XFX R7 250 Core Edition Passive 1GB Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

XFX’s R7 250 Core Edition Passive 1GB GDDR5 graphics card (R7-250A-ZLH4) holds a $10 (11%) premium over the base R7 250 models costing $100. Below you can see retail pricing based in USD. In the UK we are seeing pricing of about £65 which is highly competitive for a passive R7 250. XFX offer a two year warranty.

Analysing The AMD R7 250

Since this is the first R7 250 we have looked at we will break this conclusion down into two parts – the first part analysing the GPU as a whole and the second analysing what XFX have done with it. The AMD Radeon R7 250 GPU has very much impressed me for the price. Okay, it is priced dangerously close to the R7 250X which is 35% more powerful yet only 11% more expensive, however, it holds a few advantages over the R7 250X. Firstly, it does not need supplementary power which makes it more versatile and capable of fitting into a wider range of systems – particularly basic desktop OEM style systems with mediocre power supplies. Secondly, it uses less power and produces less heat so that also facilitates a more versatile range of uses and cooling solutions. Thirdly, this is a $90 card and it is easily capable of beating Nvidia’s GT 640 which is an equivalently priced unit. In the broad scheme of things I think AMD would have benefited from creating only one R7 250 that uses the Oland XT GPU, the second R7 250 (Cape Verde) just confuses things further. I do think the Cape Verde based R7 250 is a better card than the Oland XT one – AMD probably should have called the R7 250 (Cape Verde) the R7 250X and made the current R7 250X the R7 255.

Examining What XFX Have Done With The R7 250

XFX have done a solid job with the R7 250. The passive cooling solution works an absolute treat, the card looks absolutely fantastic for the price and XFX’s decision to only offer 1GB GDDR5 variants is just plain sensible. There isn’t much else to say – this is a solid choice if you need a passive graphics card with a bit of grunt but you’re on a tight budget. Of course if having a passive graphics card isn’t something you are inclined to want or need then you’d be better off buying an entry level R7 250X for the same $100 price and reaping the rewards of that extra performance. However, XFX have done a decent job to produce a passive R7 250 for just a $10 premium over reference – it isn’t their fault AMD priced the R7 250 so close to the R7 250X.

(Please note that XFX also make an R7 250E series which is based on the Cape Verde Pro R7 250, that is in addition to their normal R7 250 Oland XT version which we have reviewed today, I would probably advise users to opt for this if you can find it for a similar price!)

Pros

• Good cooling solution when adequate case airflow is present
• Competent performance for the price
• Low power consumption
• Silent operation

Cons

• The large passive cooling solution makes the card unsuitable for compact HTPCs and media centre PCs
• Priced too closely to the R7 250X
• XFX would have benefited from using the Cape Verde based R7 250

“XFX’s R7 250 Core Edition Passive graphics card is a great solution for anyone who wants totally silent gaming performance on a strict budget – with no compromises. Passive cooling isn’t something everyone will need or want, but if it is for you then XFX have got you covered with this nifty product.“

Thank you to XFX for providing this review sample.