MSI Radeon R9-280X TwinFrozr Gaming OC review - Product Photos - MSI Radeon R9-280X TwinFrozr Gaming OC

The 3GB GDDR5 graphics memory runs on a 384-bit wide bus. Connectivity wise the output connectors will actually vary per brand -- the MSI boards will get one DVI connectors, then a HDMI and two DisplayPort (mini) connector. As stated many times, I'm not a huge fan of the small mini-DP connectors.

At the rear side of the card we see a rather customized PCB alright. Nice dark PCB and a clean design, the cards are PCI-E gen 3.0 compatible and will have two crossfire connectors, so 3-way Crossfire is an option you could pursue. You'll notice that ther card is lacking a backplate but it does have a metal bar at the top to ensure stability when it is hanging vertically in the PC and you can see one vertical cooling or protective plate.

To the left of the crosfire connectors you can see a micro switch, this card has a dual-BIOS.

With a somewhat steep TDP rating of 250 Watt the card needs to be hooked up to both a 6 and 8-pin PCI-E PEG power connector. Under full stress we measured 229 Watt power draw, so that indeed is pretty spot on as advertised.So yes, this is a Radeon HD 7970 GHz edition that is a hint faster. Gigabyte is going to price this product at a sub 300 USD marker.