AMD Radeon R9 270 Review: Replacing The Radeon HD 7800s

By Don Woligroski
published

AMD packages up another sub-$200 graphics card, this time calling it the Radeon R9 270. We expected a Radeon HD 7850 replacement, but received something quite different. Is it a worthwhile step up, or just a familiar piece of hardware with a paint job?

Results: Call Of Duty: Ghosts

Let's begin with a brand new game, Call of Duty: Ghosts. Our full performance analysis of this title is coming soon, but here is a preview of what the sub-$200 graphics card market offers in this highly-anticipated title at 1920x1080 with high-quality details applied:

The Radeon R9 270 performs just like the Radeon HD 7870, exactly as we expected it to. It's slightly faster than the GeForce GTX 660, and significantly faster than the Radeon HD 7850 and GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost, which appear a lot alike in this title.

The Curacao/Pitcairn-based GPUs boast the lowest frame time variance in our field of contenders, though this game generates more spikes than we want to see. It's still new, so lets see how subsequent driver updates change this moving forward.

Don Woligroski
31 Comments Comment from the forums
  • 16bit
    Seems like a pretty solid card, but I would like to see benchmarks that include some of the higher end cards. Curious how big the gap between the 280x and the 270 is.
    Reply
  • CaptainTom
    I actually like this card... Make an overclocking review!
    Reply
  • esrever
    I feel like they don't need a 270x now since board partners could just have released OCed versions of this to fill the slot. Strange that they don't have a 7850 replacement.
    Reply
  • m32
    11925880 said:
    I actually like this card... Make an overclocking review!

    I doubt this card has too much headroom in that department. The 6-pin is a gift and a curse.
    Reply
  • wdmfiber
    The chart need a typo fixed. The 7870 is I incorrectly labeled as 40nm, but it's built on the 28nm fab process; just like everything else. .

    Frig... we've been stuck at 28nm for so long it's just "understood". You could get-away with leaving that whole column out.
    Reply
  • Sakkura
    Wonder if there'll be any versions with two 6-pin power connectors. They could be great value for overclocking.
    Reply
  • bustapr
    I wonder, how exactly does overclocking work with these cards? Wouldnt it just be varying its fan speeds whenever it hits a certain temperature and sends clockspeeds all over the place?
    Reply
  • AMD Radeon
    i am waiting for a price cut for R9 series

    the previous version, 7870 GHz edition and 7870 XT is now so cheap
    Reply
  • tomfreak
    I will not be surprise they gonna release a R9-260X (R9 version of 260X) that is a rebrand of 7850. A curacao chip with a broken CU has to go somewhere.....
    Reply
  • witcherx
    why not radeon 7850 2gb?
    Reply