XFX DD R9 380X 4GB Graphics Card Review

Final Thoughts

Price

We don’t currently know how much the XFX R9 380X is going to retail for, but the MSRP for the reference models is £185 (£229) and OC models start at around £190 ($239). Once the products go live we will update this article with more accurate prices.

Overview

Have I been too negative here? I don’t think so, as with most ‘X’ branded cards, the performance gets a nice boost and sits somewhere between the card it’s based off and the card just above; in this case the R9 380 and R9 390. This was not the case we’ve seen today and it barely provided over 10% better performance compared to the R9 380. Looking back through our results, there is a definite increase in performance over the R9 380 but not enough to be content with. I was expecting another 2-3 FPS in most games. However, GTA V was a much better result with the R9 380X almost matching the R9 390 at 1080p and 1440p.

We had a slight ‘issue’ with our card in particular and it seems that some leaked performance figures had a similar issue. After some thought and a bit of luck, I increased the power limit to 115% and the core clock then held stable at the rated 1030MHz. This then unlocked much better performance across the entire range of testing procedures with an increase of 3-4FPS on top of our previous scores. We have contacted AMD and it seems that the card may have not be fully optimised before release to the media, using the reference power limit instead of the required limit for an overclocked card. If I had more time with this card before this launch, I could have fine tuned the power limit to a lower level; 115% was a guess that just happened to work.

On that note, the temperatures, acoustic level and power consumption graphs are based on the 115% power limit increase, so are higher than what the card would normally be, as if overclocking the card with voltage increases.

What if I take a look at AMD’s claim that this has “Amazing 1440p Performance”. Looking at all of my 1440p tests, only Tomb Raider was over the golden 60FPS with most of the other results hanging around 47-50FPS. That’s actually quite impressive and with some settings reduced you could easily see over 60FPS at 1440p. Kudos AMD!

The card is actually quite a nice unit, hats off to the XFX design team on this one. While it might not be to everyone’s taste with the bolts on show and the clips for the fans, I like the more rugged look. The fact that you can also remove and clean the fans and the heatsink with the simple quick release latches and screws is a great addition and shows that consumer comments are being taken on board and worked on. If this design sticks around for a few generations, I would like to see possibly some different fans or maybe an RGB design being implemented. Maybe XFX could release the specifications so enthusiasts could print their own designs, considering how simple the unit is to put together. One thing I didn’t quite like was the short cable length for the fans, I found that to be able to thoroughly clean the fans, you would have to remove the entire shroud as the cables wouldn’t allow you to twist the fans around while still plugged in. Maybe a backplate could have given this card a more premium look, but with a price tag of under £200 I’m not complaining.

If the card was slightly cheaper, or once the drivers are better optimised this card would be an absolute stormer, but at its current price point I don’t feel it is big enough of an advancement to recommend over the R9 380; it’s a tough call.

Pros

• Good performance boost over the R9 380
• Modular cooling shroud is innovative
• Quick release fans are a great touch for quick cleaning without the worry of damaging the PCB
• Reasonable 1440p performance with some settings lowered

Cons

•  Not the ‘gap filler’ that was expected from an ‘X’ card

Neutral

• The power limit issue could be problematic if it is not an isolated incident

“The XFX R9 380X is a card full of surprises, packing respectable 1440p capabilities and a modular fan unit that are sure to make it a popular choice with gamers in this price range.”