{"id":39993,"date":"2013-12-11T00:02:23","date_gmt":"2013-12-11T00:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=39993"},"modified":"2013-12-11T16:01:14","modified_gmt":"2013-12-11T16:01:14","slug":"powercolor-270x-pcs-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/powercolor-270x-pcs-review\/","title":{"rendered":"The PowerColor 270X PCS+ Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

We received a PowerColor R9 270X PCS+ nearly two weeks ago from PowerColor .\u00a0 It is available at Newegg for $199<\/a>, and we have been pitting it against the less expensive GTX 660 ($179)<\/a> and against the more expensive GTX 760 ($249)<\/a>.\u00a0 \"FEATUREDIMAGE\"<\/a>The R9 270X is generally priced at $199<\/a> and it replaces the similarly-performing HD 7870 which is discontinued and often discounted.\u00a0 The GTX 660 Ti at $199 would be a better match in performance for the R9 270X over the GTX 660, but it has been EOL’d by Nvidia and we are only benching current video cards for this evaluation.<\/p>\n

The GTX 760 is Nvidia’s $249 video card that replaces the GTX 660 Ti which has been discontinued. The GTX 660 still holds down the $179-189 price point and both are offered with a 2-game Holiday Bundle including Assassin\u2019s Creed IV\u2013Black Flag<\/em><\/a>, and <\/em>Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist<\/em><\/a>. Be very careful to check that the etailer advertises the bundle, and has keys in stock before you order.\u00a0 Generally the R9 270X does not come with a game bundle although Battlefield 4<\/em> is offered with select models.<\/p>\n

Although we are going to focus on the PowerColor R9 270X PCS+ (part number AXR9 270X 2GBD5-PPDHE) performance<\/span>, including overclocking it beyond its factory overclocks as we set it against the GTX 760\/GTX 660, we shall also give you the Big Picture as we compare with nine other video card configurations.<\/p>\n

The PowerColor R9 270X PCS+ Features and Specs<\/h2>\n

The R9 270X is a rebadge of the HD 7870.\u00a0 It is exactly the same Pitcarin GPU with a different BIOS featuring 1,280 stream processors based on GCN (Graphics CoreNext) architecture, 80 texture memory units (TMUs), 32 raster operations units (ROPs), and 2GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit wide memory interface.\u00a0 The R9 270X which launched at $199 uses the same Pitcarin GPU as the Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition which originally launched at $349 before dropping to and holding at $249 when its competition arrived.<\/p>\n

The R9 270X reference core is clocked the same as the HD 7870 it replaces, but it boosts by 50MHz to 1050MHz.\u00a0 Its memory speed is also significantly higher at 1400MHz.\u00a0 The PowerColor R9 270X PCS+ is factory overclocked to boost to 1100MHz and its memory is overclocked 25MHz to 1425MHz.<\/p>\n

PowerColor’s PCS+ series is made for overclocking and we are going to further overclock as far as we can go with stock fan profile and reference voltage. The PCS+ R9 270X uses PowerColor’s Gold Power kit, which includes Digital PWM, Ferrite Conducting Power (FCP), and Multi Phase Design to ensure power efficiency and stability when overclocking.\"COMPARE7970\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The exclusive PCS+ cooling design uses dual 90mm VGA fans, three heat pipes and cooling fins together with a pure copper base, to deliver a claimed 16% more cooling than the reference design. PowerColor has been using their patented PCS+ Double Blades fan design successfully for years, and we can see that the cooler for our own PowerColor HD 7970 PCS+, although larger, is similar to the new R9 270X PCS+ cooler.<\/p>\n

The R9 270X vs. the GTX 660\/GTX 760<\/h2>\n

The reference GTX 760 can be found for under $249 with mail-in-rebate while the GTX 660 can be bought for less than $179.\u00a0 The PowerColor R9 270X sits in between them at $199.\u00a0 We need to see how it fits in terms of value for its performance.<\/p>\n

Since we do not want any chance of our CPU bottlenecking our graphics, we are testing all of our graphics cards by using our Ivy Bridge Intel Core i7-3770K<\/a> at 4.50GHz, 16 GB Kingston “Beast” HyperX<\/a> DDR3 at 2133MHz, and an EVGA Z77<\/a> FTW motherboard. The EVGA FTW motherboard features the 16x+16x PCIe 3.0 specification for CrossFire\/SLI. \"\" The Core i7-3770K at 4.5GHz is fast enough to differentiate even high-end video cards at high resolution and at high detail settings. \"\"<\/p>\n

Before we look at our test bed and run benchmarks, let’s unbox our PowerColor R9 270X PCS+ video card and look at its specifications.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The PowerColor R9 270X PCS+<\/h2>\n

