Sapphire AMD R9 285 ITX Compact vs R9 285 Dual-X! 1440p Gaming for mini-ITX

# Sapphire R9 285: A Deep Dive into Performance and Compact Design

## Introduction

The gaming community is witnessing a surge in popularity of mini ITX and microATX cases as enthusiasts aim to build compact yet powerful systems. Today, we take a closer look at the **Sapphire R9 285**, AMD's latest Tonga GPU, focusing on its compact edition and comparing it with the dual X version.

## Design and Features

The Sapphire R9 285 is designed to cater to those who value both performance and space efficiency. The compact edition stands out for its shorter length of just **171 mm**, making it ideal for mini ITX builds. While this card may be smaller, it doesn't compromise on features or performance.

## Technical Specifications

The R9 285 boasts impressive specs:

- **1792 streaming processors**

- **2 GB of VRAM**

- **256-bit bus width**

The compact edition operates at slightly lower clock speeds compared to the dual X version. Here's a breakdown:

- **Core Clock**: 928 MHz (compact) vs. 956 MHz (dual X)

- **Memory Clock**: 1375 MHz (compact) vs. 14400 MHz (dual X)

Despite these differences, the compact edition proved to be a capable performer during our testing.

## Cooling Systems

One of the standout features of the Sapphire R9 285 is its cooling system. The compact edition sports an **aluminum-accented single 85 mm fan**, which keeps the GPU surprisingly cool for its size. The cooler includes **four heat pipes** (dual 8 mm and dual 6 mm), ensuring efficient thermal management without significant protrusions.

The dual X version, on the other hand, features **purple accents on the shroud**, which may not be ideal for those looking to match their build colors. Its cooling system includes **two 85 mm fans** and four heat pipes that exit through the bottom of the cooler. While this design provides excellent cooling, it comes at the cost of additional space and noise levels.

Both cards lack back plates, but the PCBs are black, giving them a sleek appearance.

## Power Requirements

The R9 285 compact edition requires a **single 8-pin power connector** for **150 W** of power delivery. The dual X version, however, needs two six-pin connectors, which means it consumes more power but offers slightly higher performance.

## Display Connectivity

Display output options differ between the two versions:

- **Dual X**: Dual-link DVI-I, Dual-link DVI-D, HDMI, and Display Port 1.2

- **Compact Edition**: Two mini display outputs (HDMI and dual-link DVI)

This makes the compact edition more versatile for users who prefer smaller connectors or have limited space in their builds.

## Benchmark Results

The benchmarks were a revelation. The compact edition was able to hit **1039 MHz core clock** and **1500 MHz memory clock**, marking an impressive **11% increase** from its stock settings. The dual X card performed slightly better, reaching **1080 MHz core clock** and **1500 MHz memory clock**.

In terms of gaming performance:

- At **1080p**, both cards delivered excellent results on high settings.

- At **1440p**, the dual X card outperformed the compact edition, but the difference was negligible for most users.

## Performance Review

The Sapphire R9 285 compact edition is a powerhouse in tight spaces. Despite its smaller size, it matched or even exceeded the performance of the larger dual X version in many scenarios. The cooling system deserves special praise for keeping temperatures low without sacrificing too much space or noise levels.

While the dual X card offers slightly better performance and cooler运行 temperatures due to its advanced cooling setup, the compact edition is a fantastic choice for gamers building tiny PCs.

## Conclusion

The Sapphire R9 285 compact edition proves that size doesn't have to mean compromises in power or performance. If you're looking to build a mini ITX system without sacrificing graphical capabilities, this card should be at the top of your list.

