AMD Radeon R7 265 Mainstream GPU Review

Performance Summary: AMD targeted NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost with the Radeon R7 265 and we’d have to say they pretty much hit the bull’s-eye. In some tests the Radeon R7 265 is faster, in others the GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost pulls ahead, and in others the two finished neck-and-neck.

Though their model numbers are separated by only single digit, we should point out that the Radeon R7 265 performed much more like a Radeon R9 270X than it did a Radeon R7 260X. That’s to be expected, considering the Radeon R7 265 and R9 270X are based on the same GPU.


The Radeon R7 265 Reference Card -  $149 MSRP

Looking back through our numbers, the Radeon R7 265 seems to be positioned well as of today. However, cards won’t be available until later this month and by that time the landscape may have changed somewhat. We’ve currently got previous-gen cards being phased out, a smattering of price adjustments happening, and some rumored new product launches on the horizon. If you’re in the market for an affordable discrete graphics card, your options may be very different in the not too distant future.

As of this moment, AMD expects Radeon R7 265 cards to hit the $149 price point. You may be saying, “Hey! That’s the same price as the Radeon R7 260X!” Well, that’s no longer the case. To coincide with the Radeon R7 265’s soft-launch, AMD is also announcing a price cut on the 260X, which will now sell for $119. For the money, both cards offer decent bang for the buck, but the R7 265’s more powerful GPU and wider memory bus make it the more attractive option in our opinion. If you can muster the additional $30, it’s absolutely worth the investment, assuming the delta remains $30 by the time cards go on sale.

  • Big Upgrade Over 260X
  • Good Performance
  • Cool and Quiet
  • Not Available Yet
  • Rapidly Changing GPU Landscape

Marco Chiappetta

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

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