TL;DR: The Sapphire Radeon R9 Fury is an excellent card, slotting perfectly between Nvidia's 980
EVGA GTX 980 SC ACX 2.0 4GB GDDR5 Graphics Card
and 980 Ti
EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti ACX SC+ ACX 2.0+ Graphics Card with Backplate 06G-P4-4995-KR
/R9 Fury X
XFX R9-FURY-4QFA RADEON R9 FURY 4GB HBM 3xDP HDMI Graphics Cards
. At its MSRP, this card is a solid value for gamers seeking a top-tier experience at resolutions higher than 1080p. At MSRPs, this card has the highest value proposition of comparable cards in its class. However, at street prices, I would have a hard time choosing this over a 980, were I to make the choice again.
Pros:
Performance: This card runs anything, and I mean anything, without a hitch. I've tested on GTA5 at 4k and framerates are consistently playable without a hint of frame drops or studdering at optimal graphics settings (all settings at high or better). Skyrim predictably plays at ultra high at 4k resolution, pushing an average of ~55 FPS. There isn't a game out there that this card can't handle.
Cooling: Sapphire has done a fantastic job cooling this beast of a card. Red team's past architecture, Hawaii, was notably power-hungry and a hot runner; whether it be due to Fiji or Sapphire's cooling apparatus, this card has had none of the problems that Hawaii cards faced.
Price: When I purchased this card, it was at the MSRP listed by AMD; it's standard clock brethren
Sapphire Radeon R9 Fury 4GB PCI-Express Graphics Card 11247-00-40G
was listed for $20 less. The built-in overclocking done by Sapphire was worth the extra $20. Furthermore, at the time of my purchase, the comparable Green Team cards had a street price well over their MSRPs, with the 980 going for prices higher than I paid for this Fury card. My purchase's value proposition was a no-brainer - higher present-day performance, lower cost, more head room for driver advancements. At their current price points (8/5/15 - 980 priced ~500; this card at $650), I would have a difficult time recommending this card over the 980 or the 980 Ti. The Fury X was also heavily backlogged when I purchased this card and ran for an MSRP of $100 higher than this card.
Cons:
When folks say this thing is long, it isn't an exaggeration. I came from SLI'd 670s and this is easily an inch to inch and a half longer than the 670. Make sure your case can fit this card! My standard ATX case had about a centimeter of headroom between the end of this card and my HD bays. It is an imposing, beastly card.
Summation: If you can get this card at MSRP, it's a value. It performs admirably, driving 1080p plus performance. However, if you can find the 980 for ~$75-100 less, I would have recommended that card. The value proposition from the frames gained (at present) over the 980 for the extra money would not have been worth it, in my mind, and would have changed my purchasing calculus. However, as mentioned by another reviewer, the HBM memory architecture is a leap forward in graphics technology and this card is likely more future-proofed than comparable Green Team cards. Ultimately, I found this fact, plus the marginal performance benefit to be worth the $25-50 that I paid on top of the going price for a 980 card, but also found the marginal performance gains from the Fury X not to be worth the extra $100 there.
| Max Screen Resolution | 2560 x 1600 |
|---|---|
| Memory Speed | 1000 MHz |
| Graphics Coprocessor | AMD Radeon |
| Chipset Brand | AMD |
| Graphics Card Ram Size | 4 GB |
