AMD Radeon R5 235 OEM

The AMD Radeon R5 235 OEM is an entry-level discrete graphics card built on the TeraScale 2 architecture, using the Caicos chip. Fabricated by TSMC on a 40 nm process, the chip integrates 370 million transistors within a 67 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 5.5 million per square millimeter. Released on December 20, 2013, as part of the Volcanic Islands (R5 200) generation, this card is now end-of-life. It sits at the 50th percentile among all GPUs in the database, though no aggregated benchmark scores are recorded, and the average benchmark score is listed as 0. The card bridges the Sea Islands and Pirate Islands generations in AMD's product timeline.

Power and Cooling

The R5 235 OEM draws a modest 35 W TDP, which places it firmly in the low-power segment of the graphics market. This power envelope is modest enough that the card requires no auxiliary power connectors, drawing all of its operating current from the PCIe 2.0 x16 slot. AMD's suggested power supply rating for a system housing this card is 200 W, a figure that reflects the minimal electrical demands of the 40 nm Caicos chip. The cooler is a single-slot design, and the board measures 168 mm (6.6 inches) in length, making it suitable for compact chassis and small-form-factor builds. The 40 nm process node, while older, contributes to the low power draw, and the transistor density of 5.5 million per square millimeter is characteristic of that manufacturing era. The 370-million-transistor count is modest by any standard, and the small 67 mm² die means the card generates relatively little heat, which the single-slot cooler can handle without difficulty. The lack of power connectors also simplifies installation, as no additional cabling is required.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The R5 235 OEM does not include dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores; both fields are listed as null in the specification data. This absence is consistent with the TeraScale 2 architecture, which predates hardware-accelerated ray tracing and neural rendering features by several generations. On the API front, the card supports DirectX 11.2 with feature level 11_0, and OpenGL 4.4. Vulkan support is notably absent, which limits the card's compatibility with modern titles and engines that rely on the Vulkan API for lower-level hardware access and multi-threaded rendering. The feature set is therefore anchored to the DirectX 11 era, and users should not expect hardware features such as mesh shaders, variable-rate shading, or tensor-based upscaling. The display outputs consist of a single DVI port and one HDMI 1.3a connector. The HDMI 1.3a standard supports 1080p output at standard refresh rates but lacks the bandwidth for higher refresh rates or resolutions beyond 4K at limited refresh. For a card of this class, the display connectivity is adequate for basic desktop and legacy gaming use cases.

Memory Subsystem

The memory subsystem is a 1024 MB (1 GB) DDR3 configuration on a 64-bit bus. Memory operates at 900 MHz, which translates to 1800 Mbps effective data rate, and yields a total bandwidth of 14.40 GB/s. This bandwidth figure is quite low by modern standards and will constrain performance at high resolutions and with high-resolution textures. The 64-bit bus width means the card is fundamentally limited in how much data it can move per clock cycle, and the 1 GB frame buffer is small for modern game assets. For 1080p gaming with reduced settings, the memory capacity may suffice for older titles, but the 14.40 GB/s bandwidth will become a bottleneck in any scenario that requires large texture streaming or high-resolution rendering. The memory clock of 900 MHz is the base from which the 1800 Mbps effective rate is derived, and the DDR3 type is consistent with the card's low-power, low-cost positioning. The combination of a narrow 64-bit bus and DDR3 memory is a deliberate trade-off, prioritizing cost and power efficiency over bandwidth, which directly impacts the card's ability to handle high-resolution textures and multi-sample anti-aliasing at higher display resolutions.

How It Compares

The FACT PACK lists no nearest rivals for the R5 235 OEM, meaning the database contains no directly comparable GPUs with scores and delta percentages. The card occupies the 50th percentile among all GPUs, which places it exactly at the median of the distribution — a position that indicates it outperforms half of all GPUs in the database and underperforms the other half. Its predecessor is the Sea Islands generation and its successor is the Pirate Islands generation, indicating its position in AMD's product stack between two subsequent architectures. Within the Volcanic Islands (R5 200) generation, the R5 235 OEM is a low-end part, as evidenced by its 160 shading units, 8 texture mapping units, and 4 ROPs. The 35 W TDP and single-slot cooler further reinforce its entry-level positioning. The absence of rival data means any comparative analysis must rely on the raw compute metrics rather than direct head-to-head scores. The card's 50th percentile ranking, while not tied to a specific benchmark score, provides a meaningful positional reference: it is neither a bottom-tier part nor a high-performance one, but rather sits in the middle of the GPU performance distribution.

Benchmark Performance

The benchmarks array in the FACT PACK is empty, and the average benchmark score is recorded as 0. This reflects the absence of standardized benchmark results for this OEM part rather than a literal zero-performance outcome, as the card is end-of-life and OEM-specific, which often means it was not subjected to the same benchmarking scrutiny as retail parts. The 50th percentile ranking, however, provides a positional reference: the card sits exactly in the middle of all GPUs in the database. From a raw compute standpoint, the R5 235 OEM delivers 248.0 GFLOPS of FP32 throughput, a figure derived from its 160 shading units operating at the card's clock rates. The pixel fill rate is 3.100 GPixel/s, and the texture fill rate is 6.200 GTexel/s, both of which are low enough to indicate that the card is not designed for high-fidelity gaming. The 4 ROPs and 8 TMUs are the hardware limits behind these rates, and they will cap performance in fill-rate-bound scenarios. The FP32 figure of 248.0 GFLOPS is roughly in line with other low-end parts of its era, but without rival scores, a percentage delta cannot be computed. The 14.40 GB/s memory bandwidth further compounds the compute limitations, as data delivery will lag behind even the modest shader throughput in many workloads. The pixel rate of 3.100 GPixel/s means the card can fill roughly 3.1 billion pixels per second, which is adequate for 1080p at modest frame rates in lightweight titles but will struggle with modern effects-heavy games.

FAQ

Q: What is the TDP of the AMD Radeon R5 235 OEM?

A: The TDP is 35 W, and AMD recommends a 200 W power supply for systems using this card.

Q: Does the R5 235 OEM require external power connectors?

A: No. The card draws all power from the PCIe 2.0 x16 slot and has no auxiliary power connectors.

Q: What APIs does the R5 235 OEM support?

A: It supports DirectX 11.2 (feature level 11_0) and OpenGL 4.4. Vulkan is not supported.

Q: How much memory does the card have, and what is its bandwidth?

A: The card has 1024 MB of DDR3 memory on a 64-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 14.40 GB/s.

Q: Does the R5 235 OEM have ray tracing or tensor cores?

A: No. The card does not include dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores.

Q: What display outputs are available?

A: The card provides one DVI port and one HDMI 1.3a connector.