PowerColor’s main differentiation from other AMD partners is the company that stands behind it with a 2-year warranty, excellent customer service, and technical support should you need it. The PowerColor 270 PCS+ itself is mildly overclocked and has excellent characteristics which may indicate that the GPU was binned.\"PCS-box-1\"<\/a> There is nothing fancy to see from the outside of the box. The card arrives in a PowerColor box that advertises the card without its specifications. It emphasizes overclocking<\/em>, 2GB of GDDR5 memory, support for Eyefinity and 4K resolutions, and it also mentions DX11.2 and PCIe 3.0.\"PCS-box-obv\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On the back of the box, we see the card’s features as well as the power and system requirements.\"packing\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The PowerColor 270X PCS+ video card comes well-protected by padding and also protected from static electricity.\"contents\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Inside the box, besides the new 270X PCS+, we find a driver CD, manual and a VGA to DVI adapter<\/em>. The PowerColor R9 270X PCS has a good-looking design and it uses a dual-cooling blower-style fan much like our PowerColor HD 7970. The R9 270X PCS+ is setup for pairing with another 270X, but a CrossFire bridge is not included. Just like with Nvidia cards, you can mix cards from different vendors with different clock speeds. In addition, unlike with Nvidia cards, there is much more flexibility to mix cards with different amounts of cores and different framebuffers.\"turbo-timer\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Turbo Timer<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>We also see a new exclusive to PowerColor feature – featured first on this PowerColor R9 270X PCS+ but not included in box, it is optional.\u00a0 It safely cools down the hot GPU.\u00a0 It’s a great idea for extending the life of an an extremely hot-running GPU like Hawaii, but Pitcarin really runs cool and we never saw it hit over 68C, even after extended benching under maximum load and overclocking.<\/p>\n

As we turn the card over, we note a very nice backplate and the connector for the optional Turbo Timer.\u00a0 We can also see the the 6-pin+6-pin connectors for the PCIe cables.<\/p>\n

\"PCS-3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Display connections include two DVI ports, one 1.4a HDMI port, and one DisplayPort. Eyefinity triple-display surround gaming is possible with one card.\"PCS-CONN\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The R9 270X PCS+ also includes sound for HD audio and Blu-ray 3D movies.<\/p>\n

Let’s check out the PowerColor R9 270X specifications from their website<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Specifications <\/strong><\/h2>\n

The PCS+ R9 270X uses Digital PWM, Ferrite Conducting Power (FCP), and Multi Phase Design to ensure power efficiency and stability.\u00a0 The patented PowerColor Double Blades fan design of the PCS+ R9 270X igive 20% more airflow over the reference blower.\u00a0 The design is intended to prevent dust from depositing at the bearings and at the bottom of fan, thus prolonging the life of the video card.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the specifications<\/strong>:\"SPECS\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here are some of the features:<\/strong><\/p>\n

GCN Architecture<\/strong><\/p>\n

A new design for AMD\u2019s unified graphics processing and compute cores that allows them to achieve higher utilization for improved performance and efficiency.<\/p>\n

AMD Eyefinty Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n

Run multiple displays from a single graphics board and expand your gaming field of view across all displays.<\/p>\n

AMD App Acceleration<\/strong><\/p>\n

AMD App Accelerator creates a \u201cco-processing\u201d environment in which the compute processing potential in your AMD Radeon\u2122 Graphics processor works together with the system central processor, to accelerate enabled applications.<\/p>\n

AMD HD3D Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n

Supports the latest stereoscopic 3D content and display technologies. Play 3D games, watch Blu-ray 3D videos, and edit 3D photos on your 3D Monitors, TV, or projector.<\/p>\n

AMD CrossFire\u2122 Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n

Multi-GPU support offers superior scalability. Increase your gaming performance up to 2x with AMD CrossFire\u2122 technology, 2.75x for TriFire configurations, or 3.75x with QuadFire configs.<\/p>\n

Microsoft DirextX\u00ae 11.2<\/strong><\/p>\n

Get intense gaming performance and unrivalled image quality with stunning 3D visual effects, realistic lighting and lifelike imagery.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

AMD HD Media Accelerator<\/strong><\/p>\n

Assumes rendering responsibility for HD encode (VCE)\/decode (MPEG-4 ASP, H.264. MVC, MPEG2, etc.) and conclusively enable superior video playback quality with advanced hardware post-processing algorithms.<\/p>\n

<\/strong>
\nAMD PowerPlay\u2122 Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n

AMD PowerPlay\u2122 Technology dynamically adjusts clockspeeds in response to GPU load, saving power for just when you need it.<\/p>\n

AMD PowerTune Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maximizes performance under load conditions by dynamically increasing the GPU engine clock to take advantage of unused TDP headroom. Also allows users to configure their own TDP limit, within a provided range, for even higher performance or more power efficiency.<\/p>\n

Advanced GDDR5 Memory Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n

GDDR5 memory provides the highest available memory bandwidth of any memory technology today, enabling higher GPU performance.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Intelligent Overclocking Control<\/strong><\/p>\n

AMD latest Boost State technology automatically allows Radeon Graphic to run higher than the base core speed if it\u2019s operating below power, current, and temperature specification limits.<\/p>\n

Add support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 and we see a well-rounded and fully-featured video card.<\/p>\n

Here are a few more pictures of the card:<\/p>\n

\"PCS-edgepciE\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"PCS-edge\"<\/a>\"PCS-22\"<\/a>We can’t wait to test the PowerColor 270X PCS+, but before we begin the testing, head over to our testing configuration. <\/p>\n

Test Configuration – Hardware<\/span> <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n