HIS Radeon R9 270X IceQ X2 Turbo Boost Review

December 16, 2013 | 09:14

Companies: #his

Power Consumption (Idle and Gaming)

In order to get an idea of a GPU's real world power draw, we run our Crysis 3 2,560 x 1,600 benchmark, which is currently our toughest single screen GPU test. We use a watt meter to measure the maximum total system power draw during the test, and also take an idle reading at the Windows desktop (2,560 x 1,600).

Power consumption (idle)

Windows 7 Aero Desktop

  • AMD Radeon R7 260X 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 1GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 7850 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 2GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 7770 1GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 7750 1GB
  • AMD Radeon R9 270X 2GB
  • HIS Radeon R9 270X IceQ X2 Turbo Boost 2GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 7870 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 2GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB with Boost
  • AMD Radeon HD 7790 1GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB GHz Edition
  • AMD Radeon R9 280X 3GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 670 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 2GB
  • 103
  • 103
  • 103
  • 104
  • 104
  • 106
  • 106
  • 106
  • 106
  • 107
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 110
  • 110
  • 110
  • 111
  • 111
  • 112
0
25
50
75
100
125
System Power Consumption in Watts

Power consumption (load)

Crysis 3 (2,560 x 1,600, 0x AA, Very High Settings)

  • AMD Radeon HD 7750 1GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 1GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 7770 1GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 7790 1GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 7850 2GB
  • AMD Radeon R7 260X 2GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 7870 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB
  • AMD Radeon R9 270X 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 670 2GB
  • HIS Radeon R9 270X IceQ X2 Turbo Boost 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 2GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB with Boost
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 3GB
  • AMD Radeon R9 280X 3GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan 6GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB GHz Edition
  • 173
  • 179
  • 196
  • 200
  • 205
  • 227
  • 229
  • 243
  • 244
  • 245
  • 260
  • 266
  • 277
  • 280
  • 295
  • 300
  • 314
  • 333
  • 344
  • 350
  • 352
  • 356
0
100
200
300
400
System Power Consumption in Watts

Thermal Performance (Idle and Gaming)

Thermal output is measured using Unigine's free Heaven 3.0 benchmark, as its DirectX 11 features will stress all parts of a modern GPU. We leave all GPU fan profiles and settings as they come. We use the default Unigine settings with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 and leave the benchmark running for ten minutes so that temperatures plateau. We record the peak GPU temperature using GPU-Z, and present the data as the delta T (the difference between the GPU temperature and the ambient temperature in our labs). We also take an idle reading at the Windows desktop (2,560 x 1,600).

Heat (idle)

Windows 7 Aero Desktop

  • HIS Radeon R9 270X IceQ X2 Turbo Boost 2GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 7870 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB
  • AMD Radeon R7 260X 2GB
  • AMD Radeon R9 270X 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan 6GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 690 4GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 7770 1GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 3GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 2GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB GHz Edition
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 670 2GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 7990 6GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 7750 1GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 1GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB with Boost
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 8
  • 8
  • 9
  • 9
  • 10
  • 10
  • 10
  • 10
  • 10
  • 11
  • 11
  • 11
  • 11
  • 12
  • 12
  • 14
  • 16
0
3
5.5
8
10.5
13
15.5
18
Delta T in °C

Heat (load)

Unigine Heaven Benchmark (2,560 x 1,600, default settings)

  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 1GB
  • HIS Radeon R9 270X IceQ X2 Turbo Boost 2GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 7870 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 2GB
  • PowerColor Radeon R9 270 OC 2GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 7750 1GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti
  • AMD Radeon HD 7770 1GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB with Boost
  • AMD Radeon R9 270X 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 2GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 7990 6GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB GHZ Editon
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 670 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 2GB
  • AMD Radeon R7 260X 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 3GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan 6GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 690 4GB
  • 30
  • 33
  • 33
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 48
  • 50
  • 50
  • 54
  • 54
  • 54
  • 55
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 59
  • 59
  • 63
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Delta T in °C

*As there is no stock model of the AMD Radeon HD 7850 2GB, and we do not have stock samples of the AMD Radeon HD 7790 1GB, AMD Radeon R9 280X or AMD Radeon R9 270 they cannot be included in the thermal performance graphs
Discuss this in the forums

Posted by SchizoFrog - Mon Dec 16 2013 09:57

Definitely seems to be a good value move as it holds it's own against the GTX760 and is quite a bit cheaper. I don't think we'll see the GTX760 come down much further in price and so eyes on the next gen of nVidia cards.

Tell me something though, at 1080 res are we starting to see 2GB of memory being maxed out by newer games? Should gamers be looking for 3GB (am I right in thinking you need a memory bandwidth of 384 to use 3GB?) and 4GB cards instead if we want our cards to live longer than the next 12 months? Also, can someone just briefly explain again about the limits factored in by the memory bandwidth as I seem to remember previous comments about a memory bandwidth of 256 not being able to use all of 4GB of memory.

Sorry if the questions are a little convoluted and interlinking. :)

Posted by rollo - Mon Dec 16 2013 10:21

270x will not play most new releases on high settings in 12months so its not really relivent if it had 3gb or 4gb of ram that would not change much it simply lacks the gpu grunt to do that task.

Its crysis 3 results are pretty poor really 32fps is below what id accept. 36fps in bf4 is basically sub 30fps in 64 player multi for the record so your already not really getting playable fps. Bit has always said 30fps is enough I dont personally agree with that niether does a few others but thats how they review there cards.

Having an extra 1gb of vram or 2gb even would do little for this card.

Posted by Corky42 - Mon Dec 16 2013 11:03

SchizoFrog
Tell me something though, at 1080 res are we starting to see 2GB of memory being maxed out by newer games?
Others may disagree, but i would say the GPU is holding things back more than the amount of RAM.
SchizoFrog
Should gamers be looking for 3GB (am I right in thinking you need a memory bandwidth of 384 to use 3GB?) and 4GB cards instead if we want our cards to live longer than the next 12 months? Also, can someone just briefly explain again about the limits factored in by the memory bandwidth as I seem to remember previous comments about a memory bandwidth of 256 not being able to use all of 4GB of memory.
To access all 3GB in one cycle you would need 384bit bus, as each RAM module uses a 32bit bus AFAIK. You can get cards with more ram like you say with a 256bit bus and 4GB ram, but the ram modules will split the bus between them.

Posted by SchizoFrog - Mon Dec 16 2013 11:26

Corky42
To access all 3GB in one cycle you would need 384bit bus, as each RAM module uses a 32bit bus AFAIK. You can get cards with more ram like you say with a 256bit bus and 4GB ram, but the ram modules will split the bus between them.
Correct me if I am wrong but then does that mean that the RAM refreshes on alternate cycles? I mean the Titan has 6GB RAM and a bus speed of 384bit so does 3GB get refreshed and then the other 3GB on the next cycle and so on...?
Is this a massive hindrance to GPU performance or something that is virtually insignificant?
I've never really paid much attention to the inner workings of GPU RAM and it's performance attributes.
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