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AMD Radeon R9 M275

AMD Radeon R9 M275

The AMD Radeon R9 M275 is a 28 nm DirectX 12 graphics card based on the GCN (Graphics Core Next) architecture. Built primarily for large laptops, the card is positioned in the upper mid-range category as of 2014. Compared to the old Radeon HD 8870M, the R9 M275 offers a higher core clock speed of up to 925 MHz, while the memory clock stays at 1125 MHz (GDDR5, 4500 MHz). However, some notebook manufactures will choose sligthly slower memory (often 1000 MHz / 4000 MHz effective).

The design of the Radeon R9 M275 has its roots to the Cape Verde chip as found, for example, on the desktop Radeon HD 7770 with 640 1D shader cores and 40 texture units. The core clock of the 8870M, however, is only 925 MHz versus the 1000 MHz of the HD 7770.  

As a result, general performance of the R9 M275 is somewhat below the HD 7770 desktop card or the Nvidia GeForce GTX 760M. Most games of 2014 can be played fluently in high detail settings and resolutions, some older titels even with additional AA/AF. In some very demanding titels like Battlefield 4, medium settings and a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels may be necessary for sufficient frame rates.

The 640 shader cores can be used with OpenCL 1.2 for general-purpose calculations (as 10 compute units).

Features of the R9 series include video decoding via UVD3 for decoding MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, VC-1, MPEG-2, and Flash directly from the AMD GPU. Multi-View Codec (MVC) and MPEG-4 part 2 (DivX, xVid) HD videos are now compatible as well.

The Radeon R9 also supports automatic graphics switching between the integrated GPU and discrete GPU, called Enduro. The technology supersedes AMD's Dynamic Switchable Graphics and is similar to Nvidia's Optimus. Furthermore, the M275 can directly support up to 6 connected monitors using Eyefinity Technology if Enduro is disabled.

Other features include ZeroCore for reducing power consumption when the display is turned off and Power Gating to power down areas of the chip that are not used. PowerTune allows automatic overclocking and underclocking of the graphics card as long as the GPU is within its TDP limit. For example, the chip may be underclocked when running FurMark and OCCT, but will overclock in certain games.

The integrated HD audio processor is able to transmit HD Audio (TrueHD or DTS Master Audio) over HDMI and DisplayPort (e.g., for Blu-Ray videos). Additionally, it now allows audio to output simultaneously and in parallel to multiple devices with the new Discrete Digital Multipoint Audio (DDMA) feature.

Power consumption of the R9 M275 should be around 60 W. Therefore, the GPU is only suited for larger laptops and DTRs.

Radeon R9 M200 Series

Radeon R9 M290X Crossfire compare 2560 @ 0.85 - 0.9 GHz2x 256 Bit @ 4800 MHz
Radeon R9 M295X compare 2048 @ 0.85 GHz256 Bit @ 5448 MHz
Radeon R9 M290X compare 1280 @ 0.85 - 0.9 GHz256 Bit @ 4800 MHz
Radeon R9 M280X compare 896 @ 0.9 - 1 GHz128 Bit @ 5500 MHz
Radeon R9 M275 640 @ 0.93 GHz128 Bit @ 4500 MHz
Radeon R9 M270 compare 640 @ 0.73 GHz128 Bit @ 4500 MHz
Radeon R9 M265X compare 640 @ 0.63 GHz128 Bit @ 4000 MHz
ArchitectureGCN
Pipelines640 - unified
Core Speed925 MHz
Memory Speed4500 MHz
Memory Bus Width128 Bit
Memory TypeGDDR5
Max. Amount of Memory4 GB
Shared Memoryno
APIDirectX 12 (FL 11_1), Shader 5.0, OpenGL 4.2
Transistor Count1.5 Billion
technology28 nm
FeaturesOpenCL 1.2
Notebook Sizelarge
Date of Announcement01.08.2014

Benchmarks

Performance Rating - 3DMark 11 + Fire Strike + Time Spy
0.9 pt (3%)
3DMark 06 3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x1024 +
SPECviewperf 11
specvp11 snx-01 +
specvp11 tcvis-02 +
specvp11 sw-02 +
specvp11 proe-05 +
specvp11 maya-03 +
specvp11 lightwave-01 +
specvp11 ensight-04 +
specvp11 catia-03 +
Cinebench R11.5 Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit +
Cinebench R15
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit +
Cinebench R15 OpenGL Ref. Match 64 Bit +
- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance

Game Benchmarks

The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.

low 1024x768
81.2  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
42.9  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
31.1  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
18.7  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
Thief

Thief

2014
low 1024x768
26.8  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
22.6  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
19.3  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
10.5  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Fifa 14

Fifa 14

2013
low 1024x768
200.3  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
113.2  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
106.2  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
74.2  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
low 1024x768
39.2  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
34.9  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
23.7  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
9.7  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
low 1024x768
38  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
29.7  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
26.3  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
13.4  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
low 1280x720
88.2  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
52  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
42.8  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
14.4  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
low 1024x768
122.5  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
62.9  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
44.1  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
25.2  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
low 1024x768
40  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
36.5  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
20.7  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
10.5  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
Anno 2070

Anno 2070

2011
low 1024x768
135.9  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
70.3  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
44.2  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
21.1  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Dirt 3

Dirt 3

2011
low 800x600
82.7  fps    + Compare
med. 1024x768
75.6  fps    + Compare
high 1360x768
50.5  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
30.3  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
lowmed.highultraQHD4K
GRID: Autosport81.242.931.118.7
Thief26.822.619.310.5
Fifa 14200.3113.2106.274.2
Company of Heroes 239.234.923.79.7
Metro: Last Light3829.726.313.4
BioShock Infinite88.25242.814.4
Tomb Raider122.562.944.125.2
Hitman: Absolution4036.520.710.5
Anno 2070135.970.344.221.1
Dirt 382.775.650.530.3
< 30 fps
< 60 fps
< 120 fps
≥ 120 fps
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