Sapphire Radeon R9 285 2GB ITX Compact Overclocked Video Card Review

Introduction of the Sapphire R9 285 2GB ITX Compact OC

After some back to back X99 coverage of a pair of motherboards and a massive 64GB DDR4 bit, it was time to head back on over to the video cards. Video cards will get a little more attention during the coming week or two, as NVIDIA blesses us with some new high-end models.

While we're not quite ready to look at those just yet, we are looking at our third R9 285 2GB card today. This is our second R9 285 2GB from Sapphire, and as the name suggests, the Sapphire R9 285 2GB ITX Compact OC is aimed at the ITX market.

This isn't the first time we've seen this; at one point we saw MSI release an ITX version of the GTX 760. At the time it was a fantastic card, but what really stood out was the cooler. Since the cooler has to be small, it has to be extremely efficient. The cooler on the MSI offering was top notch, and second to none. While the cooler wasn't large, it was packed with fins and copper, making the cooler both heavy and efficient.

There's not a whole lot to go into here. If you've followed the launch of the R9 285 2GB, then you'll have a good understanding of what's going on with it. Although, it is important to mention where the 285 falls in the R9 series. While the name might suggest the R9 285 sits ahead of the R9 280 or R9 280X, it actually sits in between those two cards, with it leaning much closer to the R9 280 than the R9 280X.

However, today I'll be hoping to get our Sapphire R9 285 2GB to lean more towards the R9 280X 3GB as I overclock it. The other day I had the chance to test the HIS card, and I also overclocked that. It will be interesting to see just how the Sapphire version of the R9 285 2GB performs when overclocked, and the smaller heat sink design is taken into consideration. So, with that all said and done, let's get into the package!

Package - What comes inside the box

Looking at the front of the box, you can see the overall design is pretty similar to other Sapphire boxes we've seen in the past. We've got the ITX Compact R9 285 logo across the top, and the right hand side has some AMD logos. In the middle we've got the Sapphire logo, while across the bottom we see some of the main features, including the fact this is an Overclock Edition, it carries 2GB GDDR5, and offers support for 4K gaming. However, if our previous testing has told us anything, 4K gaming hasn't exactly been possible with this mid-range model.

Turning to the back of the box, we've got a short blurb on the left hand side, while on the right hand side we see some of the features explained in a bit more detail. The features mentioned here include the support for Sapphires own TriXX overclocking software, and the ITX Compact label, which lets us know the card is designed for small form factor systems without sacrificing features.

Inside the bundle we've got all the standard inclusions with the Sapphire Select Club leaflet, a quick installation guide, driver CD, and DVI to VGA connector. We also have a dual six-pin to eight-pin PCIe power connector, MiniDP to DisplayPort connector, and the standard HDMI cable that Sapphire includes on their mid-range offerings. Along with all of that, you can see Sapphire has also included a free mouse pad.

PRICING: You can find the Sapphire R9 285 2GB ITX Compact OC video card for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing, but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.

United States: The Sapphire R9 285 2GB ITX Compact retails for $259.99 at Amazon.