When I had the chance to check out the R9 270X Toxic from Sapphire at its launch I was completely blown away at both its performance and styling. Sapphire had obviously put a lot of time and effort reinventing their image, designs, and really stepped it up the performance. When given the chance to check out the R9 280X Toxic, I didn’t even have to think about it. I couldn’t wait to see if Sapphire could do the same with the R9 280X that impressed me so much with the R9 270X. Today is the day, lets dig in and see what it’s all about.
Product Name: Sapphire R9 280X Toxic
Review Sample Provided by: Sapphire
Written by: Wes
Pictures by: Wes
Specifications |
|
GPU |
AMD Radeon R9 280X |
GPU Clock |
1100 MHz/1150 MHz Boost |
Memory Clock |
6400 MHz |
Memory Size |
GDDR5 3GB |
Bus Type |
PCI Express 3.0 |
Memory Bus |
384-bit |
Stream Processors |
2,048 |
DirectX 11 |
Yes |
DVI Port |
DVI-I / DVI-D |
Power Connections |
2 x 8 pin |
DisplayPort |
Yes x2 Mini-DisplayPort |
HDMI |
Yes x1 |
HDCP |
Yes |
Cooling System |
SAPPHIRE Tri-X Cooling Technology |
Backplate |
Yes |
Dimensions |
308(L)X113(W)X41(H) mm Size. 2.2 x slot |
Accessories included |
CrossFire™ Bridge Interconnect Cable Mini-DP to DP Cable 8-PIN to 4 PIN x2 Power Cable HDMI 1.4a high speed 1.8 meter cable(Full Retail SKU only) |
Packaging
The R9 280X Toxic has the same packaging design as the R9 270X Toxic that I was impressed with. Along with all of the other changes, Sapphire changed their packaging design to reflect the new direction and with the Toxic the trim colors also match the product line as well. The metallic front picture is eye catching along with the orange trim. The model of the card is up in the top right corner while the rest of the cards features (memory size, overclocked, ect) is along the bottom. The back of the packaging has a little more information about the card but you won’t find anything beyond more in depth explanations of what was already listed on the front page. They do have a photo of the actual card you will get, this is a nice, a lot of times you won’t get this so they can use the same packaging for multiple cards.
Inside the card is wrapped up in a padded static protective bag and then completely enclosed in even more padding. There is no way you are going to damage this card while it is inside the packaging. Along with the card itself you do get a few other things in the box. You get your driver installation CD, a quick installation guide, and an invite to register your card. For accessories Sapphire always goes over the top. You get two double Molex to 8-pin adapters, a crossfire bridge, and a mini DisplayPort to full sized DisplayPort adapter. They also include a free HDMI cable as well saving you a few bucks if you shop at Monoprice and much more if you would normally get your cable at a retail store. My only complaint here at all is they still use that same ugly crossfire bridge like everyone else. I hope soon we start to see more black bridges or something that might look better in a custom build.
Card Layout and Photos
In most ways, if I were to put the R9 270X Toxic next to the R9 280X Toxic you would hardly be able to tell the difference between the two. On some cards that might be an insult, but considering how good looking the Toxic cards look, I would call it a complement. These are some of the best looking cards on the market without a doubt. If I would have told you last year that Sapphire would bring out something like this, I doubt you would believe me. Sapphire went all out on the cooling design of the R9 280X Toxic, starting with a triple fan design. Two of the fans are larger than the third (two 90’s and an 80mm), but the third fan is trimmed in a bright orange that really catches your eye. The cooling starts with 5 heatpipes that pull the heat off of the GPU and up over two heatsinks that cover the length of the card and some. Each heatsink is a vertical fin design meaning the air is pushed down towards the PCB the opposite of what a reference card would do (reference cards push across the card towards the read of your case).
Sapphire didn’t just toss on a bright orange heatsink and call it a day. They went to work on the power circuitry on the R9 280X Toxic. They bumped it up to 10 phase power with 8 power phases for the GPU and two for the memory/IO. This is different than the 5+2 configuration you would see on a stock setup. This allowed them to give the R9 280X Toxic a higher overclock than you would see on most cards as well. To give you an idea the R9 280X reference card has a core clock of 850 MHz and the heavily overclocked Asus card that I took a look at previously has a base clock of 970MHz. The Toxic has a base clock of 1100MHz, coming in WELL above the stock speeds as well as the other cards on the market. I think we can safely say that this is going to be a fast card, the question now is just how fast.
