ASUS Radeon R9 280X DirectCU II TOP 3GB Overclocked Video Card Review

It's been a while since we've looked at an ASUS video card, but we get stuck back into it today with the OC-friendly R9 280X DirectCU II TOP 3GB.

Published
Updated
Manufacturer: ASUS
19 minutes & 23 seconds read time

Introduction and Package

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We've really been impressed with what AMD has done with the new R series of video cards. It's not just the performance of the new models, but the price the company has hit at with them and just the general amount of features that are being brought to the table. And while Mantle, one of the major ones isn't being taken full advantage of yet, we look forward to game releases in the next 6 - 12 months to likely show us what these video cards are really capable of with next generation games.

While we've looked at a ton of new models and variations from a number of companies, there's a company that we haven't seen for a while when it comes to video cards. That is of course ASUS and we're so glad to see something from them under the Direct CU II TOP name, a series that has always impressed us with some strong overclocking performance and fantastic cooling numbers.

Due to the fact that we've already taken a look at a number of R series cards already and ASUS always having a strong name when it comes to cooling performance, we've decided to go down the overclocking path today with the ASUS R9 280X DirectCU II TOP 3GB OC.

Before we cover the overclocking side of things, though, the first thing we need to do is take a closer look at the card itself. Let's start off with the bundle and see just what ASUS is doing these days, before we take a closer look at the card to see just what this latest ASUS model is all about.

Package

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Taking a look at the box, you can see we've really got a ton of information being shown. The front of the box gives us some of the main details including the model, amount of RAM and some of the core features including DIGI VRM Super Alloy Power.

Turning over we get a broader explanation on the DirectCU II cooler, DIGI+ VRM technology and GPU Tweak overclocking software. We also get our first look at the card and the connectivity that is offered.

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Moving inside the bundle, you can see not much is going on at all. We can see just a driver CD and a manual is included. Also included as far as we can tell, but not seen here is a CrossFire bridge. The reason for not having it here could be due to the fact we got the sample a little early. Looking at the Newegg website, though, it looks like one does come with the card.

The Card and Specifications

The Card

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We straight away appreciate the black on black color scheme. We always love when companies opt for a black PCB as it does look great, especially when pitted up against a black PCB motherboard.

Taking a look at the cooler, it takes up most of the card, with it even shooting over the end of the card. There are three heat pipes coming out the bottom of the card, along with another coming out the top. Like most higher-end coolers these days, there is a dual fan setup.

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Power comes in the form of a single 8-pin and 6-pin PCIe power connector. Continuing across the top of the card and moving closer to the front, there is a pair of CrossFire connectors in the event you want to throw more than one card into the mix.

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Finishing up our look at the card, we head over to the I/O. Here you can see we've got two DVI ports, one in the form of a DVI-D and the other in the form of DVI-I. Along with those two ports, you can see we've also got a HDMI and DisplayPort connector to round things off.

Specifications

Being a video card that carries the TOP label of course means that out of the box ASUS has overclocked the card. Looking below, you can see out of the box the ASUS R9 280X DirectCU II TOP 3GB comes with a core clock of 1070MHz, while the 3GB of GDDR5 comes in at 6400MHz QDR. While the memory remains the same as a stock model, you can see that the core clock has been increased by 70MHz over the default 1000MHz.

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Today, though, we wanted to see just how much performance we could get out of the ASUS R9 280X DirectCU II TOP. Firing up our overclocking software, you can see above that we managed to push the core up to 1225MHz, while the 3GB of GDDR5 was pushed to 6800MHz QDR.

While the memory clock isn't huge, the core clock is strong and that is what generally brings the biggest performance gains.

Benchmarks - Test System Setup

We would like to thank the following companies for supplying and supporting us with our test system hardware and equipment: Intel, ASUS and Corsair.

We've got an absolute ton of cards in our graphs here today starting off with our ASUS R9 280X DirectCU II TOP that we've overclocked to 1225MHz on the core and 6800MHz QDR on the 3GB of GDDR5 RAM.