As always, thank you for watching! Don't forget to subscribe for more insightful reviews and like our content if it helps you make informed decisions. We'd love to hear which cards you'd like us to review next in the comments below. See you in the next video!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthis video is brought to you by nc.com great technology selection and service hello everyone this is Dimitri with Haru and we see many mini ITX and microatx cases starting to strive within the Gaming Community as the demand for compatible Hardware is growing as we want to build ourselves you know the smallest yet powerful systems So today we're taking a look at the Sapphire R9 285 this is amd's latest Tonga G GPU and we'll be seeing how the compact edition of the card that is significantly shorter at just 171 mm compares to the dual x version of the same GPU and to get the specs right out of the way the R9 285 has 1792 streaming processors with 2 GB of vram on a 256bit bus the compact Edition is clocked slightly lower at 928 MHz on the core and 1375 MHz on the memory while the dual x is a tap higher at 956 6 MHz on the core and 14400 MHz on the memory and I really want to see whether or not you can squeeze just as much performance out of the compact addition of the card you know given the smaller cooler for those mini ITX builds so we're looking at Power without compromise the cooler on this card looks quite nice with aluminum accents and single 85 mm fan keeps the GPU surprisingly cool we'll take a look at the benchmarks later in the video they are a total of four heat pipes dual 8 mm and dual 6 mm that are visible from the top but they complement sort of the compact nature of the cooler with no significant protrusions and checking out the dual x card the purple accents on the Shroud are not exactly color friendly if you want to color match to your build the four heat pipes exit through the bottom of the cooler and dual 85 mm fans keep the card quiet with excellent cooling the cards do not have back plates unfortunately but at least the pcbs are black both the Compact and dual x have a bio switch for Legacy and uifi that's located where the crossfire fingers usually are but uh these new Tonga gpus utilize PCI Express bus for Crossfire Communications the R9 285 compact requires a single 8 Pin for a total of 150 wats of power delivery while the dual x version requires two six spin for power for display connectivity they are also a little bit different the dual x features dual link DVI I and dual link DVID HDMI and display Port 1.2 while the compact is equipped with two mini display outputs HDMI and dual link dvii and now let's move on to the benchmarks that would be really interesting to see how the mini ITX compact version will play out compared to the larger dual x I was able to seamlessly overclock the compact to 1039 MHz on the core and 1500 MHz on the memory uh that is a substantial about 11% increase the dual x card overclocked slightly slightly better reaching a maximum stable clocks of 1080 MHz and 1500 MHz on the core and the memory respectively and as I was benchmarking the R9 285 I was so surprised to find such excellent results for 1080p gaming everything on high that I also did the 1440p gaming benchmarks and as you can see the results are right in front of you and they are really impressive now the dual x was cooler both at idle and load understandably so with that extra heat Sy real estate and the extra fan but wow did the sapphire do a good job on a compact cooler with just a few degrees harder and because the fan has to ramp up um it was slightly louder than the dual x and so the r925 mini ITX compact Edition from Sapphire is an absolute Beast of a card for tight spaces that performed so well in games especially when compared head-to-head with the bigger brother the r925 dual x and you can begin to think about you know building yourself a really tiny PC without compromising on GPU power so we hope you enjoy this performance review video of the sapphire r925 Compact and dual x cards and let us know what uh card you'd like us to review next as always thank you for watching don't forget to subscribe for more similar content and give us a like if you found this video helpful and we'll see you in the next onethis video is brought to you by nc.com great technology selection and service hello everyone this is Dimitri with Haru and we see many mini ITX and microatx cases starting to strive within the Gaming Community as the demand for compatible Hardware is growing as we want to build ourselves you know the smallest yet powerful systems So today we're taking a look at the Sapphire R9 285 this is amd's latest Tonga G GPU and we'll be seeing how the compact edition of the card that is significantly shorter at just 171 mm compares to the dual x version of the same GPU and to get the specs right out of the way the R9 285 has 1792 streaming processors with 2 GB of vram on a 256bit bus the compact Edition is clocked slightly lower at 928 MHz on the core and 1375 MHz on the memory while the dual x is a tap higher at 956 6 MHz on the core and 14400 MHz on the memory and I really want to see whether or not you can squeeze just as much performance out of the compact addition of the card you know given the smaller cooler for those mini ITX builds so we're looking at Power without compromise the cooler on this card looks quite nice with aluminum accents and single 85 mm fan keeps the GPU surprisingly cool we'll take a look at the benchmarks later in the video they are a total of four heat pipes dual 8 mm and dual 6 mm that are visible from the top but they complement sort of the compact nature of the cooler with no significant protrusions and checking out the dual x card the purple accents on the Shroud are not exactly color friendly if you want to color match to your build the four heat pipes exit through the bottom of the cooler and dual 85 mm fans keep the card quiet with excellent cooling the cards do not have back plates unfortunately but at least the pcbs are black both the Compact and dual x have a bio switch for Legacy and uifi that's located where the crossfire fingers usually are but uh these new Tonga gpus utilize PCI Express bus for Crossfire Communications the R9 285 compact requires a single 8 Pin for a total of 150 wats of power delivery while the dual x version requires two six spin for power for display connectivity they are also a little bit different the dual x features dual link DVI I and dual link DVID HDMI and display Port 1.2 while the compact is equipped with two mini display outputs HDMI and dual link dvii and now let's move on to the benchmarks that would be really interesting to see how the mini ITX compact version will play out compared to the larger dual x I was able to seamlessly overclock the compact to 1039 MHz on the core and 1500 MHz on the memory uh that is a substantial about 11% increase the dual x card overclocked slightly slightly better reaching a maximum stable clocks of 1080 MHz and 1500 MHz on the core and the memory respectively and as I was benchmarking the R9 285 I was so surprised to find such excellent results for 1080p gaming everything on high that I also did the 1440p gaming benchmarks and as you can see the results are right in front of you and they are really impressive now the dual x was cooler both at idle and load understandably so with that extra heat Sy real estate and the extra fan but wow did the sapphire do a good job on a compact cooler with just a few degrees harder and because the fan has to ramp up um it was slightly louder than the dual x and so the r925 mini ITX compact Edition from Sapphire is an absolute Beast of a card for tight spaces that performed so well in games especially when compared head-to-head with the bigger brother the r925 dual x and you can begin to think about you know building yourself a really tiny PC without compromising on GPU power so we hope you enjoy this performance review video of the sapphire r925 Compact and dual x cards and let us know what uh card you'd like us to review next as always thank you for watching don't forget to subscribe for more similar content and give us a like if you found this video helpful and we'll see you in the next one\n"