The PowerColor 270X PCS+ Review

Conclusion

This has been quite an interesting exploration for us in evaluating the $199 PowerColor R9 270X PCS+ edition versus the $189 GTX 660 and the $249 GTX 760. At PowerColor factory mildly overclocked 1100MHz speeds, the 270X PCS+ did well performance-wise slotting above the reference GTX 660, but just below the GTX 760.  Overclocking it further, brought it up to match the GTX 760 in many cases and beating it in many other game benchmarks.  Of course, the GTX 760 can be overclocked also, but we see a $200 PowerColor 270X PCS+ competing well with a card above its price class.

Comparing game bundles, the GeForce Holiday bundle including Assassin’s Creed IV–Black Flag and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist that are offered with the GTX 760/660 is a really good deal for most gamers, and it would be good to see an AMD bundle included for the R9 270X.

We see good overclockability when the PowerColor R9 270X PCS+ is overclocked beyond 1100MHz, and it scales well in performance.  For its $199 price, the PowerColor R9 270X PCS+ gives good bang-for-buck when compared to the performance of the GTX 760 which is priced at $249.

Pros

• The PowerColor R9 270X PCS+ edition provides solid performance for a 2GB $199 card and the cooling solution is very good.
• Two or three of these cards in CrossFire can be used together to increase performance far beyond a single card.
• 3-panel Eyefinity plus an accessory display can be driven by a single R9 270X.
• PowerColor offers a 2-year warranty and good customer service.
• The card is factory-overclocked out of the box and can overclock further, increasing performance to match the more expensive stock GTX 760.
• The backplate is a nice touch.

Cons

• The no-game bundle is inferior to Nvidia’s 2-game Holiday bundle that is included with the GTX 760 and GTX 660.

The Verdict:

• If you are looking for a $199 card to play at 1920×1080 at very high settings, the PowerColor R9 270X is an excellent choice and great bang for buck.  We award it ABT’s Great Value award!

If you currently game on an older generation video card, you will do yourself a big favor by upgrading to a PowerColor R9 270X PCS+. The competition is hot and Nvidia offers their own set of features including multi-display Surround and PhysX. They are also offering a holiday bundle of 2 games with the GTX 760 or GTX 660.

Stay tuned, there is a lot coming from us at ABT. We are building our i7-4770K Haswell PC now and will be featuring the new Kingston HyperX “Predator” RAM at 2800MHz.   And don’t forget to check our Forums. ABT forum tech discussions are among the best to be found anywhere!

Happy Gaming!