AMD's latest graphics card is the cheapest way to get beyond HD gaming

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Mid-range slugger

AMD Radeon R9 380X

AMD has been on a roll introducing high-end desktop graphics cards like the Radeon R9 Fury X and R9 Nano, but now the chip maker is turning its focus to an affordable, mid-range Radeon R9 380X.

Positioned as a replacement for those who still use a Nividia GTX 660 and Radeon 7850, the AMD Radeon R9 380X rings up for only $229 (about £150, AU$322). While the new Radeon GPU was made for budget gaming in mind, this video card can still bring the heat.

AMD claims the new GPU should be more than capable modern games like Star Wars Battlefront at 60fps even with high settings turned on and the resolution set to 2,560 x 1,440. Alternatively, users should be able to play games at 70+ fps with high settings and a more pedestrian 1,080p resolution.

All this power comes thanks to the R9 380X's 32 compute units and 4GB of GDDR5 video RAM. Plus, the new Radeon card has a new extra software features to smooth over motion and reduce motion blur. AMD has also automates a few tasks including detail enhancement and adaptive dynamic range.

Even when if a game like Grand Theft Auto V were to bring the R9 380X to its knees, the card would maintain fluid game play by compensating for extremely low frame rates. The AMD Radeon R9 380X will be available starting today.

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Kevin Lee
Kevin Lee

Kevin Lee was a former computing reporter at TechRadar. Kevin is now the SEO Updates Editor at IGN based in New York. He handles all of the best of tech buying guides while also dipping his hand in the entertainment and games evergreen content. Kevin has over eight years of experience in the tech and games publications with previous bylines at Polygon, PC World, and more. Outside of work, Kevin is major movie buff of cult and bad films. He also regularly plays flight & space sim and racing games. IRL he's a fan of archery, axe throwing, and board games.