForce, which are cheaper and have worse performance, but still have the best efficiency.

If you unequivocally decided to purchase a video card from this series, without fail save the check from the purchase. Most likely, it is useful to you to return the purchase back to the store in about six months of use. AMD has turned out, to everyone's surprise, an unfinished card with inflated expectations, which are not justified.