HIS Radeon R9 270X IceQ X2 Turbo Boost Clock Graphics Card Review
Overview
Meet the new AMD Radeon 7870GHz Edition! Wait a minute, that’s not right. Here we have the HIS Radeon R9 270X IceQ X2 Turbo Boost Clock
This particular R9 270X features a slightly smaller version of the utterly brilliant IceQ X2 as featured in our recent HIS Radeon R9 280X iTurbo IceQ X2 Turbo review. This should allow the card to remain very quiet and cool even when under load. Also rather nicely the card comes pre-overclocked with a core clock of 1100MHz, boost of 1140MHz and 2GB GDDR5 clocked at 5600MHz, not bad given the AMD reference card has a core clock of 1000MHz and boost of 1050MHz, although the memory remains at 5600MHz.
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On the front of the box we have the now familiar HIS IceQ cool design. The box shows the HIS (faster, cooler, quieter) brand, IceQ X2 cooler logo, the card model, iTurbo details, Turbo (factory OC), then specifications such as PCI Express 3.0, 2GB GDDR5, 4Kx2K Ultra HD, HDMI and of course AMD Radeon R9 series.
The back of the box lists the specifications and features (see below) and also highlights many of the HIS Radeon R9 270X IceQ X2 Turbo Boost Clock technologies, as follows:
AMD
- Eyefinity Technology
- GCN Architecture
- Crossfire Technology
- Zerocore Power Technology
High Quality Components
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FEATURES
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On the right side of the box we once again have the IceQ X2 logo, images depicting the GPU has 2GB GDDR5, PCI Express 3.0, Kingdom of Gamer (HIS registration, technical support and E-news), what’s in the box (HIS Graphics Card, DVI-D to VGA Adapter, HIS Power Up Label, Install CD and quick installation guide).
Then on the left, again the IceQ X2 logo, System Requirements and HIS details.
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Hidden inside the display box is a black inner-box with the HIS logo printed on it. Upon opening this we find some packing foam, under which is the card itself.
Also within the review sample box is a DVI-D to VGA adapter. Within the retail box you’ll also find an installation guide, driver and utilities disc, as well as a HIS Power Up sticker.
At the time of this review the HIS Radeon R9 270X IceQ X2 Turbo Boost Clock Graphics Card is retailing for approximately £170, comes with a 2 year warranty and an Origin voucher for Battlefield 4.
Specifications/Features
courtesy of HIS
| Model Name | HIS R9 270X IceQ X² Turbo Boost Clock 2GB GDDR5 PCI-E DLDVI-I/HDMI/2xMini DP- |
| Chipset | AMD Radeon R9 270X |
| Memory Size | 2048 MB |
| Memory Type | GDDR5 |
| Core Clock | 1100 MHz (Boost Clock 1140 MHz) |
| Memory Clock | Up to 5600 Gbps |
| Memory Interface | 256 bit |
| Power Supply Requirement |
500Watt (or greater) power supply with two 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connector recommended 600Watt (or greater) power supply with four 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connectors recommended for AMD CrossFire technology. |
| Max. Resolution (per Display) |
DisplayPort 1.2 – 4096×2160 HDMI – 4096×2160 Dual-link DVI with HDCP – 2560×1600 |
| Interface | PCI Express 3.0 x16 |
| Outputs | DLDVI-I + HDMI + 2xMini DP |
* Additional details available here
First Impressions
Let’s take a closer look at the card itself. First off we have the IceQ X2 cooler in black and silver just like its bigger sibling the HIS Radeon R9 280X iPower IceQ X2 Turbo, except it’s notably smaller (270x140x42mm). It certainly still looks good though… 😉
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The IceQ X2 cooler houses two 86mm dual axial fans and a 60 x 62 mm copper heatsink.
The PCB is again the familiar dark aqua colour and the GPU has the same retention bracket. I really do like the IceQ X2 design, but I can’t help but wonder how much better the card would look with a black PCB and or a full backplate?
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On the side of card we find a single CrossFire connector, four of the five 6mm heatpipes, two six-pin power connectors, as well as the black shroud with a silver HIS logo. I think HIS have nailed the design of their new R9’s having produced a Graphics Card that looks good from all angles.
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Right at the the back of the card, we can see four outputs. Two DisplayPorts, one HDMI and one DVI-D.
Then on the opposite you’ll see the end of the 60x62mm all copper heatsink.
