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.
Catalyst 14.1 beta is out. might wanna check it out and redo to see any improvement or see if CrossfireX with APU option available..