Along with that, we've got from the AMD side, including the AMD HD 7970 GHz Edition, Sapphire R9 280X 3GB TOXIC, reference R9 290 and 290X (in Quiet and Uber modes). Finally we finish up the AMD side with the MSI R9 280X Twin Frozr Gaming OC in CrossFire.

If that wasn't enough cards we've also got a number of NVIDIA models including the GTX 770 2GB, the heavily overclocked MSI GTX 780 Lightning 3GB and EVGA GTX TITAN 6GB SuperClocked to round things off.

The FPS Numbers Explained

When we benchmark our video cards and look at the graphs, we aim to get to a certain level of FPS which we consider playable. While many may argue that the human eye can't see over 24 FPS or 30 FPS, any true gamer will tell you that as we climb higher in Frames Per Seconds (FPS), the overall gameplay feels smoother. There are three numbers we're looking out for when it comes to our benchmarks.

30 FPS - It's the minimum number we aim for when it comes to games. If you're not dropping below 30 FPS during games, you're going to have a nice and smooth gaming experience. The ideal situation is that even in a heavy fire fight, the minimum stays above 30 FPS making sure that you can continue to aim easily or turn the corner with no dramas.

60 FPS - It's the average we look for when we don't have a minimum coming at us. If we're getting an average of 60 FPS, we should have a minimum of 30 FPS or better and as mentioned above, it means we've got some smooth game play happening.

120 FPS - The new number that we've been hunting down over recent months. If you're the owner of a 120 Hz monitor, to get the most out of it you want to get around the 120 FPS mark. Moving from 60 FPS / 60 Hz to 120 FPS / 120 Hz brings with it a certain fluidity that can't really be explained, but instead has to be experienced. Of course, if you're buying a 120 Hz monitor to take advantage of 3D, an average of 120 FPS in our benchmark means that in 3D you will have an average of 60 FPS, which again means you should expect some smooth gameplay.

Why are some graphs incomplete?

Adding new game benchmarks is a long, tedious and time consuming task as every video card has to be re-tested in those new benchmarks. Because of that reason we have always just evaluated our benchmark line up every six months. To stay up to date and current with the latest benchmarks and games available, we've changed our approach to adding new benchmarks.

Our benchmark line up will progress and be updated as newer more intensive games with benchmarks comes to light. While this will mean that initially you may only see a single video card in those particular graphs, as the weeks go on and we test more and more video cards, the results will grow quickly. This will help keep our benchmark line up as up to date as possible as we introduce and remove games on a constant basis.

Benchmarks - 3DMark 11

3DMark 11

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.1

Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com

Product Homepage: http://www.3dmark.com/3dmark11/

Buy It Here

3DMark 11 is the latest version of the world's most popular benchmark. Designed to measure your PC's gaming performance 3DMark 11 makes extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading. Trusted by gamers worldwide to give accurate and unbiased results, 3DMark 11 is the best way to consistently and reliably test DirectX 11 under game-like loads.

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Starting off with 3DMark 11, you can see some excellent performance here with the overclock we've achieved. We've got a good boost over the strongly overclocked TOXIC.

Let's move on and see if the strong performance continues.

Benchmarks - 3DMark Fire Strike

3DMark Fire Strike

Version and / or Patch Used: 1

Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com

Product Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com/benchmarks/3dmark

Buy It Here

Fire Strike is our new showcase DirectX 11 benchmark designed for high-performance gaming PCs. It is our most ambitious and technical benchmark ever, featuring real-time graphics rendered with detail and complexity far beyond what is found in other benchmarks and games today. Fire Strike will only be available in the Windows editions of 3DMark initially.

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Looking at 3DMark Fire Strike, you can see we've got some fantastic performance numbers here that really start drawing us closer to the reference R9 290 4GB.

