Alongside the Radeon R9 280X and R9 270X, AMD launched its entry-level Radeon R7 260X graphics card fit for visually-intensive desktops with some mild gaming thrown into the mix. The specifications of the R9 280X and R9 270X may dwarf those of the R7 260X, yet it deserves to be taken seriously from an academic standpoint. The graphics core inside the SoC that drives the Microsoft Xbox One entertainment system isn't all that different from the Radeon R7 260X, at least on paper.
The R7 260X is built around AMD's Bonaire silicon, which we have seen on the company's HD 7790 before. Unlike the HD 7790, it comes with 2 GB of memory and higher clock speeds. Its GPU core is clocked at 1100 MHz (compared to the 1000 MHz on the HD 7790) and memory runs at a scorching 1625 MHz (6.50 GT/s effective), which yields over 100 GB/s of memory bandwidth on even this relatively narrow, 128-bit wide memory bus. The bandwidth is then comparable to what GDDR5-enabled GPUs with 256-bit wide interfaces managed before the 4 GT/s GDDR5 era. The other big difference is in its memory amount: it is now at 2 GB as opposed to the 1 GB on the HD 7790. Based on the 28 nm "Bonaire" silicon, the Radeon R7 260X features 896 stream processors based on the Graphics CoreNext architecture, 56 texture memory units (TMUs), and 16 raster operations units (ROPs).
Today, we are reviewing the HIS Radeon R7 260X iPower IceQ X² using the same clocks and specs as the reference design, though it comes with an improved cooler. The HIS R7 260X iPower IceQ X² is currently available online for $150, which is $10 more than the reference design.
HIS R7 260X Market Segment Analysis
GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Radeon HD 6870
Radeon HD 7790
Radeon HD 7850
Radeon R7 260X
HIS R7 260X IceQ X²
GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost
GeForce GTX 660
Radeon HD 7870
GeForce GTX 580
Radeon R9 270X
Shader Units
768
1120
896
1024
896
896
768
960
1280
512
1280
ROPs
16
32
16
32
16
16
24
24
32
48
32
Graphics Processor
GK106
Barts
Bonaire
Pitcairn
Bonaire
Bonaire
GK106
GK106
Pitcairn
GF110
Pitcairn
Transistors
2540M
1700M
2080M
2800M
2080M
2080M
2540M
2540M
2800M
3000M
2800M
Memory Size
1024 MB
1024 MB
1024 MB
2048 MB
2048 MB
2048 MB
2048 MB
2048 MB
2048 MB
1536 MB
2048 MB
Memory Bus Width
128 bit
256 bit
128 bit
256 bit
128 bit
128 bit
192 bit
192 bit
256 bit
384 bit
256 bit
Core Clock
925 MHz
900 MHz
1000 MHz
860 MHz
1100 MHz
1100 MHz
980 MHz+
980 MHz+
1000 MHz
772 MHz
1050 MHz
Memory Clock
1350 MHz
1050 MHz
1500 MHz
1200 MHz
1625 MHz
1625 MHz
1502 MHz
1502 MHz
1200 MHz
1002 MHz
1400 MHz
Price
$130
$170
$110
$130
$140
$150
$130
$180
$175
$310
$200
Packaging
Contents
You will receive:
Graphics card
Driver CD + documentation
DVI adapter
The Card
HIS is following their established graphics card styling, with a metal application that looks like stamped metal, though it is actually made of plastic. The card's dimensions are 21.0 cm x 11.5 cm.
Installation requires two slots in your system.
Display connectivity options include two DVI ports, one HDMI port, and one DisplayPort. Triple-monitor surround gaming is possible with the card.
The GPU also includes an HDMI sound device. It is HDMI 1.4a compatible, which includes HD audio and Blu-ray 3D movies support.
One CrossFire connector allows you to combine up to two R7 260X cards in a CrossFire configuration.
Pictured above are the front and back, showing the disassembled board. High-res versions are also available (front, back). If you choose to use these images for voltmods, etc., please include a link back to this site or let us post your article.