AMD's R7 250 has had a boring life due to its relative uselessness when compared against slightly more expensive, significantly more powerful cards (see: GTX 650 Ti Boost, AMD 7850). AMD just announced their $100 R7 250X -- a step below the 260 (which is GCN 1.1-enabled and offers TrueAudio) and above the R7 250. It is equivalent to the Radeon 7770 in all aspects other than memory -- for which we are still awaiting information.
The new Radeon R7 250X runs on a GCN 1.0 Cape Verde GPU, meaning it lacks TrueAudio support (along with better CU optimization). It will likely ship with 1GB and 2GB SKUs in a GDDR5 configuration, though there is a possibility that AMD could ship the 2GB model in DDR3 configurations.
The new 250X will compete most directly vs. the already-uninteresting GTX 650, where gamers will see a slight FPS advantage in favor of the 250X at roughly the same price. For what it's worth, we're also expecting an nVidia GTX 750 Ti launch on February 18th.
AMD Radeon R7 250X Specs & Benchmark
| AMD R7 260 | AMD R7 250X | AMD R7 250 | |
| Stream Processors | 768 | ||
| Core CLK | 1000 MHz | 1000 MHz | 1000 MHz |
| ROPs | 16 | 16 | 8 |
| Texture Units | 48 | 40 | 24 |
| Memory Config | 6GHz GDDR5 1GB 128-bit | 4.5GHz GDDR5 1GB / 2GB 128-bit | 4.6GHz GDDR5 1GB 128-bit |
| Architecture | GCN 1.1 | GCN 1.0 | GCN 1.0 |
| TDP | 95W | 95W | 65W |
| Release Date | 1/14/14 | 2/10/14 | 10/11/13 |
| MSRP | $110 | $100 | $90 |
Again, it's the same GPU as the 7770. There's nothing innovative here.
I'll post the FutureMark rankings, since we never ran official benchmarks on the Radeon 7770. Other sites have tested it in full.
Our Thoughts: Generally Inadvisable Unless on an Extreme Budget
Unless you're trying to build an ultra-budget HTPC or lightweight gaming PC (see our 'Cheap Bastard's' PC build guides), we generally are quick to encourage purchasing a $130-$150 GPU instead. The performance advantage is massive and will be the difference of 1080p on low/medium and 1080p on medium/high. Always worth it for our gaming-targeted readership. That said, it's all right in strictly low-end, money-conscious builds.
Let us know if you require any assistance in selecting a video card for your gaming PC build!
- Steve "Lelldorianx" Burke.