They both have factory-overclocked GPUs and custom coolers

Nov 13, 2013 10:13 GMT  ·  By

Advanced Micro Devices only launched the Radeon R9 270 graphics card today, but VTX3D figured this would be as good a time as any to also release a better Radeon R9 270X. The two cards make up the X-Edition.

The naming scheme is pretty confusing really. You have the Radeon R9 270X X-Edition and the Radeon R9 270 (Non-X) X-Edition.

Add to that the identical looks, the very, very slight difference between the boxes, and the fact that the R9 270X only has higher clocks and TDP setting it apart, and it's easy to get confused.

Fortunately, the clock difference is actually pretty big, so if you make sure to check the spec sheets when browsing, you'll be fine.

First off, we'll look at the Radeon R9 270 X-Edition, since this is the actual card launched today.

It has a factory overclocking of 30 MHz, meaning that the GPU operates at 930 MHz most of the time, and 955 MHz in a pinch.

Secondly, it has 2 GB of GDDR5 VRAM connected to the GPU via 256-bit interface and clocked at 5.6 GHz.

Furthermore, the cooler is a single-fan model that seems to imitate a race car. Cooling performance should be of up to 20%.

The rest is the same: dual-link DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs, 150W TDP (unless those extra MHz really want more juice) and a price of $180 / €180.

The R9 270X X-Edition, meanwhile, works at 1030 MHz usually, and at 1080 MHz when needed. The memory amount is the same as above, and the same interface of 256 bits is used, as is the frequency.

The TDP is of 180W though, and the cooler is a dual-fan version of the one pictured on the left.

As for prices, we can assume that the VTX3D Radeon R9 270 X-Edition will ship for a bit over $180 / €180, and the R9 270X X-Edition for a bit over $200 / €200.

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VTX3D Radeon R9 270 X-Edition
VTX3D Radeon R9 270 X-Edition
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