Asus R7 250 1GB GDDR5 (Radeon) Graphic Card Review

The R7 250 from Asus is a very simple card, no where near the likes of their HD 7750 variant.

The shroud covers the front of the card.

The shroud doesn’t reach the far end at the back, and it still comes with a VGA port too.

More details at the official product page.

Test Setup

Processor	AMD A10 7850K
RAM	4GB Kingston HyperX 1600Mhz DDR3
Motherboard	Asus A88X Pro
Cooler	Stock Cooler
Monitor	BenQ EW2440L
Power Supply	Cooler Master V700
Operating System	Windows 8 Pro
Driver	AMD Catalyst 13.30

Benchmarks

Here we go ……

Unigine Heaven 4.0

*720 Low = no AA, no tessalation, low details.

Card	720p LOW(avg)	720p (avg)
Asus R7 250	79.0	27.2
A10-7850K (2400mhz RAM)	56.1	21.1
HD 7750 1GB DDR5	89.5	30.8

It’s amazing how the APU’s graphic capability improves so much with DDR3 at 2400Mhz, even to approach the Hybrid CrossfireX results at the 20+ fps zone. The Intel Core i5 4670K has an improved IGP among Intel’s line-up but it’s no where near the A10 APUs’ performance.

Metro 2033

– 1080p = 1080p usual settings as above
– 1080Low = 1080p low settings
– 720p = 720p usual settings
– 720Med = 720p medium settings

Card	1080p	1080Low	720p	720Med
Asus R7 250	19.50	45.00	36	63.50
A10-7850K (2400Mhz RAM)	15.00	30.00	27.50	49.50
HD 7750 1GB DDR5	21.50	50.50	39.50	50.50

The R7 250 scores some 20% higher frames than the HD 7750 when at 720p Medium settings but that’s as far as it goes. Once the VERY HIGH settings were used, it could only trail the HD 7750.

Just Cause 2

Just cause is not quite a demanding game so I did a 720p and 1080p test as usual.

Scene	Card	1080p (avg)	720p (avg)
Dark Tower	Asus R7 250	31.24	53.68
	A10 7850K (with 2400Mhz RAM)	20.65	36.62
	HD 7750 1GB DDR5	35.61	62.59
Desert Sunrise	Asus R7 250	43.57	72.34
	A10 7850K (with 2400Mhz RAM)	30.37	51.85
	HD 7750 1GB DDR5	50.71	85.55
Concrete Jungle	Asus R7 250	26.69	44.02
	A10 7850K (with 2400Mhz RAM)	17.57	30.12
	HD 7750 1GB DDR5	30.27	50.76

Temperature

Furmark Burn-In test was used for this purpose, a 5 minute run to get the GPU heated up.

Card	Idle(°C)	Load (°C)
Asus R7 250	41	73

The Verdict

Coming in at around RM 350, this card is basically a HD 7730 / HD 7750.

The beauty of the R7 250 is that it can be paired with the AMD A10 processors in Hybrid CFX mode.

In case you haven’t been reading goldfries.com, I’ve always tested APU with their Crossfire ability. For many generations, the APUs have always been limited in their pairing to only the HD 6670. With the R7 250, the A10 APU could potentially reach the performance level of AMD’s Radeon R7 260X / HD 7790. 😀

If you’re looking for performance, I’d say it’s wiser to top but a bit more to get a HD 7790 if you can still find one. If not then there’s the R7 260X.

The only time the R7 250 is recommended is when you intend to pair it with an APU.

It’s just too bad the Catalyst 13.30 (BETA) that I am using doesn’t show the CrossfireX option to pair it with the Kaveri’s IGP so no Hybrid CFX results for now.

UPDATE : Apparently the APU only does Hybrid CrossFireX with DDR3 variant! 🙁 Sad. Gonna take the badge away, it’s just not worth paying the price for this level of performance.