Benchmarks - Unigine Heaven Benchmark

Unigine Heaven Benchmark

Version and / or Patch Used: 3

Developer Homepage: http://www.unigine.com

Product Homepage: http://unigine.com/press-releases/091022-heaven_benchmark//

New benchmark grants the power to unleash the DirectX 11 potential in the gift wrapping of impressively towering graphics capabilities. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. With the interactive mode emerging experience of exploring the intricate world is ensured within reach. Through its advanced renderer, Unigine is one of the first to set precedence in showcasing the art assets with tessellation, bringing compelling visual finesse, utilizing the technology to the full extend and exhibiting the possibilities of enriching 3D gaming.

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Looking at Heaven, you can see the strong performance gains continue. Above you can again see that with our R9 280X heavily overclocked, we really manage to gain some traction on the more expensive R9 290 and its larger 4GB of GDDR5.

Benchmarks - Phantasy Star Online 2

Phantasy Star Online 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.sega.com/?t=EnglishUSA

Product Homepage: http://www.pso2.com/us/html/index.html

Play Phantasy Star Online 2 and experience revolutionary combat in an action-driven, free-to-play multiplayer online RPG from SEGA. Take a journey into an immersive sci-fi fantasy narrative and explore mysterious worlds to unravel their secrets. Join fellow adventurers and fight against the legions of darkness to banish them from the galaxy.

Score explanation: Less than 2000: Please adjust your game settings because the processing load is quite heavy.

2000 through 5000: The game runs fine at the setting, if you have room, you can adjust some settings.

5001+: The game works wonderfully at this setting.

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PSO2 was already seeing some great numbers, but above you can see overclocked we manage to get a nice little boost and gain even better numbers.

Benchmarks - Lost Planet 2

Lost Planet 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark - Test A Scene 1

Developer Homepage: http://www.capcom.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.lostplanet2game.com/

Lost Planet 2 is a third-person shooter video game developed and published by Capcom. The game is the sequel to Lost Planet: Extreme Condition which is also made by Capcom, taking place ten years after the events of the first game, on the same fictional planet. The story takes place back on E.D.N. III 10 years after the events of the first game. The snow has melted to reveal jungles and more tropical areas that have taken the place of more frozen regions. The plot begins with Mercenaries fighting against Jungle Pirates. After destroying a mine, the Mercenaries continue on to evacuate the area, in which a Category-G Akrid appears and attacks them. After being rescued, they find out their evacuation point (Where the Category-G appeared) was a set-up and no pick up team awaited them. The last words imply possible DLC additions to the game, "There's nothing to be gained by wiping out snow pirates... unless you had some kind of grudge."

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Lost Planet 2 numbers are great across the board with playable FPS being seen at all resolutions. Compared to the other setups here, you can see that we're right behind the higher-end R9 290 with 4GB of GDDR5.

Benchmarks - Just Cause 2

Just Cause 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Dark Tower

Developer Homepage: http://www.eidos.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.justcause.com/

Just Cause 2 employs the Avalanche Engine 2.0, an updated version of the engine used in Just Cause. The game is set on the other side of the world from the original Just Cause, on the fictional island of Panau in Southeast Asia. Panau has varied terrain, from desert to alpine to rainforest. Rico Rodriguez returns as the protagonist, aiming to overthrow the evil dictator Pandak "Baby" Panay and confront his former mentor, Tom Sheldon.

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Even though out of the box the Sapphire R9 280X 3GB TOXIC is heavily overclocked and performs extremely well, you can see with the strong overclock we've achieved on the ASUS card, the performance is even stronger, and in this case, it manages to even sneak out ahead of the R9 290 4GB at the highest resolution.

Benchmarks - F1 2012

F1 2012

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com/uk/

Product Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com

In F1 2012 players will feel the unparalleled thrill of becoming a FORMULA ONE driver with a host of new features, wide-ranging technical and gameplay advancements and extensive competitive and co-operative multiplayer components. F1 2012 will feature all of the official teams, drivers and circuits from the 2012 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, including the debut of the 2012 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX at Austin, Texas and the return of Germany's famous Hockenheim circuit to the calendar.

