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Partner Cards: 10 Radeon R9 270 And 270X Boards, Reviewed
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1. Cooling The Radeon R9 270 And 270X

Because AMD has so many board partners, and because their products launch at staggered intervals, we changed the way we round them up, starting with Partner Cards: Two Radeon R9 290s And Five 290Xs, Updated. The Tom's Hardware team in Germany has been busy working on Radeon R9 270 and 270X cards also, so we thought it was time to publish their findings (now 10 cards-deep) here as well. 

Overseas, the Radeon boards aren't priced as problematically as they are in the U.S. Over there, you can find some pretty solid deals. Here, they're less compelling, starting at least $50 higher than AMD's $180 launch price. For the sake of summing up our local market, though, let's do a spot check on what Newegg has in stock.

Radeon R9 270 (Newegg)
HIS iPower IceQ X² Turbo H270QMT2G2M R9 270 2 GBOut of stock
Sapphire Dual-X 100365L R9 270 2 GB
$230
Radeon R9 270X (Newegg)
Asus DirectCU II R9270X-DC2T-4GD5 R9 270X 4 GB$350
Club 3D royalQueen CGAX-R927X6 R9 270X 2 GB
Out of stock
Gigabyte GV-R927XOC-4GD R9 270X 4 GB$300
HIS IceQ X² Turbo Boost Clock H270XQMT2G2 R9 270X 2 GB
$280
MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming 4 GB
Out of stock
PowerColor PCS+ AXR9 270X 2GBD5-PPDHE R9 270X 2 GB
$280
Sapphire Toxic Radeon R9 270X 2 GB
$345
Sapphire Vapor-X 100364VXL Radeon R9 270X 2 GB
$300

As additional cards become available, we plan to add them and update the round-up. Based on reader feedback, we're also publishing certain parameters you won't find on every data sheet. Still, specs like measured length, width, and height are crucial for proper fitment, so you'll find all of that in the following pages. Also included are videos, along with fan and temperature diagrams. If firmware gets updated, we test that too.

Radeon R9 270 and 270X Overview

Asus DirectCU II R9270X-DC2T-4GD5 R9 270X 4 GB
Club 3D royalQueen CGAX-R927X6 R9 270X 2 GB
(1/27/2014)

Gigabyte GV-R927XOC-4GD R9 270X 4 GB
HIS IceQ X² Turbo Boost Clock H270XQMT2G2 R9 270X 2 GB
HIS iPower IceQ X² Turbo H270QMT2G2M R9 270 2 GB
(1/27/2014)

MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming 4 GB
PowerColor PCS+ AXR9 270X 2GBD5-PPDHE R9 270X 2 GB
(1/27/2014)

Sapphire Dual-X 100365L R9 270 2 GB
(2/26/2014)
Sapphire Toxic Radeon R9 270X 2 GB
(2/26/2014)
Sapphire Vapor-X 100364VXL Radeon R9 270X 2 GB

2. Can These Cards Hold Their Rated Clock Rates?

All of these boards employ the same Curaçao GPU manufactured at 28 nm, which is basically the Pitcairn processor, re-branded. It comes equipped with 1280 shaders and exposes an aggregate 256-bit memory interface. Only the core and memory clock rates differ (even compared to the older Pitcairn-based Radeon HD 7870).

Model
GPU Boost Clock (MHz)
Memory Clock (MHz)
Memory Bandwidth (GB/s)
Fillrate (GPixel/s)
Fillrate (GTexel/s)
Asus DirectCU II R9270X-DC2T-4GD5 R9 270X 4 GB1120
1400
179.2
35.8
89.6
Club 3D royalQueen CGAX-R927X6 R9 270X 2 GB1080
1400
179.2
34.6
86.4
Gigabyte GV-R927XOC-4GD R9 270X 4 GB1100
1400
179.2
35.2
88.0
HIS IceQ X² Turbo Boost Clock H270XQMT2G2 R9 270X 2 GB1140
1400
179.2
36.5
91.2
HIS iPower IceQ X² Turbo H270QMT2G2M R9 270 2 GB975
100
179.2
31.2
78.0
MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming 4 GB1120
1400
179.2
35.8
89.6
PowerColor PCS+ AXR9 270X 2GBD5-PPDHE R9 270X 2 GB1100
1425
182.4
35.2
88.0
Sapphire Dual-X 100365L R9 270 2 GB945
1400
179.2
30.2
75.6
Sapphire Toxic Radeon R9 270X 2 GB1150
1500
192.0
36.8
92.0
Sapphire Vapor-X 100364VXL Radeon R9 270X 2 GB1100
1450
185.6
35.2
88.0

