SAPPHIRE Technology has just announced two new models in the successful R-series of graphics cards, bringing the company's industry leading cooling technologies into the mainstream. The SAPPHIRE R7 250X Vapor-X and SAPPHIRE R7 250X are based on the successful graphics GCN (Graphics Core Next) architecture from AMD and deliver advanced features at new affordable price levels.

The SAPPHIRE R7 250X Vapor-X has 1 GB of the latest DDR5 memory clocked at 1300 MHz (5.2 GB/s effective) and a GCN architecture with 640 stream processors and core clocks of 1100 MHz to deliver new levels of performance in its price segment. It features a dual fan SAPPHIRE exclusive Vapor-X cooler, which delivers quiet and efficient cooling even under load. SAPPHIRE pioneered the use of Vapor Chamber cooler technology in graphics cards and has received industry acclaim for its use in previous models.

Today we have two new members of the mainstream Club 3D Radeon R7 family to show you. The new Radeon R7 250 Low Profile and R7 250X.

Until now the cards in the R7 series use the Standard Profile. But traditionally there is a strong demand for a capable card in Low Profile form factor, to be used mainly in a powerful HTPC system or a variety of custom applications. For these purposes Club 3D now adds the new Radeon R7 250 Low Profile to the range.

SAPPHIRE Technology has just introduced a passively cooled card in its new R7 series. The SAPPHIRE R7 250 ULTIMATE is the first totally silent card to embody all the features of this new generation of products based on the highly successful graphics GCN (Graphics Core Next) architecture from AMD.

The SAPPHIRE R7 250 ULTIMATE is the first card in this generation to use a passive heatpipe and heatsink cooler with no fan to deliver totally silent cooling, and increased reliability as it has no mechanical moving parts. It shares all the features of the R7 series and the highly acclaimed GCN graphics processing architecture making it ideal for HTPCs and any general purpose PC where operational noise needs to be kept to a minimum. Casual and online gamers will find its silent operation attractive, as the GCN architecture supports gaming at 1080p with moderate settings.

AMD launched the Radeon R7 260 graphics cards, positioned in between the $139 Radeon R7 260X, and the $89 Radeon R7 250, which makes for a fairly big gap. It is expected to be priced no more than $110. Based on the same 28 nm "Bonaire" silicon as the R7 260X and the HD 7790 from the previous generation, the R7 260 is a mildly de-tuned variant of the R7 260X.

The Radeon R7 260 features just 768 of the 896 stream processors physically present on the "Bonaire" silicon. The GPU is clocked at 1000 MHz, compared to the 1100 MHz of the R7 260X; and the memory is clocked at 6.00 GHz (GDDR5-effective), compared to the 6.50 GHz of its sibling, which churns out a memory bandwidth of 96 GB/s on the chip's 128-bit wide memory bus. 1 GB, and not 2 GB is the standard memory amount. The maximum power draw is reduced to 95-Watt from 115-Watt on the R7 260X, and the card makes do with a single 6-pin PCIe power connector to draw power from. API support is consistent - DirectX 11.2, OpenGL 4.3, and Mantle. AMD TrueAudio appears to be supported.

XFX unveiled the first passive-cooled Radeon R7 200 series graphics cards, the full-height Radeon R7 250 Core Edition, and the half-height (low-profile) Radeon R7 240 Core Edition, pictured in that order. Both cards are based on a common half-height PCB design for the 28 nm "Oland" GPU, but due to higher thermal loads on the R7 250, its taller heatsink makes the card full-height. The R7 250 Core Edition offers AMD reference clock speeds of 1050 MHz core, and 4.60 GHz memory. It offers 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 128-bit wide memory interface. Its cooling solution is a heat-pipe fed aluminium fin stack. The R7 240 Core Edition, on the other hand, retains the same PCB, but makes do with a more compact cooling solution that makes the card low-profile ready. It features AMD reference clock speeds of 780 MHz core and 1.80 GHz memory, featuring 2 GB of DDR3 memory. The R7 250 Core Edition is priced around €92, while the R7 240 Core Edition goes for around €75.