With all of that airflow it will have to go somewhere. The fan shroud does go nearly to the rear PCI slot so some of the air will go out the back of the case. But a good portion of it will take the much easier routes out the top bottom and even the inside end of the card. That means a good portion of the heat the R9 280X Toxic creates will go inside of your case. This isn’t a big deal with most modern PC cases, in fact in a lot of cases it is expected. But plan for it or you might end up turning your PC into a small oven. It’s also important to note that both the top and bottom of the card have that same Sapphire logo but the top logo is backlit and glows an off orange color when the card is powered up. Although the color isn’t perfect, it does look great with the orange styling of the Toxic’s triple cooler.
For power Sapphire upped the power connections from the 6 and 8 pin pair to a double 8-pin pair on the Toxic. Right next to the two power connections they also put a transparent orange panel that wasn’t on our 270X Toxic. Also along the top you will also find two Crossfire bridge connections as well. Right next to the Crossfire bridge connections you have a small push button with a sapphire logo on it. This buttons switches you a UEFI BIOS and when it is on the Sapphire logo lights up blue.
Of all of the features of the R9 280X Toxic, the one that stands out to me the most is the use of the backplate. Every time I see a card with a backplate I feel like they have a higher quality. But in this case they did even more. The upside down Sapphire logo and the striping really draw your attention to the card when it is installed in a computer. From there you will catch the cutout for each of the small heatsinks. It brings the whole card together both in quality and style.
On the end of the R9 280X Toxic you have a little different configuration for connections for once. You still get the two dual link DVI connections as well as the full sized HDMI. But rather than give you a single full sized DisplayPort connection Sapphire slipped in a double mini-DisplayPort connection. Normally I wouldn’t like this, but they did include an adapter to get you a single full sized DisplayPort if you need it so more power to them!
Our Test Rig and Procedures
Our Test Rig |
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CPU |
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Memory |
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Motherboard |
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Cooling |
|
Power Supply |
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Storage |
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Case |
Our Testing Procedures |
|
Bioshock Infinite |
Using the Adrenaline Action Benchmark Tool we run Bioshock Infinite on the “Xtreme” quality setting. This has a resolution of 1920x1080, FXAA turned on, Ultra Texture detail, 16x Aniso Texture Filtering, Ultra Dynamic Shadows, Normal Postprocessing, Light Shafts on, Ambient Occlusion set to ultra, and the Level of Detail set to Ultra as well. |
Tomb Raider |
Using the Adrenaline Action Benchmark Tool we run Tomb Raider on the “Xtreme” quality setting. This has a resolution of 1920x1080, Exclusive Fullscreen turned on, Anti-Aliasing set to 2xSSAA, Texture Quality set to Ultra, Texture Aniso set to 16x Aniso, Hair Quality set to TressFX, Shadow set to Normal, Shadow Resolution on High, Ultra SSAO, Ultra Depth of Field, High Reflection quality, Ultra LOD scale, Post Processing On, High Precision RT turned on, and Tessellation is also turned on. |
Hitman: Absolution |
Using the Adrenaline Action Benchmark Tool we run Hitman: Absolution on the “Xtreme” quality setting other than the MSAA setting is turned down from 8x to 2x. That setting puts the resolution at 1920x1080, MSAA is set to 2x, Texture Quality is set to High, Texture Aniso is set to 16x, Shadows are on Ultra, SSA is set to high, Global Illumination is turned on, Reflections are set to High, FXAA is on, Level of Detail is set to Ultra, Depth of Field is high, Tessellation is turned on, and Bloom is set to normal. |
Sleeping Dogs |
Using the Adrenaline Action Benchmark Tool we run Sleeping Dogs on the “Xtreme” quality setting. That means our resolution is set to 1920x1080, Anti-Aliasing is set to Extreme, Texture Quality is set to High-Res, Shadow Quality is High, Shadow Filter is set to high, SSAO is set to High, Motion Blur Level is set to High, and World Density is set to Extreme. |