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F1 2012 sees some great performance again with playable numbers at all resolutions. At the lower resolutions, you can see we manage to come out ahead of the R9 290 4GB.

Moving to 2560 x 1600, though, we see that performance is pretty much inline with the R9 280X 3GB TOXIC from Sapphire, even, though, the ASUS card is overclocked a decent chunk higher.

Benchmarks - Metro Last Light

Metro Last Light

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.4a-games.com/

Product Homepage: http://enterthemetro.com/ /

Metro: Last Light takes place one year after the events of Metro 2033, proceeding from the ending where Artyom chose to call down the missile strike on the Dark Ones. The Rangers have since occupied the D6 military facility, with Artyom having become an official member of the group. Khan, the nomad mystic, arrives at D6 to inform Artyom and the Rangers that a single Dark One survived the missile strike. Khan believes the Dark One is the key to humanity's future, and wants to make peace with it, while Ranger leader Colonel Miller wants to kill the creature due to its potential threat. Miller sends Artyom to the surface with a mission to kill the Dark One; he is accompanied by Anna, Miller's sarcastic daughter and the Rangers' best sniper.

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Overclocked, you can see that we manage to get a nice little boost over the Sapphire R9 280X 3GB TOXIC. The result that really takes our attention, though, is the 1920 x 1200 which sees the Sapphire score 59 FPS and the manually overclocked ASUS one break into that all important 60 FPS range with a 62 FPS average.

Benchmarks - Dirt Showdown

Dirt Showdown

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com/uk/

Product Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com/uk/dirtshowdown/360/

DiRT Showdown is the new arcade racing game from the team that brought you the award-winning DiRT series, uncaged in 2012. Pick up and play controls combine with electrifying events, frenzied crowds and stunning graphics to deliver high octane, dive in and drive thrills from event one.

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Dirt Showdown performance is great across the board and you can see overclocking the ASUS R9 280X 3GB brings it ahead of the R9 290 4GB at all resolutions.

Benchmarks - Nexuiz

Nexuiz

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.alientrap.org/

Product Homepage: http://www.nexuiz.com/

Nexuiz is an Arena First Person shooter coming soon to consoles. Nexuiz is fast paced with extremely competitive game play. IllFonic brings Alientrap Software's Nexuiz to next-gen gaming consoles around the world while staying true to the game play refined over the years through development. IllFonic introduces a new Victorian influenced art style that is simultaneously futuristic and sophisticated. Nexuiz for consoles is powered by CryENGINE 3.

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When we tested the Sapphire R9 280X 3GB TOXIC, we had some issues with Nexuiz, so we can't compare the ASUS card against it here.

What we can see, though, is that we've got playable FPS at 1680 x 1050 thanks to the 63 FPS average. Outside of that, though, you can just see the numbers are too low.

Benchmarks - Sniper Elite V2

Sniper Elite V2

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.rebellion.co.uk/

Product Homepage: http://sniperelitev2.com/us/age.html

Sniper Elite V2 features detailed sniping simulation with advanced ballistics, taking into account gravity, wind, velocity, bullet penetration, aim stability and more. Guaranteed to provide players with the most realistic simulation of military sharpshooting yet available.

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Sniper Elite V2 sees strong numbers at all resolutions which put this OC'ed ASUS video card slightly behind the R9 290 4GB.

Most importantly, though, is the fact that we've got playable numbers at all resolutions.

Benchmarks - Sleeping Dogs

Sleeping Dogs

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://eu.square-enix.com/en

Product Homepage: http://www.sleepingdogs.net/

The core gameplay of Sleeping Dogs consists of giving the player an open world environment in which to move around freely. Sleeping Dogs is played as an over-the-shoulder, third-person perspective action-adventure game with role-playing elements. The player controls Wei Shen, a Chinese-American police officer, as he goes undercover to infiltrate the Sun On Yee Triad organization. On foot, the player character has the ability to walk, run, jump, climb over obstacles and swim, as well as use weapons and martial arts in combat. Players also drive a variety of vehicles including cars, boats, and motorcycles.

