14 DAY TRIAL // Advanced Micro Devices has recently used the Caicos graphics processing unit (160 stream processors) to release the Radeon R5 230 graphics card. Now, XFX has launched its own versions of the adapter.
And there are five of those cards. Well, technically there are three, but two of them come in a pair of different packages, each, with or without freebies.
First off, we have the R5-230A-ZLH2, the one that stays closest to the reference specs, though it uses passive cooling instead of a fan-based one.
The R5-230A-CLHV is similar, but has 2 GB of DDR3 instead of one. Then, there's the R5-230A-CLHR (the same 2 GB model, but with some free games and other stuff), plus the R5-230A-CLH2 (XFX doesn't say how this one differs, so we have to wait until retailers demystify us on that point).
That leaves the R5-230A-CNH2, the only full-height board which only offers a bigger heatsink and nothing more.
All five Radeon R5 230 adapters stick to the GPU clock of 625 MHz and the same display output layout: D-sub (VGA), HDMI and DVI. XFX doesn't say what their prices are, but we're pretty sure they'll hover around the $50 / €50 mark. The full-size one might sell the least, considering that low-end boards usually wind up in HTPCs where low-profile PCBs are a boon.
