MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming Video Card Review

It is no secret that most modern video cards with an HDMI output also provide audio.  This audio is digital in nature and usually sent across the wire so it can be interpreted by the television, monitor, or whatever you have plugged in.  AMD TrueAudio is an integrated positional audio DSP that will be included on select models of R7 and R9 series GPUs.  The audio processor is a hardware based DSP that is able to produce 3D audio effects without impacting CPU performance.  Confusing as it may sound the TrueAudio processor isn't a replacement for a dedicated sound card but a supplemental audio device that game developers can use to prove a more immersive audio experience.  

We are interested to see how TrueAudio will get adopted as game developers but aren't looking forward to what hardware accessories may be required to take advangate of the new audio implementations.

During our testing the MSI R9 270X Gaming ran extremely well and posted up some good numbers between of the GTX 660Ti and GTX 660.  All of the cards in this review were factory overclocked  which isn't unusual for a Gaming card or anything used in the hardware enthusiast space.  As we have seen from our testing the R9 270X performs well at 1080p but does fall below the target 60fps in our benchmarks.  Keep in mind that we also cranked the settings up so relaxing those is a simple fix for more FPS.
 
Overclocking might not be a big part of the gaming community but as hardware enthusiasts we cannot resist opportunity to see what a particular video card is able to do.  During our tests we were able to clock the card up to a "blistering?" 1160Mhz which is a net gain of 110Mhz over stock however, when you factor in the 1120Mhz factory overclock this number is rather dismal.  Considering the ample factory overclock and target market for this GPU we aren't exactly hurting for any extra performance.  

Despite our issues overclocking the Twin Frozr IV did a great job at keeping temperatures down where they should be with a minimal noise footprint.  It's not very often that you find a GPU cooler that is oversized for your application but in this case, it is.

Overall the card ran great, comes with an excellent cooler and ample factory overclock.  The R9 270X only comes with a single Crossfire bridge connection so multi GPU performance will be limited.  In most gaming systems two cards in Crossfire will offer plenty of performance, especially when gaming at 1080p.  

Twin Frozr IV Cooler
Custom PCB Design
Factory Overclocked
Cool and Quiet Operation
Crossfire Support
MSI Gaming App

No fancy LED lights
Fans are quite loud under manual control
Limited overclocking frequency