Five of the best Radeon R9 270X graphics cards

Gigabyte Radeon R9 270X GV-R927OC-2GD

This Gigabyte graphics card is the most compact among the review participants. Its length is 254 mm, which allows it to fit even in some cases of the Minitower form factor, like Zalman T4, not to mention the cases of ordinary sizes.

The cooling system of the video accelerator is a proprietary development of WindForce. Its design is based on a large aluminium radiator with two copper tubes, which covers almost the entire board area. Two 80-millimetre coolers blow over the radiator from above. Unlike the larger model GV-R927XOC-2GD, which has three coolers.

The semi-open cooling design collects almost no dust, but is not as effective as the closed cases of AMD Radeon R9 270X series video cards from other manufacturers. To improve cooling performance, the manufacturer has reduced the factory frequencies of the graphics chip to 950 Mhz. This is lower than the standard card frequencies on the Radeon R9 270X processor. Overclocking the model manually does not show record values, but the GV-R927OC-2GD is able to "develop the speed" of the core up to 1150-1175 MHz, and memory – up to 6000 MHz. With such indicators, the card bypasses even some analogues with a higher price tag (working in normal mode). At the same time, this Gigabyte model is one of the cheapest boards in its class.

Under normal load, the graphics card does not heat above 65 degrees, and the operation of coolers is almost inaudible. Although, if you load the card with work at 100%, the noise will be heard. With the help of special programs, you can independently adjust the fan speed to achieve quiet operation of the card in any conditions.

Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 11217-00-20G

The Sapphire model received a strict black body with decorative blue inserts. The graphics card turned out to be quite compact in length, which is 277 mm, and will fit into Midi Tower format enclosures.

The Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 11217-00-20G is cooled by the Vapor-X system with a copper evaporation chamber. All the heat is discharged into this chamber (through four aluminium tubes 6 mm thick), and then dissipates. The structure is blown by two powerful fans. The design of the Sapphire graphics card uses high-quality chokes from Black Diamond, as well as durable capacitors. Such a cooling system together with high-quality components does not allow the graphics card to heat up above 67 degrees Celsius and ensure its reliable operation. At the same time, the fans work only at half their capacity. The noise of the fans is average, slightly louder than that of the models from Asus and MSI.

The overclocking potential of the graphics card is hardly outstanding: the GPU frequency from the standard 1050 MHz can be raised to a maximum of 1175 MHz, and the memory frequency — up to 6000 MHz. In comparison with competitors, these are not the best indicators. Nevertheless, Sapphire has been a partner of AMD (and earlier ATI) for many years and has earned the reputation of a reliable card provider. The fact that this is not an unfounded statement is confirmed, for example, by the claimed service life of the capacitors of 5000 hours (more than 10 years). This, most likely, will be the main argument in favor of her choice, as well as a slightly lower price than the competitors.

MSI R9 270X GAMING 2G

The model from MSI outwardly turned out to be the most attractive in the AMD Radeon R9 270X series thanks to the red and black design of the plastic casing and the case design. It looks like a graphics card from Ferrari, even the logo has similarities with the famous brand of sports cars.

The MSI R9 270X GAMING 2G graphics chip operates at 1030 MHz by default, but is capable of manually overclocking to 1225 MHz. And the memory in one test was able to overclock as much as 6480 MHz, but it is unlikely that all samples of this card will please their owners with such a result. If you plan to "squeeze" the maximum out of the card, then MSI R9 270X HAWK with enhanced power supply and the ability to adjust operating voltages using the proprietary MSI Afterburner utility. The advantage of the R9 270X GAMING 2G is that using a special programme, it is convenient to choose the current mode of operation of the card: normal (the GPU frequency in it automatically rises to 1080 MHz), quiet (frequency — up to 1050 MHz at reduced cooler speeds) or forced (the chip operates at a frequency of up to 1120 MHz).

The manufacturer uses its proprietary Twin Frozr IV Advanced cooling system. Copper tubes with diameters of 6 and 8 mm are connected to the memory and the graphics chip, which divert heat to the radiator. The entire system is cooled by two powerful Power Logic fans with a diameter of 94 mm. At full load, the graphics card heats up to 68 degrees Celsius, but at the same time the coolers work only at 33% of the maximum rpm. So the MSI R9 270X GAMING 2G is very quiet at factory frequencies even under heavy load, and according to some observers, it is the quietest among competitors. The design of the board uses components corresponding to the Military Class 4 concept — with increased reliability and durability. It also provides protection against unsuccessful BIOS firmware of the graphics card, which allows you to roll back to a stable version.

Gigabyte Radeon R9 270X GV-R927XOC-2GD

Gigabyte has released the longest card from the Radeon R9 270X series. At the same time, outwardly it looks like a video accelerator not of the middle segment, but of the premium class due to the powerful WindForce 3X cooling system.

The entire front part of the board is covered by three coolers with a diameter of 78 mm, which blow an aluminium radiator with two copper tubes with a diameter of 8 mm. This ensures a faster transfer of heat to the radiator plates. As a result, such a seemingly cumbersome system provides very reliable cooling. But the original engineering solution increased the length of the graphics card to 297 millimetres, so potential owners should take this fact into account when buying — this model will not fit into every computer case.

Thanks to the massive cooling system, the AMD Radeon R9 270X model from Gigabyte immediately goes with the factory overclocking of the graphics chip : 1050 MHz by default, and in dynamic mode it reaches 1100 MHz. Under load, the graphics card heats up to 62 degrees Celsius. For "cold" work, you have to pay with an increased noise level due to three powerful fans. Although, their speed can be adjusted using special software. Due to the fact that the WindForce 3X is so efficient, the Gigabyte Radeon R9 270X GV-R927XOC-2GD graphics chip can be overclocked to 1210-1230 MHz, and memory — up to 6400-6600 MHz. At the same time, the core temperature rises to 70 degrees. The model could work at higher frequencies, but the manufacturer blocked the voltage regulator. However, this is already one of the best indicators among the boards on this chip.

Asus Radeon R9 270X R9270X-DC2T-2GD5

Unlike other models of the Radeon R9 270X family, Asus uses its own design of the board and cooling system. This approach allowed the manufacturer to achieve increased standard frequencies, reliable cooling and power supply of card elements.

The graphics chip and memory of the R9270X-DC2T-2GD5 cover aluminium plates, to which heat is evenly supplied and distributed through three 8 mm heat pipes. From above, the entire structure is blown by two 75-millimetre fans from Everflow with curved blades. The key elements in the Asus model are placed under the cooling system to maintain normal temperature. Owners of other ASUS cards will recognize the proprietary DirectCU II system, which is also used on more powerful video adapters of this company. Also note the enhanced — 8-phase — DIGI+ power supply system for stable operation at elevated frequencies.

Asus Radeon R9 270X R9270X-DC2T-2GD5 is overclocked by the manufacturer, which is called to the maximum. The GPU core runs by default at a frequency of 1120 Mhz — this is the best indicator in our TOP 5. At full load, the model heats up to 66-68 degrees Celsius, and the coolers at the same time work at about half of their maximum power. The noise level can be described as moderate — at the level of a conventional cooler on a computer processor. If you manually set the speed to the maximum, then the noise will be heard, but in fact you do not have to do this. Since the graphics card is already working at higher frequencies, its graphics chip can be overclocked even slightly — up to 1225-1240 MHz. The memory frequency rises to 6200 MHz without any problems, and some samples have a little higher. And the above parameters can be increased only by raising the voltage, which is unlocked here.