F1 2012 |
We use the built in benchmark for F1 2012. We set our resolution to 1920x1080 and then use the “Ultra” setting. |
Total War: Shogun 2 |
Direct X11 Benchmark High setting |
Crysis 2 |
Using Adrenaline Crysis 2 benchmark. 1080p, 4x Anti-Aliasing, DX11, Laplace Edge Detection Edge AA, on the Times Square map, with hi res textures turned on. |
Battlefield 3 |
Using Fraps with the game set to Ultra settings with 4x MSAA Antialiasing Deferred, 16X Anisotropic Filter, at 1920x1080. |
Sniper V2 Elite |
1920 x 1080 resolution, graphics detail set to ultra |
Dirt Showdown |
1920 x 1080 resolution, 4x MSAA multisampling, Vsync off, Shadows: ultra; Post Process: High; Night Lighting: High; Vehicle Reflections: Ultra; Ambient Occlusion: Ultra; Water: high; Objects: Ultra; Trees: Ultra; Crowd: Ultra; Ground Cover: High. |
Metro Last Light |
Using the included benchmark tool. The settings are set to 1920x1080, DirectX 11, quality is set to very high, Texture filtering is untouched at 4x, and motion blue is set to normal. SSAA is unselected, PhysX is unselected, Tessellation is off. We run through scene D6 three times to get an average score. |
Synthetic Benchmarks |
For video cards our synthetic benchmarks are limited to 3DMark Vantage 2011, and 3DMark 2013 (AKA 3DMark). In 3DMark Vantage 2011 we run both performance and extreme benchmarks. The same goes for the most current version of 3DMark, we run through Fire Strike on standard and extreme settings. |
Unreal Heaven Benchmark 4.0 |
Using the “Extreme” preset |
Unreal Heaven Benchmark 4.0 heat testing |
We run through Unreal Heaven at 1080p for 30 minutes to test in game heat performance and noise output of the card while under load. |
Power Usage |
Using Unreal Heaven Benchmark 4.0, we get our “load” power usage number from the peak power usage during our test. We get our numbers from a Kill-A-Watt connected to the test benches power cord. |
Noise Testing |
Our Noise testing is done using a decibel meter 3 inches away from the video card on the bottom/fan side of the card. We test an idle noise level and then to get an idea of how loud the card will get if it warms all the way up we also turn the fan speed up to 100% and test again. The 100% test isn’t a representation of typical in game noise levels, but it will show you how loud a card can be if you run it at its highest setting or if it gets very hot. |
Cooling, Noise, and Power
For the most part, a lot of our benchmarks will come down to the clock speed when comparing similar cards. But when it comes to testing Cooling, Noise, and Power this isn’t always the case. You see, even if two R9 280X’s had the same exact cooling performance how much heat they generate will change the end results. The same goes for noise testing as well, they may cool the same but different design can be more or less noisy. So a lot of times this section of benchmarks can be the most interesting to me. Starting with the R9 280X Toxic’s power consumption things looked normal on the idle side. But when put under load the card pulled a whopping 475 watts, 20 watts more than the overclocked 280X from Asus. That puts the Toxic’s power draw up over the GTX 780 and just under the GTX 780Ti.
For noise testing, I expected the results to be close to the 270X considering their similarities. As expected the R9 280X was within .3 decibels of its brother. This was enough of a difference to drop it down a few spots lower though, but keeping it in line with most of the other triple fan designs.
When it came to cooling, the R9 280X did generate more heat than the R270X Toxic. This showed with a bump of 6 degrees. This put it up above the Asus 280X as well, but keeping in mind the additional overclock that the Toxic has I don’t think that is a big shock. At 65 degrees the R9 280X Toxic is still a very cool running card.
Synthetic Benchmarks
With such a substantial overclock even up over top of the overclocked Asus R9 280X that I took a look at previously. I expected the R9 280X Toxic to perform well. What did surprise me was how well the card performed compared to the GTX 780. In 3DMark Fire Strike the Toxic was within 16 points of the GTX 780. In the Extreme run the two cards aren’t as close together in performance though. In 3DMark 11 and Heaven benchmark the results aren’t as close together and in some cases the performance was closer to the GTX 770. Compared to the other overclocked R9 280X the Toxic was noticeably ahead in each one of the tests as well.
