MSI Radeon R9 280 OC Review

Final Thoughts

Pros:

• Runs cool
• Quiet
• Respectable single card performance
• Good dual card scaling

Cons:

• Rebadge of a last-gen model

Overall I was pretty satisfied with the MSI R9 280 OC. It runs cool and quiet, gives respectable single GPU performance, and when you stick two of them together you get great scaling and performance that rivals the highest end cards. The only problem here is that it’s nothing new. You’re buying last-gen tech at a current-gen price. For about $250 it’s still competitive with the offerings from Nvidia, but I would have liked to see lower prices considering no significant R&D went in to create this “new” card.

My problems with the card stem from the fact that it’s a 280, not that it’s an MSI 280. If you’re looking for an upgrade from your 7000 series card, I’d wait for the next gen. But MSI did a great job with this card and if you are looking to buy a 280, I’d definitely go with the overclocked MSI with the Twin Frozr IV cooler.

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