Gigabyte rolled out a revision of its Radeon R7 250 OC graphics card, featuring its 100 mm fan-heatsink that featured on its Radeon R7 240 OC graphics card. The card features a blue Ultra Durable 2 PCB, with Gigabyte's in-house fan-heatsink design that uses a chunky aluminium block with copper core and spirally-projecting ridges, and a 100 mm fan ventilating it, suspended on a black ABS shroud. The card features a small factory-overclock on the GPU, at 1100 MHz, compared to AMD reference speeds of 1050 MHz. The 2 GB of DDR3 memory is left untouched at 1.80 GHz. Display outputs include dual-link DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI 1.4a. The card relies entirely on the PCI-Express bus for power. Based on the 28 nm "Oland" silicon, the Radeon R7 250 features 384 Graphics CoreNext stream processors, 24 TMUs, 8 ROPs, and a 128-bit wide memory interface. Expect this card to retail for $90.

GIGABYTE, the world leader in high-performance gaming hardware and system, is pleased to introduce the midrange gaming grade graphics cards, Radeon R7 Series Overclock Edition Graphics Cards (GV-R726XWF2-2GD, GV-R726XOC-2GD, GV-R725OC-1GI and GV-R724OC-2GI). Engineered to be the world's most advanced graphics cards, Radeon R7 Series GPU features the award-winning GCN Architecture for spectacular gaming performance and power efficiency. With GIGABYTE's patented cooling system and factory overclocked, Radeon R7 Series guarantees gamers to have the best gaming experience with realistic visuals and fantastic gaming performance! Radeon R7 Series also features the latest AMD APP Acceleration, and supports Microsoft DirectX 11.2, AMD HD3D and PCI-Express 3.0. Looking for a midrange gaming graphics card? Radeon R7 Series is definitely the best choice for gamers.

Hightech Information System (HIS) today is pleased to announce the HIS R7 250 iCooler Boost Clock 1GB GDDR5. HIS R7 250 iCooler Boost Clock 1GB GDDR5 features Boost Clock for faster, iCooler for cooler & quieter, iTurbo for simple overclocking. The card is equipped with iCooler, making it extremely quiet and noise level is less than 28dB. You feel the quietness when viewing photos, browsing webs, checking your email and playing movies in UVD mode.

The card comes with the innovative overclocking software iTurbo. With the user-friendly design, the user can control the temperature, speed and voltage of the card by very simple steps. The card is further strengthened by HIS Long Lasting Design which effectively prolongs the life span of the card. The special metal RIB provides extra strength to the PCBs to avoid warpage. Loaded with AMD's latest technology, such as GCN, Apps Faster & Smoother and so on, the card has revolutionary improvements on computing performance, gaming experience as well as power consumption.

XFX today unveiled the XFX Radeon R9 290X, R9 290, R9 280X, R9 270X, R7 260X and R7 250 graphics cards, XFX's first series of AMD GPUs with AMD's 2nd Generation GCN Architecture and PowerTune Technology designed for super optimized gaming performance. XFX's new GPUs also feature AMD's Mantle and AMD TrueAudio technology, the latest innovations that redefine the GPU by enabling both gamers and game developers with unprecedented audio and performance enhancements for compatible games.

Following the launch of two factory-overclocked, WindForce-equipped Radeon R9 200 graphics cards, Gigabyte rolled out its entry-level Radeon R7 200 series, with five models based on the Radeon R7 260X, Radeon R7 250, and Radeon R7 240. To begin with, the company launched three kinds of R7 260X graphics cards, by reusing two of its PCB designs for the "Bonaire" silicon, the GV-R726XWF2-2GD revisions 1 and 2 (pictured in that order). A third variant is based on a simpler fan-heatsink cooler. The three cards come with identical factory-overclocked speeds of 1188 MHz core (vs. 1100 MHz reference), while leaving the memory untouched, at 6.50 GHz. The cards feature 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, across a 128-bit wide memory interface.

Moving on, the company launched a Radeon R7 250 graphics card, the GV-R725OC-1GI. Based on the 28 nm "Oland" silicon, the chip integrates 384 stream processors, 24 TMUs, 8 ROPs, and a 128-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, holding 1 GB of memory. The card comes with factory-overclocked GPU core clock speed of 1100 MHz (vs. 1050 MHz reference), and 4.60 GHz memory. Lastly, there's its toned down version the Radeon R7 240, based on the same chip, and board design, the GV-R724OC-2GI, featuring factory-overclocked 900 MHz core (vs. 780 MHz reference), and 2 GB of DDR3 memory clocked at 1.80 GHz.