To boost, or not to boost, that is the question. Does a high specified clock rate mean anything if a card can't maintain it under load, and is forced to throttle back? We took all ten cards, warmed them up through a real-world graphics load, and then started recording their clock rates during an exhaustive gaming loop.

Asus DirectCU II R9270X-DC2T-4GD5 R9 270X 4 GB

Club 3D royalQueen CGAX-R927X6 R9 270X 2 GB

Gigabyte GV-R927XOC-4GD R9 270X 4 GB

HIS IceQ X² Turbo Boost Clock H270XQMT2G2 R9 270X 2 GB

HIS iPower IceQ X² Turbo H270QMT2G2M R9 270 2 GB

MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming 4 GB

PowerColor PCS+ AXR9 270X 2GBD5-PPDHE R9 270X 2 GB

Sapphire Dual-X 100365L R9 270 2 GB

Sapphire Toxic Radeon R9 270X 2 GB

Sapphire Vapor-X 100364VXL Radeon R9 270X 2 GB

3. Dimensions And Weight

The dimensions reported here don't necessarily match what you've heard from each manufacturer's official technical specifications. Rather, we measure them by hand to assure they're correct. The image and chart below should help illustrate what each measurement actually means. Auxiliary PCI Express power connectors are not included; they have to be added depending on the power plug and cable design.

Model
Length (L)
Height (H)
Depth (D1)
Depth (D2)
Asus DirectCU II R9270X-DC2T-4GD5 R9 270X 4 GB275 mm
124 mm
38 mm
4 mm
Club 3D royalQueen CGAX-R927X6 R9 270X 2 GB217 mm
120 mm
36 mm
4 mm
Gigabyte GV-R927XOC-4GD R9 270X 4 GB287 mm
112 mm
36 mm
4 mm
HIS IceQ X² Turbo Boost Clock H270XQMT2G2 R9 270X 2 GB264 mm
118 mm
38 mm
4 mm
HIS iPower IceQ X² Turbo H270QMT2G2M R9 270 2 GB210 mm
105 mm
36 mm
4 mm
MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming 4 GB263 mm
120 mm
38 mm
4 mm
PowerColor PCS+ AXR9 270X 2GBD5-PPDHE R9 270X 2 GB245 mm
105 mm
38 mm
6 mm
Sapphire Dual-X 100365L R9 270 2 GB224 mm
105 mm
36 mm
4 mm
Sapphire Toxic Radeon R9 270X 2 GB310 mm118 mm38 mm5 mm
Sapphire Vapor-X 100364VXL Radeon R9 270X 2 GB266 mm
108 mm
32 mm
4 mm

Graphics Card Weight

The weight of a card might be interesting if you're trying to figure out if any additional support is needed, or to calculate the amount of stress your motherboard might be under in a CrossFire-based setup.

Model
Weight
Asus DirectCU II R9270X-DC2T-4GD5 R9 270X 4 GB1.57 lbs / 715 g
Gigabyte GV-R927XOC-4GD R9 270X 4 GB1.56 lbs / 708 g
HIS IceQ X² Turbo Boost Clock H270XQMT2G2 R9 270X 2 GB1.62 lbs / 736 g
MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming 4 GB1.65 lbs / 748 g
Sapphire Dual-X 100365L R9 270 2 GB1.16 lbs / 527 g
Sapphire Toxic Radeon R9 270X 2 GB2.29 lbs / 1039 g
Sapphire Vapor-X 100364VXL Radeon R9 270X 2 GB1.69 lbs / 767 g
4. Temperatures

We're using Metro: Last Light for our thermal benchmarks. This should be a good representation of a high-end graphics workload. As a bonus, it's incredibly repeatable and easy to loop over and over through the built-in tool.

