Product Showcase MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming ITX
Product Showcase MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming ITX
MSI send along a Radeon R9 270X Gaming ITX graphics card as well. This puppy is 17cm... IDEAL for that petite build in combo with the Z97I Gaming AC. The card uses a custom PCB lined with its electrical components. MSI implemented a new "RADAX" fan that combines axial blades with radial fins. It's a fan and a blower rolled into one. The hybrid air mover sits in a dual-slot cooler that exhausts hot air out the back of the chassis. The cooler works fine, yet you do need to make sure you have proper ventilation inside the chassis. And that can be a challenge with these small form factor setups.
R9 270X (Also known as R7870 Ghz / Pitcairn / Curacao XT)
- Stream Processors 1280
- Clock Frequency up-to 1.05 GHz
- 2.69 TFLOPS compute performance
- 2 memory at 5.6 Gbps
- 180W TDP
- PCI-E 3.0
- API - DirectX 11.2 / OpenGl 4.3 / Mantle
The MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming ITX is so cute at 17 cm. Yet it remains very powerful to play even the more modern games (we'll show you some benchmarks in this review as well). The 270X is armed with 2GB to to get you a little more leash with resolutions and image quality settings.
| Name | R9 270X GAMING 2G ITX |
|---|---|
| GPU | Curacao XT |
| Shader Processors | 1280 Units |
| Core Clock (Base / Boost) MHz | 1030 / 1080 |
| Memory Clock | 5600 MHz |
| Memory Size / Type | 2GB / GDDR5 |
| Fan Type / TDP | RADAX / 161 W |
| Dimensions (mm) / weight (g) | 170 x 120 x 35 / 585 |
The Radeon R9-270X card is clocked at a 1030 MHz core frequency with a boost frequency of up-to 1080 MHz. The GDDR5 memory runs at 5.6 Gbps (effective data rate as GDDR5 has a quad data-rate, so effectively that quadruples that number), the memory bus is 256-bit.
The card even is equipped with an 8-pin power header, with a TDP of roughly 180 Watt the card is safe that way. These cards are excellent for gaming, up-to 1920x1200 or FullHD. We see a nice dark/yellow looking card from MSI. The close to 3 billion-transistor 28nm Pitcairn (Curacao XT) based GPU core is tied to a nice 2GB memory -- which is plenty enough for mid-range products.
You also get a reinforcing metal plate covering the back of the circuit board. MSI says the metal plate helps to lower GPU temperatures, and it adds that the cooling system is effective enough ward off throttling even when running stress application. Overall a fairly clean PCB design, the cards are PCI-E gen 3.0 compatible and will have one crossfire connector, so 2-way Crossfire is an option you could pursue (just not on the test motherboard of course).
It is a sturdy build graphics card with great components quality, it's darn fast in performance for the money. It does so while hardly making any noise and very low stress temperatures.
The cooler keeps the GPU at roughly 60~65 Degrees C under gaming load. The noise levels are a complete non-issue thanks to the cooler. You will need airflow inside your chassis though. And remember, this card comes even pre-overclocked for you.
