XFX R7 250 Core Edition Passive 1GB Review

A Closer Look

The XFX R7 250 looks really nice, the simplicity of the design almost draws resemblance to the Gainward Phantom series.

The card only needs a solitary 6mm heat pipe for cooling – remember this only has a 60W TDP.

The card is of dual slot thickness and 7.5 inches long so isn’t really built for the compact HTPC market, instead this is ideal for SFF gaming systems.

The back reveals a rather small PCB which is probably a cost saving measure. In practice it makes zero difference to the graphics card’s performance and aesthetics once it’s tucked away inside your case.

The fins are very widely spaced and raised quite a way off the PCB; this allows for better cooling performance in low airflow environments.

The rear I/O offers up some basic connectivity of VGA, HDMI and DVI. For 4K playback users will have to settle for 30Hz over HDMI. The single link DVI is only capable of 1920 x 1200 @ 60Hz. These cards aren’t really meant for driving super high resolution displays though, so being able to do 4K at all is impressive enough.