Graphics cards are an integral part of any PC
owner who has a specific need for rich graphics. With this PC component, gamers
are able to play graphics-intense games on their machines without having to
worry about stuttering or video lag and those involved in graphic artists are
able to use these cards to help them create and edit complex designs.
For the most part of their existence,
graphics cards are mostly used for handling the display component of a PC, but
recent innovations have made the video card more than just an article that
helps a PC get better visuals.
Card makers have developed a new chip architecture that allows the CPU and GPU to function as co-processors. Dubbed as Heterogeneous architecture, this technology will allow the GPU to
lighten the workload of the CPU by taking in some of the processes done by the
CPU in order to boost performance.
AMD’s newly released Radeon R9 270x is one
such product that packs HSA technology. But does it truly deliver the type of
performance that AMD’s Heterogeneous architecture promises or is just a gimmick?
Here’s our quick review of the AMD Radeon
R9 270x to help clear things out.
BUILD AND DESIGN
The AMD Radeon R9 series was designed with
AMD’s Graphics Core Next architecture (GCN) that promises blistering
performance and breath-taking image quality making it a top choice for gamers
and those involved in special effects.
So of course, the hardware design of the R9
series reflects the type of performance it brings to the table. The demo unit
we reviewed was the one originally from AMD and features a more discrete design
in contrast to those customized by other manufacturers such as Asus, MSI and
Gigabyte.
The entire unit is enclosed in a single
block of plastic casing with red accents. There’s a small red cooling fan at
one end of the card while the other end is where the various video ports are
located (2 DVI ports, 1 HDMI port and 1 display port), while the underside of
the R9 reveals part of the board where the card’s various components are
installed.
INSTALLATION
The Radeon R9 is quite a chunky graphics
card with dimensions measuring 24cm long, 3cm high and around 10cm wide, so its
installation may prove quite challenging to some users, especially those who
have very limited space in their PC case.
The card connects to the motherboard via a
PCI-express slot and uses two 6-pin PCI-express power cables. The Radeon R9
270x should come with a 6-pin adapter to go with the 4-pin power cables that
come with most power supply units. (Installation
Tip: Make sure the card you bought comes with the PCI-e cables because they are
very hard to find and rather expensive – around $8 a piece).
The graphics card occupies two slots at the
back of your PC case so make sure you have enough space. Otherwise, you will
need to reorganize existing components of your rig to make room for the card.
Once installed, the only thing left to do
is install the drivers meant for the R9 and it should work without any hiccups.
Just do note that you need to disable the built-in graphics card in order for
the card to work.
PERFORMANCE
I’m not really a hardcore gamer so
obviously, I didn’t have the arsenal of graphics-intense games on hand to test
the performance of the R9. So instead, I used 3D Mark 11 benchmarking app to
test the power of the R9 270x.
But before that, I tried to compare the
Windows Experience Index score for graphics before and after installing the R9
to get a general idea of how much power does the card bring in to a system. The
results show an increase in WEI score for graphics performance by as much as
200%.
On the other hand, 3D Mark 11 scores are at
around 7000+ for graphics, 1000+ for physics score and a frame rate that ranges
from 20-50 fps. And based on Futuremark’s database of benchmark scores, this
puts the R9 right in the middle of the top graphics cards from both AMD and Nvidia.
FINAL WORDS
AMD has always been a trusted brand when it
comes to PCs thanks to its legacy of bringing top notch PC components into the
market that are usually placed in a more competitive price in contrast to its
competitors.
The Radeon R9 270x is of course not an
exception. The card has a price tag of around $200 (approx. 10,000PHP) and yet
it brings in the kind of performance that are found in even higher spec’d
graphics cards. Although the overall dimensions of the R9 was quite big, I do
realize that the extra power needs some room to breathe so I guess it’s
alright.
Installation was also quite easy and almost
a plug and play affair, which makes it convenient to use even for first time
rig-makers.
All in all the AMD Radeon R9 270x makes for
a compelling choice for anyone who’s into serious gaming, heavy graphic design
or video editing especially if you don’t mind paying its above average price
tag.