After publishing Does Radeon R9 290X Behave Any Differently In A Closed Case?, we decided to test these cards on an open bench table and in a closed case, since we found that dropping them into the right enclosure helped lower temperatures thanks to optimized airflow.

Model
Idle
Full Gaming Load
Asus DirectCU II R9270X-DC2T-4GD5 R9 270X 4 GB90 °F / 32 °C
106 °F / 71 °C
Club 3D royalQueen CGAX-R927X6 R9 270X 2 GB82 °F / 28 °C
142 °F / 61 °C
Gigabyte GV-R927XOC-4GD R9 270X 4 GB82 °F / 28 °C
149 °F / 65 °C
HIS IceQ X² Turbo Boost Clock H270XQMT2G2 R9 270X 2 GB86 °F / 30 °C
153 °F / 67 °C
HIS iPower IceQ X² Turbo H270QMT2G2M R9 270 2 GB82 °F / 28 °C
140 °F / 60 °C
MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming 4 GB93 °F / 34 °C
171 °F / 77 °C
PowerColor PCS+ AXR9 270X 2GBD5-PPDHE R9 270X 2 GB82 °F / 28 °C
151 °F / 66 °C
Sapphire Dual-X 100365L R9 270 2 GB82 °F / 28 °C
136 °F / 58 °C
Sapphire Toxic Radeon R9 270X 2 GB84 °F / 29 °C
140 °F / 60 °C
Sapphire Vapor-X 100364VXL Radeon R9 270X 2 GB90 °F / 32 °C
163 °F / 73 °C

Temperature Graphics

These graphs slow how the temperatures change over time, influenced by the heat sink, the fan, and the firmware's fan profile.

Asus DirectCU II R9270X-DC2T-4GD5 R9 270X 4 GB

Club 3D royalQueen CGAX-R927X6 R9 270X 2 GB

Gigabyte GV-R927XOC-4GD R9 270X 4 GB

HIS IceQ X² Turbo Boost Clock H270XQMT2G2 R9 270X 2 GB

HIS iPower IceQ X² Turbo H270QMT2G2M R9 270 2 GB

MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming 4 GB

PowerColor PCS+ AXR9 270X 2GBD5-PPDHE R9 270X 2 GB

Sapphire Dual-X 100365L R9 270 2 GB

Sapphire Toxic Radeon R9 270X 2 GB

Sapphire Vapor-X 100364VXL Radeon R9 270X 2 GB

5. Noise And Fan Speed

Noise

We first measure each graphics card's noise level in different workloads using the same studio microphone and calibration seen in our audio reviews. The microphone is positioned perpendicular to the middle of the graphics card at a distance of 50 cm.

Model:
Idle
Moderate Load
Full Load
Asus DirectCU II R9270X-DC2T-4GD5 R9 270X 4 GB30.8 dB(A)
39.7 dB(A)
44.5 dB(A)
Club 3D royalQueen CGAX-R927X6 R9 270X 2 GB30.9 dB(A)
38.5 dB(A)
43.2 dB(A)
Gigabyte GV-R927XOC-4GD R9 270X 4 GB31.0 dB(A)
39.1 dB(A)
44.2 dB(A)
HIS IceQ X² Turbo Boost Clock H270XQMT2G2 R9 270X 2 GB31.6 dB(A)
41.5 dB(A)
45.6 dBA
HIS iPower IceQ X² Turbo H270QMT2G2M R9 270 2 GB30.7 dB(A)
35.8 dB(A)
40.3 dB(A)
MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming 4 GB30.8 dB(A)
34.8 dB(A)
37.1 dB(A)
PowerColor PCS+ AXR9 270X 2GBD5-PPDHE R9 270X 2 GB30.6 dB(A)
34.8 dB(A)
37,2 dB(A)
Sapphire Dual-X 100365L R9 270 2 GB30.8 db(A)
33.2 dB(A)
36.6 dB(A)
Sapphire Toxic Radeon R9 270X 2 GB31.2 dB(A)
37.2 dB(A)
42.5 dB(A)
Sapphire Vapor-X 100364VXL Radeon R9 270X 2 GB31.8 dB(A)
40.8 dB(A)
44.7 dB(A)

Fan Speed

The number, diameter, and rotational speed of the fans are mainly what determine the cooler's noise level. We present the RPM curves for each graphics card separately; we tried, and putting them into one graph is too cluttered.