In Game Benchmarks
Synthetic benchmarks are great and all, but the reason we all want a fast video card isn’t to see who’s card is faster in benchmarks. We get them to play games. I ran the Sapphire R9 280X through our in game benchmark suite to see how it would perform in a variety of games to give you a better idea of your in game experience. In all of our games the settings are turned all the way up including AA in most cases and running at 1920x1080. Out of the 11 games tested, nine of the games had an average FPS of over 60 and in most of those cases the average was considerably higher. That means the R9 280X Toxic isn’t going to give you any issues in any of those games. Of the two that came in below 60, they were both still in the 50’s. That is an impressive number considering the settings that each game in running at. Even the two games running below 60 FPS should still run very smoothly. Because we haven’t tested an R9 290X to date, this actually makes the Sapphire R9 280X Toxic the fastest AMD card we have tested. You can see this in Hitman: Absolution, a game that favors AMD cards, where the Sapphire card sits at the top of our results!
Overclocking
Frankly with the Toxic, the overclock that comes with the card is better than I would expect to run on most cards. So the way I looked at getting even more out of the Toxic is everything else is a bonus. Even still I went into this like any other card, starting with the GPU overclock and then going into the memory overclock. With the GPU overclock I started at 1200MHz and had good luck. After that my next run at 1300MHz failed meaning our end result would be in between the two. In the end I was only able to get 1225MHz, a respectable number but it does make it obvious that Sapphire had already pushed the card fairly far. This is the exact same number that I got out of the Asus 280X as well.
Memory overclocking didn’t go as smoothly. I started at 1800MHz and struggled to get past that at all. In the end I was able to edge in 1825MHz. That ends up being a clock speed of 7300MHz but that is still a tad lower than the Asus card. I did run the memory overclock together with the GPU clock from before with no crashes or issues.
GPU Clock Speed Overclocking |
|||
GPU Clock Speed |
Pass/Fail |
FPS Result |
Notes |
1200MHz |
Pass |
60.71 |
|
1300MHz |
Fail |
N/A |
Lockup |
1225MHz |
Pass |
61.84 |
|
1250MHz |
Fail |
N/A |
Lockup |
1235MHz |
Fail |
N/A |
Lockup |
Memory Clock Offset Overclocking |
|||
Memory Clock Speed |
Pass/Fail |
FPS Result |
Notes |
1800MHz |
Pass |
58.98 |
|
2000MHz |
Fail |
N/A |
Blank Screen |
1900MHz |
Fail |
N/A |
Blank Screen |
1850MHz |
Fail |
N/A |
Blank Screen |
1825MHz |
Pass |
58.97 |
|
Combined GPU and Memory overclocks together |
|||
GPU Clock Speed |
Memory Clock Speed |
FPS Result |
Notes |
1225MHz |
1825MHz |
62.55 |
Overall and Final Verdict
It’s interesting, I had already taken a look at one overclocked R9 280X and I have tested the Sapphire R9 270X Toxic as well. But somehow combining the two still managed to impress me in a lot of ways. Obviously Sapphire used the same cooler as the other Toxic card that we reviewed. Once again I am a huge fan of the design, both its performance and styling. The bright orange highlights and backlit Sapphire logo are worlds above what Sapphire has done in the past and is on par with the best coolers on the market not. My only complaint was with the noise it makes at 100% fan speed, but frankly that is expected with a triple fan design and it won’t be an issue much because it runs cool.
The huge overclock that the R9 280X Toxic came with dominated in our performance testing but did leave very little room when it came to overclocking the card more. The best part of the card though has to be the slick looking backplate that Sapphire includes on the Toxic cards. Not only does it protect the back of the card and make it more rigid, but it also looks great with the Sapphire logo flipped to be readable when installed in your PC. You are paying a nice premium for the Toxic over other 280X’s but you can’t argue that Sapphire packed as much performance and style into the Toxic as they could for your money.