AMD Radeon R9 280X Graphics Card Review

Tom Clancy is responsible for a countless number of video games, but his Splinter Cell series has become something special, with each game released having been considered “great” overall. The latest in the series, Blacklist, is no exception, and thankfully for us, its graphics are fantastic, and not to mention intensive. For those who love a stealth element in their games, this is one that shouldn’t be skipped.

RIP, Tom Clancy.

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Manual Run-through: From the start of the ‘Safehouse’ level in Benghazi, Libya, we progress through until we reach an apartment building that must be entered – this is where we end the FPS recording.

At the low-end, AMD’s card keeps 15% ahead of NVIDIA’s; at the best, 27%. 1080p = ideal on both; higher, AMD’s card gets the obvious nod.

Total War: SHOGUN 2

Strategy games are well-known for pushing the limits of any system, and few others do this as well as Total War: SHOGUN 2. It fully supports DX11, has huge battlefields to oversee with hundreds or thousands of units, and a ton of graphics options to adjust. It’s quite simply a beast of a game.

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Manual Run-through: SHOGUN 2 is one of the few games in our suite where the built-in benchmark is opted for. Strategy games in particular are very difficult to benchmark, so this is where I become thankful to have the option of using a built-in benchmark.

Wrapping up our real-world testing, AMD’s card comfortably comes out once again. Up to this point, NVIDIA’s card hasn’t managed to surpass AMD’s in any test – not entirely surprising given the $50 price premium on the AMD card, but even so, for NVIDIA to not come within 10% of AMD’s card speaks volumes about AMD’s attractive price-point here.