Asus DirectCU II R9270X-DC2T-4GD5 R9 270X 4 GB

Club 3D royalQueen CGAX-R927X6 R9 270X 2 GB

Gigabyte GV-R927XOC-4GD R9 270X 4 GB

HIS IceQ X² Turbo Boost Clock H270XQMT2G2 R9 270X 2 GB

HIS iPower IceQ X² Turbo H270QMT2G2M R9 270 2 GB

MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming 4 GB

PowerColor PCS+ AXR9 270X 2GBD5-PPDHE R9 270X 2 GB

Sapphire Dual-X 100365L R9 270 2 GB

Sapphire Toxic Radeon R9 270X 2 GB

Sapphire Vapor-X 100364VXL Radeon R9 270X 2 GB

6. Video Comparison

The videos show the cards running a Unigine Heaven loop, which probably matches or exceeds the toughest challenges a card will ever face during gaming. We run the same loop during the temperature tests and the fan RPM tests.

Asus DirectCU II R9270X-DC2T-4GD5 R9 270X 4 GB

Asus R9 270X DirectCU II Top - Full Load

Club 3D royalQueen CGAX-R927X6 R9 270X 2 GB

Club3D R9 270X Royal Queen - Gaming Loop

Gigabyte GV-R927XOC-4GD R9 270X 4 GB

Gigabyte R9 270 Windforce - Gaming Loop

HIS IceQ X² Turbo Boost Clock H270XQMT2G2 R9 270X 2 GB

HIS R9 270X IceQ X² Turbo - Gaming Loop

HIS iPower IceQ X² Turbo H270QMT2G2M R9 270 2 GB

HIS R9 270 IceQ X² Turbo - Gaming Loop

MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming 4 GB

MSI R9 270X Gaming OC - Gaming Loop

PowerColor PCS+ AXR9 270X 2GBD5-PPDHE R9 270X 2 GB

Powercolor R9 270X PCS - Gaming Loop

Sapphire Dual-X 100365L R9 270 2 GB

Sapphire R9 270 Dual-X - Full Load - Gaming Loop

Sapphire Toxic Radeon R9 270X 2 GB

Sapphire R9 270X Toxic - Full Load - Gaming Loop

Sapphire Vapor-X 100364VXL Radeon R9 270X 2 GB

Sapphire R9 270X VaporX - Gaming Loop

7. Asus DirectCU II R9270X-DC2T-4GD5 R9 270X 4 GB

Asus DirectCU II R9270X-DC2T-4GD5 R9 270X 4 GB
Auxiliary Power Connectors
2 x six-pin
Connectors
1 x DVI-I (Dual-link and analog)
1 x DVI-D
1 x HDMI
1 x DisplayPort
Form Factor
Two slots
Pros+ Slim
+ Lightweight
Cons
- Cannot maintain boost clock rate under load
- Quite noisy


Front and Back

Sides

Connectors

8. Club 3D royalQueen CGAX-R927X6 R9 270X 2 GB

Club 3D royalQueen CGAX-R927X6 R9 270X 2 GB
Auxiliary Power Connectors
2 x six-pin
Connectors
1 x DVI-I (Dual-link and analog)
1 x DVI-D
1 x HDMI
1 x DisplayPort
Form Factor
Two slots
Pros+ Short
+ Lightweight
Cons
- Average noise level



