How Low Should You Go? ASUS Radeon R7 250X Graphics Card Review

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by Rob Williams on September 10, 2014 in Graphics & Displays

After we were done benchmarking AMD’s $110 Radeon R7 260 last winter, we were impressed enough to call it a “console killer” (thanks in part to the ‘next-gen’ consoles having been released not soon before). Will we be able to say the same thing about the R7 250X, a model a mere one-step down? That’s what we’re going to find out.

Page 5 – Game Tests: Metro Last Light, Sleeping Dogs

Crysis has become infamous for punishing even top-end systems, but let’s be fair: The Metro series matches, if not exceeds its requirement for graphical horsepower. That was proven by the fact that we used Metro 2033 in our testing for a staggering three years – only to be replaced by its sequel, Last Light. I’m not particularly a fan of this series, but I am in awe of its graphics even at modest settings.

Metro Last Light - 1920x1080 Single Monitor

Manual Run-through: Because this game is a real challenge to benchmark with for both the reasons of variability in the results and the raw challenge, I choose to use the built-in benchmark here but rely on Fraps to give me more accurate results.

Note: Metro Last Light‘s built-in benchmark is not representative of the entire game; some levels will punish a GPU much worse than this benchmark will (namely, “The Chase”, which has lots of smoke and explosions). What this means is that while these settings might suffice for much of the game, there might be instances where the performance degrades enough during a certain chapter or portion of a chapter to force a graphics setting tweak.

ASUS Radeon R7 250X - Metro Last Light (1920x1080)

Siding along with GRID 2, we see the 30 FPS mark shattered with the help of the R7 250X. Of course, the minimum framerate is a bit rough to look at.

Sleeping Dogs

Many have called Sleeping Dogs (our review) the “Asian Grand Theft Auto“, but the game does a lot of things differently that helps it stand out of the crowd. For example, in lieu of supplying the player with a gazillion guns, Sleeping Dogs focuses heavily on hand-to-hand combat. There are also many collectibles that can be found to help upgrade your character and unlock special fighting abilities – and if you happen to enjoy an Asian atmosphere, this game should fit the bill.

Sleeping Dogs - 1920x1080 Single Monitor

Manual Run-through: The run here takes place during the chapter “Amanda”, on a dark, dank night. The saved game begins us at the first apartment in the game (in North Point), though that’s not where I begin capturing the framerate. Instead, I first request our motorcycle from the garage. Once set, I begin recording the framerate and drive along a specific path all the way to Aberdeen, taking about two minutes.

ASUS Radeon R7 250X - Sleeping Dogs (1920x1080)

I am going to hate the day that I have to rid this game from our bench suite, because two-years-later, I still consider it to be truly gorgeous. It actually happens to run quite well on the R7 250X, all things considered, but as is usually the case, simply dialing-down the game’s anti-aliasing settings should give the FPS a nice boost.

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Rob Williams

Rob founded Techgage in 2005 to be an 'Advocate of the consumer', focusing on fair reviews and keeping people apprised of news in the tech world. Catering to both enthusiasts and businesses alike; from desktop gaming to professional workstations, and all the supporting software.

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