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At the lower resolution, you can see for some reason the ASUS card falls a little behind the Sapphire R9 280X 3GB TOXIC.

When we move to 2560 x 1600, though, and apply the most pressure on the card, you can see that it gets a nice boost in performance, which equates to over 5%.

Benchmarks - Hitman Absolution

Hitman Absolution

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.ioi.dk/

Product Homepage: http://hitman.com/

Hitman: Absolution is an action-adventure stealth game developed by I/O Interactive and published by Square Enix. It is the fifth entry in the Hitman game series, and runs on I/O Interactive's proprietary Glacier 2 game engine. Before release, the developers stated that Absolution would be easier to play and more accessible, while still retaining hardcore aspects of the franchise. The game was released on 20 November 2012, which is in the 47th week of the year (in reference to the protagonist, Agent 47).

[img]32[/img]

Hitman Absolution performance when overclocking is interesting with the ASUS R9 280X 3GB getting a drop in performance with our strong manual overclock.

The good news is it's not a massive drop in performance and you can see across the board it continues to have very strong performance at all resolutions, with great minimums and a strong average FPS.

Benchmarks - Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.nixxes.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.tombraider.com/us/base/agegate?refer=184&

Tomb Raider is an action-adventure platform video game. Published by Square Enix, Tomb Raider is the fifth title developed by Crystal Dynamics in the Tomb Raider franchise. As the first entry in a new Tomb Raider continuity, the game is a reboot that emphasizes the reconstructed origins of the culturally influential lead character Lara Croft. Tomb Raider was released on 5 March 2013 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows to universal critical acclaim.

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Overclocked, you can see some strong gains come from the ASUS R9 280X 3GB, which sees performance sit pretty much identical with the R9 290 4GB. This means that 1920 x 1200 and 1680 x 1050 performance is great.

While 2560 x 1600 sees a strong minimum, you can see that the average isn't quite where it needs to be.

Benchmarks - BioShock Infinite

BioShock Infinite

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://irrationalgames.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.bioshockinfinite.com

BioShock Infinite is a first-person shooter video game and the third installment in the BioShock series. Previously known as "Project Icarus", it is being developed by Irrational Games and was released worldwide on the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 platforms on March 26, 2013. BioShock Infinite is not part of the storyline of previous BioShock games but features similar gameplay concepts and themes.

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Throwing overclocking into the mix sees BioShock Infinite benefit very little, if at all. The numbers are near identical to the R9 280X 3GB TOXIC, which means we fall short of the numbers we need at 2560 x 1600.

Benchmarks - Battlefield 4

Battlefield 4

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Origin Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Custom 60 Second Run with FRAPS

Developer Homepage: http://dice.se/

Product Homepage: https://www.battlefield.com/games/battlefield-4

Battlefield 4 (also known as BF4) is an upcoming first-person shooter video game developed by EA Digital Illusions CE and published by Electronic Arts. The game is a sequel to 2011's Battlefield 3. Battlefield 4 features several changes compared to its predecessor. The game's heads-up display is much the same, composed of two compact rectangles. The lower left-hand corner features a mini-map and compass for navigation, and a simplified objective notice above it; the lower right includes a compact ammo counter and health meter. The mini-map, as well as the main game screen, shows symbols marking three kinds of entities: blue for allies, green for squadmates, and red/orange for enemies.

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Battlefield 4 is our newest benchmark and as you can see we haven't got a ton of results yet.

Looking at all resolutions, though, you can see the numbers look good with strong minimums and averages being seen at all resolutions.

Benchmarks - High Quality AA and AF

High Quality AA and AF

While we test all our games with maximum in-game settings, turning on Anti-Aliasing (AA) and Antistrophic Filtering (AF) helps take the intensity of our testing to another level.

Here we see video cards go from playable FPS to an unplayable FPS and the real power houses continue to help break that 60 FPS mark we always aim for to provide a smooth gaming experience.

