Lately there's been a lot of excitement around value video cards. Part of it is due to the simple fact that for low resolution gaming, you can generally approximate the experience of a modern game console with fairly low end hardware. 

Late last year AMD announced its Radeon R7 250, an Oland based part priced at $89 for the value discrete market. The R7 250 also serves as an interesting Dual Graphics/CrossFire option for Kaveri users looking to increase the performance of their processor graphics (we'll have a look at this later this month).

AMD wants to give a bunch of these R7 250s away to users who can really use them. This week we're giving away three Radeon R7 250s from ASUS to three lucky readers.

Here's the deal. To enter, simply post a comment below (US residents only, please only make a single post, contest requirements below) explaining your current PC setup and why you want, or need to win a Radeon R7 250. What I'm looking for here is an understanding of what your current system configuration is, why the Radeon R7 250 matters you and how you'd use it. Make your entries good as they may come in handy for some other stuff we've got planned in the future. If your entry from last time still applies, feel free to re-use it.

If you win, AMD wants your feedback on the GPU after you get it. You'll be asked to provide a short review (a paragraph or two, or video if you'd like) talking about your experience with the card. Do a good job and your feedback may even be featured on AnandTech.

AMD Radeon R7 250 Specifications
  AMD Radeon R7 250
Stream Processors 384
Texture Units 24
ROPs 8
Core Clock 1000MHz
Boost Clock 1050MHz
Memory Clock 4.6GHz GDDR5
Memory Bus Width 128-bit
VRAM 1GB
FP64 1/16
TrueAudio N
Transistor Count N/A
Typical Board Power 65W
Manufacturing Process TSMC 28nm
Architecture GCN 1.0
GPU Oland
Launch Date 10/11/13
Launch Price $89

 

Entries will be accepted from 9:00 AM ET on 2/20/2014 through 9:00 AM ET on 2/27/2014. We will draw 3 winner(s) who will be selected by 3/1/2014.

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NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.  PURCHASE DOES NOT INCREASE CHANCES OF WINNING.

  1. Eligibility.  Promotions are open to entrants who are 18 years of age or older at time of entry, and a legal resident of the United States (excluding Puerto Rico).  Entries are limited to individuals only who are not presently banned from AnandTech’s website or comments section; commercial enterprises and business entities are not eligible.  Directors, officers, employees, contractors, and agents of AnandTech (excluding volunteer AnandTech forum moderators) and members of their immediate families (spouses, parents, siblings, and children) are not eligible.  Subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.  Void where prohibited.  Participation constitutes entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to these Rules and AnandTech’s decisions, which are final and binding in all matters relating to a Promotion.
     
  2. Entry Period.  Each Promotion will contain a specific time period within which entries will be accepted (a “Promotion Period”).   The Promotion Period for this Promotion shall run from 9:00 AM ET on 2/20/2014 through 9:00 AM ET on 2/27/2014.  Only entries received during the Promotion Period will be accepted. 
     
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  • SweetwaterBurns - Thursday, February 20, 2014 - link

    Currently, my primary system is an old Compaq laptop that I received from the Nvidia recall a few years ago, not the most powerful needless to say. My desktop system has been sitting idle for the past 6 months waiting for a new power supply. As soon as Friday hits, I'll be ordering a new one from Newegg. Sitting in the cart with the power supply is a r7 250 that I'm trying to convince the wife that I need. I hope to replace my 4830 with it and get a year or so out of my rig(core 2 duo 2.4 ghz overlooked to 3, 4gb of ram, 4 terabytes of miscellaneous hard drives, and 60gb Intel ssd) before passing it on to my kids and building a new one. I've wanted to play around with some opencl programming for fun but not had any system fully capable since I've started learning about it. The system is mainly used for gaming, composing, and my various programming hobbies that I waste time with. The card would more than likely help with the gaming more than anything and my wife would definitely approve of me not spending 90 bucks.
  • DPete27 - Thursday, February 20, 2014 - link

    I've always been interested in trying AMD Dual Graphics with my APU. However, low-end GPUs are often priced way to high for the performance they offer (compared to 7790 / R7-260X) and I've heard problems with stuttering. If I win, I'd be able to freely broaden my horizon into this facet of tech. More than happy to share my experience, hopefully the AMD frame-pacing driver updates have improved the Dual Graphics performance.
  • Sunny_Boston - Thursday, February 20, 2014 - link

    Looks interesting as an entry level gaming card. Would love to try it out.
  • GprophetB - Thursday, February 20, 2014 - link

    Thanks for another contest AT / AMD! glhf
  • wrkingclass_hero - Thursday, February 20, 2014 - link

    I have a friend that had his graphics card die on him, and he is running on CPU alone. He has a computer with a Phenom II X6, so their isn't even any IGP to fall back on. He uses his computer for video editing, and is also an avid gamer, although he mostly plays indie games (Super Meat Boy, Fez, etc.) His GPU has been dead for months now, and because of that video editing has become slower, and more tedious, and he has lost interest in gaming because his computer can not handle games without a graphics card, and he can no longer watch Blu-rays on it either. He is on a very limited budget, as he is living just above his means, and is supporting his mother as well, and the one time he had the money he used it on video equipment (he aspires to be a filmmaker.) I feel that this GPU would work great for him, as it would definitely speed up his video editing software, and it is more than sufficient to play his collection of indie games.
  • genzai - Thursday, February 20, 2014 - link

    sign me up
  • grifterspawwn - Thursday, February 20, 2014 - link

    Using a HD 4870 in my system currently.....Bush might have been President when I installed it....
  • jardows2 - Thursday, February 20, 2014 - link

    I currently use a Radeon HD 5450 on a older Dell Pentium D 945 system for my HTPC. It works great at 720p, but struggles with 1080p programming. I think it is more because the existing video card is passively cooled with a rather small heat sink, and running a 1080p video is causing it to heat up too much. I am sure the older processor doesn't help much either, but the system was free!

    I believe that even a low-end modern GPU would overcome the limitations of the processor, and allow full 1080p without issue. Maybe even open up the system for more? I think I will be fine with the fan, as it shouldn't add much noise (I live on a busy street, so some fan noise won't be much of a distraction while watching shows!)
  • Dravic - Thursday, February 20, 2014 - link

    Son's quad core box could use a GPU upgrade.
  • jherold - Thursday, February 20, 2014 - link

    count me in

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