VisionTek Products LLC, (VisionTek) a leading manufacturer of award-winning, high-performance upgrades and accessories for PC and Apple Macintosh computers, announced today five new VisionTek Radeon graphics cards built with the recently introduced Advance Micro Devices (AMD) Radeon R7 Series and R9 Series GPUs. Priced from $69.00 MSRP, the new VisionTek Radeon graphics cards will utilize award-winning Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture, install in any open PCIe 3.0 slot, and will begin shipping Monday, October 14.

Five VisionTek Cards for Every Gaming Desire and Budget
With over two decades of video card development experience, VisionTek is well positioned to develop cutting edge graphics cards that introduce new standards of visual, audio, and compute capabilities. The new line of five cards is comprised of three Radeon R7 Series cards that bring an ideal balance of performance and features, and two Radeon R9 Series cards made for gamers who demand the best. The entire R7/R9 Series is the first to offer complete support for the DIRECTX 11.2 graphics standard which offers stunning 3D visual effects, realistic lighting, and lifelike imagery.

It's not a secret that AMD has had the performance lead at any important price point over the past few years. Graphics cards like the Radeon HD 7850, 7790, 7770 and 7750 have proved to be impressive performers while being very affordable. Compared to other offerings in the market they still are great products. Graphics Core Next architecture, DisplayPort 1.2 outputs, DirectX 11 support and Clock Speeds of over 1 GHz, the HD 77XX and 78XX series delivered High End specs at a Mid Range price point.

With the launch of the new Radeon R7 range this development will be continued further. The different segments will be clearly distinguishable by the new label they carry. R9 stands for the enthusiast, High End segment, while the R7 label contains capable performers in the Mid Range segment.

Here's a quick recap of AMD's updated product stack, spread between the R9 and R7 series. This article can help you understand the new nomenclature. AMD's lineup begins with the Radeon R7 250 and Radeon R7 260X. The two are based on the 28 nm "Curacao" silicon, which is a variation of the "Pitcairn" silicon the previous-generation Radeon HD 7870 was based on. The R7 250 is expected to be priced around US $89, with 1 GB of RAM, and performance rated at over 2,000 points by 3DMark Firestrike benchmark. The R7 260X, features double the memory at 2 GB, higher clock speeds, possibly more number crunching resources, Firestrike score of over 3,700 points, and a pricing that's around $139. This card should turn up the heat against the likes of GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost.

Moving on, there's the $199 Radeon R9 270X. Based on a chip not much unlike "Tahiti LE," it features 2 GB of memory, and 3DMark Firestrike score of over 5,500 points. Then there's the Radeon R9 280X. This card, priced attractively at $299, is practically a rebrand of the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition with. It features 3 GB of RAM, and over 6,800 points on 3DMark Firestrike. Then there are the R9 290 and R9 290X. AMD flew dozens of scribes thousands of miles over to Hawaii, and left them without an official announcement on the specifications of the two. From what AMD told us, the two feature 4 GB of memory, over 5,000 TFLOP/s compute power, and over 300 GB/s memory bandwidth. The cards we mentioned are pictured in that order below.More pictures follow.

TechPowerUp announced the latest update to GPU-Z, the popular graphics hardware information, monitoring and diagnostics utility. Version 0.7.3 brings in a few major changes, keeping in mind plans by AMD and NVIDIA to update their product stacks, a little later this year. We've added preliminary support for Radeon R7 240, R7 250, R7 260X, R9 270, R9 270X, R9 290, and R9 290X. On the NVIDIA front, we've added support for GeForce GT 625, GT 645, GT 755M, GT 745M, GTX 760M, GTX 765M, GTX 770M, Quadro K1100M, and K5100M. Support was also added for AMD Radeon HD 7600G, HD 8250, HD 8330, HD 8470G, HD 8570, HD 8570G, and E6460; FirePro W7000, and W600. GPU-Z 0.7.3 brings improved support for GeForce GTX 780 graphics cards with CHiL CHL8318 voltage controllers, and GeForce cards in general, with NCP4206 controllers.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.7.3 | TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.7.3 ASUS ROG-themed

The complete change-log follows.