Today, AMD is launching a new mainstream graphics card based on another fresh GPU, codenamed Tonga. Typically, when the big GPU manufacturers launch a new high-end product, they pare that GPU down to create more affordable offerings with nearly identical feature sets. But Tonga is not simply a pared down version of Hawaii. AMD has actually updated and improved a couple of functional blocks in the GPU to boost performance and / or power efficiency.
The first product built around the Tonga GPU is the Radeon R9 285. As its name suggests, this card falls into AMD’s current line-up in between the Radeon R9 270X and R9 280X, but there’s more to the story than just that...
AMD Radeon R9 285 GPU Review: Tonga Arrives
Marco Chiappetta
Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com