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With AA and AF on, you can see that performance just isn't where it needs to be under Metro Last Light.

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Just Cause 2 sees some good numbers at both resolutions with a slight boost being seen over the Sapphire R9 280X 3GB TOXIC. More importantly, though, is the fact that we've got playable FPS at both resolutions.

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Sleeping Dogs sees a slight boost in performance, but you can see that it's note quite enough with only 54 FPS being seen at 1920 x 1200. Falling short here of course means that 2560 x 1600 isn't an option with 32 FPS being seen.

Temperature Test

The temperature of the core is pulled from MSI Afterburner with the max reading used after a completed run off 3DMark Vantage and the Performance preset.

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Looking at the temperature levels, you can see the ASUS card sitting in the top half of the graph.

73c at load isn't bad at all, especially when you consider the overclocking we achieved with it.

Sound Test

Pulling out the TES 1350A Sound Level Meter we find ourselves quickly yelling into the top of it to see how loud we can be.

After five minutes of that we get a bit more serious and place the device two CM away from the fan on the card to find the maximum noise level of the card when idle (2D mode) and in load (3D mode).

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Noise levels on the card are really strong with the card sitting in the bottom half of the pack here. Idle numbers are extremely impressive coming in at just 51.8dB.

Power Consumption Test

Using our PROVA Power Analyzer WM-01 or "Power Thingy" as it has become quickly known as to our readers, we are now able to find out what kind of power is being used by our test system and the associated video cards installed. Keep in mind; it tests the complete system (minus LCD monitor, which is plugged directly into AC wall socket).

There are a few important notes to remember though; while our maximum power is taken in 3DMark06 at the same exact point, we have seen in particular tests the power being drawn as much as 10% more. We test at the exact same stage every time; therefore tests should be very consistent and accurate.

The other thing to remember is that our test system is bare minimum - only a SSD hard drive is used with a single CD ROM and minimal cooling fans.

So while the system might draw 400 watts in our test system, placing it into your own PC with a number of other items, the draw is going to be higher.

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Coming in a bit over 450-watts at load, you can see it sits a bit above the middle of the pack. We'd recommend a quality 650 watt or higher power supply for a setup like this.

Pricing, Availability and Final Thoughts

As you'd expect, the ASUS R9 280X DirectCU II TOP 3GB video card carries with it a price premium. What you probably don't expect is for that premium to be only $10 over the standard $299.99 price tag. Hitting at $309.99, it really does hit at a slightly better price point than we expected. Normally we'd expect maybe $15 - $20 over the standard price. Sure, $5 - $10 less isn't much, but at the end of the day, it all adds up when building a PC.

Checking out the bundle, it's all very typical of most cards these days. We really don't have much going on at all. This has been a trend for a while now and we'd rather companies concentrated on the card itself and its features then some game that we probably already own or never want.

Performance is strong and the overclocking potential is excellent. Running at over 1200MHz on the core really yields some excellent performance, as we saw today. Combining the strong overclocking potential with the excellent quality of the cooler, we really do have quite a strong all round video card that ticks all the boxes.

AMD's Radeon R9 280X on a whole is an excellent model and the ASUS variation is a strong offering which brings with it some features that really help the model stand out from the pack. While the out of the box overclock isn't the strongest, fire up your favorite overclocking software, and you can find out what the R9 280X is really capable of doing.

If you're a fan of ASUS products on a whole and you're looking for a new video card that is around that $300 mark, this is a really excellent option. We'd really recommend you get a little bit into the overclocking side of things, though, to see just what you can get out of the card, since the potential for it is built into it. It's both fun and brings with it a strong boost in performance at no extra cost.

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Shawn takes care of all of our video card reviews. From 2009, Shawn is also taking care of our memory reviews, and from May 2011, Shawn also takes care of our CPU, chipset and motherboard reviews. As of December 2011, Shawn is based out of Taipei, Taiwan.

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