AMD Radeon R7 250E

The AMD Radeon R7 250E is a quiet, low-profile entry in the Volcanic Islands generation, built on the 28 nm process at TSMC with a die size of 123 mm² and 1,500 million transistors. It is a single-slot card measuring 168 mm (6.6 inches) in length. The card’s thermal design power is rated at 55 W, which is modest for a discrete GPU. The data shows it requires no auxiliary power connectors, drawing all its power from the PCIe 3.0 x16 slot. For system integration, a 250 W power supply is the suggested recommendation, which makes it suitable for pre-built office desktops or small form factor systems with limited PSU headroom. The single-slot cooler and lack of power connectors imply a low thermal footprint, though the compact design means heat dissipation is handled entirely by a simple blower or passive heatsink arrangement. The card offers display outputs of 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 1x DisplayPort 1.2, enabling multi-monitor setups without additional adapters for most modern displays.

How It Compares

The nearestRivals array in the data is empty, meaning there are no direct comparative benchmarks recorded for this specific card in the database. Consequently, the percentileVsAllGpus score of 50 places it exactly at the median of all GPUs tracked, but without named rivals, the positional analysis must rely on the internal specifications and absolute performance metrics rather than head-to-head deltas. This is an unusual situation; the card sits in a performance tier that is neither entry-level nor mid-range in the current database context. The lack of rival data suggests that the R7 250E occupies a niche that is rarely benchmarked against modern or even contemporary peers, possibly because it was designed for OEM systems and light desktop use rather than gaming or workstation workloads. The GCN 1.0 architecture, while dated, provides a baseline of features that are consistent across the R7 200 family, but the absence of comparative scores means any claims about its standing relative to other cards must be framed cautiously, using only the raw throughput figures available.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The R7 250E does not include dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores, as these are absent from the FACT PACK data. Instead, the card relies on the GCN 1.0 architecture’s traditional shader-based approach. It features 512 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 16 render output units. For API support, the card lists DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The DirectX 12 support at the 11_1 feature level is a notable limitation; it means the hardware is compatible with DirectX 12 titles but cannot leverage the full feature set of DirectX 12 Ultimate or even the higher-tier features of DirectX 12. Vulkan 1.2.170 is relatively recent, offering modern compute and rendering capabilities within that API’s framework. The absence of hardware ray tracing and tensor cores means any ray-traced workloads would have to be processed through compute shaders, which would be severely limited given the compute throughput. The FP32 performance is rated at 819.2 GFLOPS, which is the primary metric for shader-based rendering. Pixel and texture rates are 12.80 GPixel/s and 25.60 GTexel/s, respectively. These figures indicate a card that can handle older DirectX 11 titles and light Vulkan workloads, but the lack of specialized hardware for modern effects is a clear differentiator against newer architectures.

Who Should Consider It

Given the 55 W TDP and the absence of power connectors, this card is aimed at users with legacy systems that have minimal PSU capacity. The 1024 MB VRAM and 72.00 GB/s bandwidth suggest it is best suited for 1080p gaming at low to medium settings, but only for titles released around its 2013 launch period. The FP32 throughput of 819.2 GFLOPS implies that modern AAA games at high settings will be beyond its reach, but esports titles like older versions of Counter-Strike or League of Legends could be playable at reduced resolutions. For users with a 250 W PSU and a single-slot expansion bay, the R7 250E is one of the few options that fits without requiring a PSU upgrade. The 128-bit memory bus and GDDR5 type provide adequate bandwidth for 720p gaming or as a basic display adapter for 4K video playback, though the HDMI 1.4a output limits 4K to 30 Hz. The card is end-of-life, so it is only relevant for salvage builds or as a replacement for failed integrated graphics in older systems. It is not recommended for users seeking modern feature support or high-resolution gaming, but it serves as a stable, low-power solution for basic productivity and media consumption.

Benchmark Performance

The benchmark data for the R7 250E is sparse, with no recorded scores in the benchmarks array and an average benchmark score of 0. The percentileVsAllGpus score of 50 indicates that, in a hypothetical distribution, it performs better than half of all GPUs tracked by the database. However, this percentile is likely skewed by the inclusion of many older and integrated graphics solutions that are even less capable. Without nearest rivals, the exact percentage deltas cannot be computed. The raw compute figures provide context: the texture rate of 25.60 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 12.80 GPixel/s are consistent with a card that was positioned as a low-end discrete option. Compared to the predecessor Sea Islands architecture, the GCN 1.0 design in this card offers similar shader capabilities but with a smaller memory footprint. The successor Pirate Islands would later bring improvements, but the R7 250E’s performance is fixed. The data suggests that the card’s performance is heavily constrained by its memory bandwidth of 72.00 GB/s, which is the bottleneck for most workloads. In synthetic benchmarks, this card would likely score in the low thousands, but without actual numbers, the analysis must rely on the throughput metrics. The 819.2 GFLOPS FP32 figure is roughly half of what a mid-range card from the same era would offer, placing it in a distinct low-performance tier.

Memory Subsystem

The memory configuration is a 1024 MB GDDR5 buffer on a 128-bit bus. The memory clock is 1125 MHz, which translates to an effective data rate of 4.5 Gbps and a bandwidth of 72.00 GB/s. This is a modest bandwidth figure, even for the 2013 era. For 1080p gaming, the 1 GB capacity is the primary limitation; modern titles at high textures will exceed this buffer, causing stuttering or texture pop-in. At 720p, the capacity is sufficient for most games of the period, but the bandwidth may still bottleneck fill-rate-heavy scenes. The 128-bit bus width is half of what higher-end cards used, which explains the relatively low bandwidth. For compute workloads, the memory bandwidth is critical for data transfer between the GPU and VRAM, and 72.00 GB/s will limit performance in any memory-intensive task. The GDDR5 type is appropriate for the time, offering higher bandwidth than DDR3 alternatives, but the small capacity and narrow bus are clear cost-cutting measures. Users should not expect to run games with high-resolution textures or large mod packs. The memory subsystem is adequate for 2D desktop use, video playback, and light 3D applications, but it is a bottleneck for anything demanding. The effective 4.5 Gbps rate is standard for the generation, but the overall configuration is skewed toward low power consumption rather than high throughput.

FAQ

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the AMD Radeon R7 250E?

A: The launch MSRP is 109 USD.

Q: Does the R7 250E require a dedicated power connector from the power supply?

A: No, the card has no power connectors and draws all power from the PCIe 3.0 x16 slot. The suggested PSU rating is 250 W.

Q: What is the maximum memory bandwidth of the R7 250E?

A: The memory bandwidth is 72.00 GB/s, achieved with a 128-bit bus and GDDR5 memory running at an effective 4.5 Gbps.

Q: Which DirectX version does the R7 250E support?

A: It supports DirectX 12 (11_1), which means it can run DirectX 12 titles but only with the feature level of DirectX 11.1.

Q: How many display outputs does the R7 250E have?

A: It has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 1x DisplayPort 1.2 outputs.

Q: Is the R7 250E still in production?

A: No, the production status is end-of-life, with a release date of December 19, 2013.