Sapphire Radeon R9 270/270x vs 280

cwb50

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How big of a difference is there between these 3 GPUs:
Sapphire Radeon R9 270
Sapphire Radeon R9 270x
Sapphire Radeon R9 280

Am I going to be happy with a 270x? Because it is like 50 dollars cheaper.
 
Solution
These are showing you a basic difference between the cards based on their specifications such as core clock, memory speed, memory amounts, etc. I used the standard versions of the cards to give a baseline, but they're available from multiple manufacturers with varying specs.

The 270x is a very good entry level card, as is the 270. Both should give you high settings for the most part on most modern titles. The 280 is a step above both of them and will alow you to dip into that "Ultra" category of gaming usually only achievable with enthusiast level cards.

Because you're considering these models, I assume your budget is around $150 to $200. As I said before, it's really what you need out of a system. Solid gameplay from the 270's, or...

cwb50

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Could you perchance explain the pro's and cons in the 280-270x article. I don't understand a lot of it :(

Like this part vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Front view of Radeon R9 280
Reasons to consider the
AMD Radeon R9 280

Buy now
Newegg
$265
Club 3D Radeon R9 280
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More memory 3,072 MB vs 2,048 MB 50% more memory
More shading units 1,792 vs 1,280 512 more shading units
More texture mapping units 112 vs 80 32 more texture mapping units
Wider memory bus 384 bit vs 256 bit 50% wider memory bus
More compute units 28 vs 20 8 more compute units
Front view of Radeon R9 270X
Reasons to consider the
AMD Radeon R9 270X

Buy now
Newegg
$210
ASUS Radeon R9 270X
Report a correction
Significantly higher clock speed 1,000 MHz vs 827 MHz More than 20% higher clock speed
Higher effective memory clock speed 5,600 MHz vs 5,000 MHz More than 10% higher effective memory clock speed
Significantly higher turbo clock speed 1,050 MHz vs 933 MHz Around 15% higher turbo clock speed
Slightly higher pixel rate 32 GPixel/s vs 26.5 GPixel/s More than 20% higher pixel rate
Higher memory clock speed 1,400 MHz vs 1,250 MHz More than 10% higher memory clock speed
 

Place_Matz

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What the article is saying is the Radeon R9 280 has better overall stats. It has 50% more memory than the 270X which is important in a video card. It has 512 more shading units, 32 more texture mapping units, etc. Overall, when without overclocking, the 280 is better than the 270X.

But, the 270X has better overclocking capabilities. As it says in the article once again, it says the 270X has a 20% higher clock speed, and a 10% higher effective memory clock speed, Etc. The 270X is a better card for people who like to overclock.

It really depends on if you are a person who knows how or likes to overclock, because if you don't then it would be smart to consider saving up that $50 to get a great card. Don't get me wrong, both cards are great and you can have a great time with either, but the 280 is better if you are a person who doesn't like to overclock.

Hope this helps!
 

Iron124

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These are showing you a basic difference between the cards based on their specifications such as core clock, memory speed, memory amounts, etc. I used the standard versions of the cards to give a baseline, but they're available from multiple manufacturers with varying specs.

The 270x is a very good entry level card, as is the 270. Both should give you high settings for the most part on most modern titles. The 280 is a step above both of them and will alow you to dip into that "Ultra" category of gaming usually only achievable with enthusiast level cards.

Because you're considering these models, I assume your budget is around $150 to $200. As I said before, it's really what you need out of a system. Solid gameplay from the 270's, or some high-level fun the 280 can offer.

Here are some comparable prices for new/used cards (used will save you money).

270: http://www.amazon.com/MSI-Computer-Corp-270-GAMING/dp/B00GMGGZQE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1404336156&sr=8-2&keywords=r9+270

270x: http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-VAPOR-X-PCI-Express-Graphics-11217-00-20G/dp/B00G36G9ZA/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1404336187&sr=8-6&keywords=r9+270x

280: http://www.amazon.com/MSI-R9-280-GAMING-3G/dp/B00JJNQ99U/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1404336338&sr=1-2&keywords=r9+280

And you can even squeeze the 280x in there for a comparable price to the 280: http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GDDR5-3GB-Graphics-GV-R928XOC-3GD-REV2/dp/B00H34J64M/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1404336428&sr=1-4&keywords=r9+280
 
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cwb50

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Is there that big of individual variation between Manufacturers? I have always been looking at sapphire, because friends recommend it... But are there good alternatives?

Like you suggest MSI, do they produce equal quality products
 

Iron124

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There can be a pretty big difference between manufacturers including cooling, graphics memory amounts, core clock speed and factory overclocks. Most companies do produce a good card, I've heard good things about MSI and Sapphire, sometimes Asus can be a bit sketchy (or so reviews say) although I can't say from personal experience. Gigabyte, Sapphire, Powercolor, etc all seem pretty good.