r9 280 = hd 7950?

What it says on the tin. Would I be correct to think that the R9 280 is basically the same card as the HD 7950? Specs would seem to indicate so, it's just about $120 cheaper most places.

 Replacing an aging HD 6850 on a tight budget. Any downsides to the 280 vs the 7950?

Yes.

Exact same cards. New label slapped on the side.

and the 280x is a 7970.

Alright that's what I thought looking at the specs, just wanted to make sure I hadn't missed something.

Still happy I snatched up my 7950 for $200 bucks right before they skyrocketed in price on newegg :)

Tell me about it. Every time I go to buy a video card nowadays I can't help but hate Bitcoin just a little bit.


R9 280 probably woulda been a $199 card pre-cryptocurrency. I still kinda wanna get the 280X but I don't know if I can squeeze it with the ridiculous markup right now.

I was actually shopping for a R9 290x like 2 days ago at Newegg and I was getting bitter with every "litecoin" and "hashrate" and all these mining jargons I see on the reviews on these poor cards. The abusive hands that these cards went to was very akin to a dog being taken away to breed in a puppy mill.

Well, I mean I checked Ebay for cards for grins, and what do I see? Individuals, small sellers with just over 100 feedback, selling BOXES of these cards. Cards they used for mining for a few months and are now trying to sell used for higher than MSRP for the cards are to begin with.



I mean, before Bitcoin what random *ahem* person... on Ebay would have 10 R9 280X's for sale?



Anyway, I'll just suck it up and grab a 280 for now...Maybe once all these miners are selling the ridiculous surplus of cards we'll see some R9 290Xs for dirt cheap on Ebay and I can get some just to crossfire.

Is that wise though? Those cards took a lot of abuse, specially those reference ones that they probably ran close to 24/7.

Yeah that's the gamble, have to see I suppose.


*edit* Also I probably wouldn't do the reference ones,

I actually have an old 7950 that I'm currently trying to sell if you're interested! 

https://teksyndicate.com/forum/buysaletrade/wts-sapphire-7950-oc-950mhz-edition/173770

Not Sure of the shipping to the US though!

Unfortunately already bought the 280. Also I'm in the US so with shipping from the UK here I probably ended up getting the new 280 cheaper. (no offense or anything, I like the UK, shipping is just bleh)

Ha no worries! And yeah the international shipping cost is pretty pricey. enjoy your 280 ^^

Wow..funny enough in Furmark and Speccy the 280 shows up as a 7950 even. Doesn't even show up as R9 280.