Which Graphics card would perform best using a PCIe 2 bus? Memory bandwidth?

BigGr33n

Honorable
Dec 3, 2013
7
0
10,510
Hi,

I'm buying a new Graphics card and I have been comparing these 2 cards
Radeon HD 7870 IceQ X & Radeon R9 270X IceQ X².

http://www.gpuzoo.com/Compare/HIS_H270XQM2G2M__vs__HIS_H787QN2G2M/

They are pretty closely matched but the R9 270X is the stronger card, however I only have a PCIe 2 bus. I believe the R9 would max out a PCie2 bus's Memory bandwidth and the HD7870 is just under. How much would this affect the performance?

Should I get the R9 or the HD7870?
 
Solution
Modern graphics card should not saturate a 2.0 x 16 bandwidth. Go with what ever card works best for you. There are several reviews out there which show you really only start to lose a little performance at around 2.0 X 4 and below.

edit -- the 270x is just a rebadged 7870, that is why the performance is so close, I believe they just pumped up the clock frequency on it. I would just grab the cheaper of the two and over clock slightly.
Modern graphics card should not saturate a 2.0 x 16 bandwidth. Go with what ever card works best for you. There are several reviews out there which show you really only start to lose a little performance at around 2.0 X 4 and below.

edit -- the 270x is just a rebadged 7870, that is why the performance is so close, I believe they just pumped up the clock frequency on it. I would just grab the cheaper of the two and over clock slightly.
 
Solution