Front and Back

Sides

Connectors

9. Gigabyte GV-R927XOC-4GD R9 270X 4 GB

Gigabyte GV-R927XOC-4GD R9 270X 4 GB
Auxiliary Power Connectors
2 x six-pin
Connectors
1 x DVI-I (Dual-link and analog)
1 x DVI-D
1 x HDMI
1 x DisplayPort
Form Factor
Two slots
Pros+ Slim
+ Lightweight
+ Maintain its clock rate under load
+ Lots of cooling headroom
Cons
- Very long
- Quite noisy
- The fan profile should be adjusted manually

Front and Back

Sides

Connectors

10. HIS IceQ X² Turbo Boost Clock H270XQMT2G2 R9 270X 2 GB

HIS IceQ X² Turbo Boost Clock H270XQMT2G2 R9 270X 2 GB
Auxiliary Power Connectors
2 x six-pin
Connectors
1 x DVI-I (Dual-link and analog)
1 x HDMI
2 x mini-DisplayPort
Form Factor
Two slots
Pros+ Lightweight
+ Slim
+ Maintains its clock rate under load
+ Lots of cooling headroom
Cons
- Quite noisy
- The fan profile should be adjusted manually

Front and Back

Sides

Connectors

11. HIS iPower IceQ X² Turbo H270QMT2G2M R9 270 2 GB

HIS iPower IceQ X² Turbo H270QMT2G2M R9 270 2 GB
Auxiliary Power Connectors
1 x six-pin
Connectors
1 x DVI-I (Dual-link and analog)
1 x HDMI
2 x mini-DisplayPort
Form Factor
Two slots
Pros+ Lightweight
+ Slim
+ Plenty of cooling headroom
Cons
- Slight coil whine at high frame rates

Front and Back

Sides

Connectors

12. MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming 4 GB

MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming 4 GB
Auxiliary Power Connectors
2 x six-pin
Connectors
1 x DVI-I (Dual-link and analog)
1 x DVI-D
1 x HDMI
1 x DisplayPort
Form Factor
Two slots
Pros
+ Slim
+ Lightweight
+ Maintains its clock rate under load
+ Very quiet
Cons
- Almost no additional cooling headroom without increasing noise

Front and Back

Sides

Connectors

13. PowerColor PCS+ AXR9 270X 2GBD5-PPDHE R9 270X 2 GB

PowerColor PCS+ AXR9 270X 2GBD5-PPDHE R9 270X 2 GB
Auxiliary Power Connectors
2 x six-pin
Connectors
1 x DVI-I (Dual-link and analog)
1 x DVI-D
1 x HDMI
1 x DisplayPort
Form Factor
Two slots
Pros
+ Sturdy back plate
+ Very quiet
+ Cool
Cons
+ Long
+ Heavy

Front and Back

Sides

Connectors

14. Sapphire Dual-X 100365L R9 270 2 GB

Sapphire Dual-X 100365L R9 270 2 GB
Auxiliary Power Connectors
1 x six-pin
Connectors
1 x DVI-I (Dual-link and analog)
1 x DVI-D
1 x HDMI
1 x DisplayPort
Form Factor
Two slots
Pros
+ Short
+ Quiet
Cons
- Fan connector interferes with the six-pin power connector

Front and Back

Sides

Connectors

15. Sapphire Toxic Radeon R9 270X 2 GB

Sapphire Toxic Radeon R9 270X 2 GB
Auxiliary Power Connectors
2 x six-pin
Connectors
1 x DVI-I (Dual-link and analog)
1 x DVI-D
1 x HDMI
1 x DisplayPort
Form Factor
Two slots
Pros
+ Fast
+ Significant cooling headroom
Cons
- Very long and heavy

Front and Back

Sides

Connectors

16. Sapphire Vapor-X 100364VXL Radeon R9 270X 2 GB

Sapphire Vapor-X 100364VXL Radeon R9 270X 2 GB
Auxiliary Power Connectors
2 x six-pin
Connectors
1 x DVI-I (Dual-link and analog)
1 x DVI-D
1 x HDMI
1 x DisplayPort
Form Factor
Two slots
Pros
+ Slim
Cons
- Cannot maintain boost clock rate under load
- Noisy

Front and Back

Sides

Connectors