AMD has fully revealed the Radeon R9 380X, a midrange graphics card that's promising affordable but powerful 1080p and 1440p performance. Positioned between their own R9 380 and R9 390 products and NVIDIA's GTX 960 and GTX 970, the R9 380X is set to fill the price/performance gap previously left by both companies. AMD's latest should be hitting shelves soon with a reference price of $229, while overclocked models will retail for up to $249.
The Radeon R9 380X ships with 4GB of 256-bit GDDR5 memory and a 970 MHz engine clock. More specifications are posted below, but according to the provided benchmarks the R9 380X can reach 70+ FPS at 1080p and 50+ FPS at 1440p with high settings in games such as Grand Theft Auto 5, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. The recently released Stars Wars: Battlefront shows equally strong numbers, maintaining a solid 60 FPS at 1440p.
The Radeon R9 380X also comes packed with many of the company's latest features. Virtual Super Resolution allows desktop and software to run at resolutions above a monitor's supported range, increasing visual fidelity with the added benefit of reduced aliasing. FreeSync is the AMD's Adaptive VSync technology that eliminates screen tearing and obnoxious stuttering when paired with a supported display. AMD is also preparing for virtual reality with LiquidVR, a set of technologies to help developers optimize their games for that new dimension. The R9 380X also supports all three of the new high efficient APIs – DirectX12, Mantle, and Vulkan. Furthermore, it's upgrade-ready for the upcoming Radeon software Crimson launch, the replacement for the soon-to-be retired Catalyst driver platform.
The Radeon R9 380X is looking to be a potent mainstream card. Nothing currently occupies the space it's fitting into. Seven boards partners will launch their variants in the coming days; and for anyone looking to play the latest games at their best without breaking the bank, the Radeon R9 380X may very well be a good consideration.
