Introduction

AMD released their Radeon R9 270 Non-X just last week. The card isn't exactly new; it's basically an R9 270X (with the same amount of shaders), same memory, but lower clock speeds. The R9 270 is meant to replace the AMD HD 7850, with more performance of course. Both the HD 7850 and R9 270/270X are based on the same Pitcairn silicon, although we've seen the name "Curacao" thrown around by unofficial sources. AMD never confirmed the name change nor do they claim the GPU to be different, or come with different GPU specifications. The R9 270 does not support AMD TrueAudio technology.



On our testbench today, we have the ASUS R9 270 Direct CU II OC which uses the company's signature DC II cooler to provide better noise levels and temperatures. The card is also overclocked out of the box, to 975 MHz, which is a 50 MHz overclock; the reference AMD Radeon R9 270 Non-X uses a 925 MHz clock. Memory isn't overclocked at all and remains at the default of 1400 MHz.

The ASUS R9 270 Direct CU II OC costs $185, which is a tiny $5 increase over the reference design cost.

AMD did not send us a reference design R9 270 for review, so we have no baseline for a comparison of performance, power draw, temperature, and heat. The numbers shouldn't be much different to those of the R9 270X, though.