XFX Radeon R9 270X 2GB vs Sapphire Radeon R9 280 3GB

toms_hardware468 · Jan 6, 2015

Hey guys, I am about to build my gaming PC and came across two GPUs that people recommended to me, the XFX Radeon R9 270X 2GB Double Dissipation Video Card, and the Sapphire Radeon R9 280 3GB DUAL-X Video Card, if anyone could tell me which is better, that would be very helpful! Thank you guys!

Brunostako · Jan 6, 2015

R9 280. Not a very hard decision.

-Lone- · Jan 6, 2015

Yeah, since the 280 has 1GB more VRAM, more VRAM is always better for future purposes

pierrerock · Jan 6, 2015

Also, sapphire is the best quality card for AMD GPU, Go for it !

toms_hardware468 · Jan 6, 2015

ok thanks guys, I am pretty new to pc parts so I don't know much

-Lone- · Jan 6, 2015

toms_hardware468 :

If you're going to upgrade to 1440p gaming or something, that 3GB of VRAM will be very helpful to you

Brunostako · Jan 6, 2015

-Lone- :

Also a wider memory bus (256-bit vs 384-bit).

benurmston · Jan 6, 2015

If you could let us know what the rest of your setup is like, we'd be able to offer more specific advice. However...

I've got a cheap 270x that didn't overclock much (Powercolor TurboDuo), but it's more than capable of running 1080p at 40+ fps in recent titles (Metro Last Light, Ass Creed 3, FarCry 3, etc.) at high settings and older ones at Enthusiast/Gamer (Crysis, Metro 2033, FarCry 2) at 60+ fps. I don't buy the latest games, I just wait for them to become affordable!

3GB of VRAM will only become useful if you rock several monitors or have one over 1080p; if you can afford that setup, you can surely afford a better card! :ange:

The extra RAM is wasted at lower resolution, as it's only for textures and my 2GB is rarely troubled at 1080.

In the meantime, if you don't need more than 40 fps and are either:
a) going to upgrade the GPU in a year or two
b) add a second 270x in CrossFire later on

I reckon you should use the spare cash to buy a larger SSD or more RAM (or treat yourself to a beer in the knowledge you've saved some cash!). Or buy a 280x and up the ante...

That's my tuppence worth, let me know what you think, other commentards out there!

PS as part of your research, have a quick look through the Tom's articles about graphics cards, RAM usage and so on. My sweet spot (UK £120) was the 270x, as the frame rate didn't scale with price beyond that. nVidia cards are nice but more expensive...

toms_hardware468 · Jan 7, 2015

benurmston :

If you could let us know what the rest of your setup is like, we'd be able to offer more specific advice. However...

I've got a cheap 270x that didn't overclock much (Powercolor TurboDuo), but it's more than capable of running 1080p at 40+ fps in recent titles (Metro Last Light, Ass Creed 3, FarCry 3, etc.) at high settings and older ones at Enthusiast/Gamer (Crysis, Metro 2033, FarCry 2) at 60+ fps. I don't buy the latest games, I just wait for them to become affordable!

3GB of VRAM will only become useful if you rock several monitors or have one over 1080p; if you can afford that setup, you can surely afford a better card! :ange:

The extra RAM is wasted at lower resolution, as it's only for textures and my 2GB is rarely troubled at 1080.

In the meantime, if you don't need more than 40 fps and are either:
a) going to upgrade the GPU in a year or two
b) add a second 270x in CrossFire later on

I reckon you should use the spare cash to buy a larger SSD or more RAM (or treat yourself to a beer in the knowledge you've saved some cash!). Or buy a 280x and up the ante...

That's my tuppence worth, let me know what you think, other commentards out there!

PS as part of your research, have a quick look through the Tom's articles about graphics cards, RAM usage and so on. My sweet spot (UK £120) was the 270x, as the frame rate didn't scale with price beyond that. nVidia cards are nice but more expensive...

Hey man, sorry my reply is late, but here is the rest of my setup for now: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Linkin506/saved/d4M6Mp
And do you think the PSU is good enough?

benurmston · Jan 7, 2015

toms_hardware468 :

No worries! I reckon it looks like a solid build, although Seagate have a poor reputation for reliability (for the same cost, you could try WD, Tosh or Hitachi).

The PSU will give you more than enough juice for the current build, plus a little headroom for graphics OC & future upgrades; XFX has a pretty good rep, but I've not used their PSUs myself. The latest SBM has a Pentium + 270x showing frame rates of 35/70 fps in FarCry 3 at high/ultra, so your better processor and GPU should easily beat that.

Good luck with the build and let us know how you get on!

Cheers,

Ben

toms_hardware468 · Jan 7, 2015

hey thank you so much for the reply! I am sorry, I was just working on my build and updated it a bit

here is the updated, and hopefully, final list: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Linkin506/saved/RQdgXL

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XFX Radeon R9 270X 2GB vs Sapphire Radeon R9 280 3GB

toms_hardware468

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Brunostako

Honorable

-Lone-

Admirable

pierrerock

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toms_hardware468

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-Lone-

Admirable

Brunostako

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benurmston

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