Hardware Installation
Installing into the Test Rig (see below) and into the MSI Z87-G45 GAMING motherboard was easy as always. Made easier still by the card’s size.
| Case | Cooler Master HAF XB | Power Supply | Corsair AX760i |
| Motherboard | MSI Z87-G45 GAMING | CPU | Intel Core i5-4670K |
| CPU Cooler | Raijintek Themis | RAM | Kingston HyperX Beast 8GB 2400MHz |
| Graphics Card | HIS Radeon R9 270X IceQ X2 Turbo Boost Clock | SSD (mSATA – on-board port) | ADATA SX300 (64GB) |
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Testing Methodology/Setup
The Test Rig received a fresh install of Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit (Service Pack 1) and all associated drivers, AMD Catalyst™ 13.11 Beta 9.2 Driver was then installed and used throughout testing (seems we’re all beta testers eh??).
For all benchmarking tests, both HIS iTurbo (here) and MSI Afterburner (here) were installed. HIS iTurbo is included with the retail card.
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This time round I decided to give HIS iTurbo a bigger crack of the whip (also because it’s very similar to MSI Afterburner anyway). So being heavy handed I straight away hit iTurbo on! This gives a little push in the right direction with a Boost clock of 1151MHz and Memory clock of 1414MHz (5656MHz effective). The card is of course already heavily overclocked out of the box with a GPU Boost of 1140MHz). Which is a pretty big jump up from the AMD Reference Design with it’s Boost clock at 1050MHz!
So would it seem HIS have done all the hard work for you and overclocked the card to it’s limit???? Simply put, no. By pushing the voltage right up, I managed to raise the HIS Radeon R9 270X IceQ X2 Turbo Boost Clock further still, giving it a Boost clock of 1205MHz and a memory clock of 1500MHz (6000MHz effective). Which for a GPU with an RRP of £170 is pretty stunning, let’s see exactly what these increases do to the benchmarks.
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Whilst at stock or even with its heavy overclock, the IceQ X2 remains cool and quiet, just as expected. The average temperature under load was under 60 degrees Celsius!
| 3DMark (Fire Strike 1.0) | UNiGiNE Heaven 4.0 | UNiGiNE Valley 1.0 | Tomb Raider (1.00.722.3) | Metro Last Light |
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- Battlefield 4
- Metro Last Light
- Tomb Raider
Hardware Performance
| Benchmark | Ambient Temperature | Max GPU Temp | Delta Temp | Result |
| 3DMark (Fire Strike) | 21.00 | 54.00 | 33.00 | 5555 |
| UNiGiNE Heaven | 22.00 | 64.00 | 42.00 | FPS 28.8 Score 726 |
| UNiGiNE Valley | 22.00 | 61.00 | 39.00 | FPS 35.4 Score 1479 |
| Tomb Raider | 21.00 | 60.00 | 39.00 | 49.1 FPS (average) |
| Metro Last Light | 20.00 | 62.00 | 42.00 | 41.67 (average) |
| Benchmark | Ambient Temperature | Max GPU Temp | Delta Temp | Result |
| 3DMark (Fire Strike) | 21.50 | 50.00 | 28.50 | 5611 |
| UNiGiNE Heaven | 20.50 | 57.00 | 36.50 | FPS 29.2 Score 734 |
| UNiGiNE Valley | 21.00 | 58.00 | 37.00 | FPS 35.7Score 1493 |
| Tomb Raider | 20.00 | 57.00 | 37.00 | 49.4 FPS (average) |
| Metro Last Light | 20.50 | 58.00 | 37.50 | 42.33 (average) |
| Benchmark | Ambient Temperature | Max GPU Temp | Delta Temp | Result |
| 3DMark (Fire Strike) | 21.00 | 57.00 | 36.00 | 5712 |
| UNiGiNE Heaven | 21.00 | 62.00 | 44.00 | FPS 30.7 Score 773 |
| UNiGiNE Valley | 22.00 | 60.00 | 38.00 | FPS 37.6 Score 1571 |
| Tomb Raider | 21.50 | 57.00 | 35.50 | 51.1 FPS (average) |
| Metro Last Light | 23.00 | 57.00 | 34.00 | 44.0 (average) |
The HIS iTurbo application is a nice and very simple to use piece of software (although it didn’t ‘Turbo’ the card as high as I had hoped!). I managed an incredible manual overclock, which when duplicated via MSI Afterburner gave the same results. Sadly those high overclocks didn’t transfer over to massive gains in performance as hoped, I guess the HIS Radeon R9 270X IceQ X2 Turbo Boost Clock leaves the factory right near its very limits and it just goes to show how good a job HIS have already done.
Something you may have noticed in the benchmark results are the GPU temperatures. How can running at stock be hotter than an iTurbo Boost or manual overclock I hear you ask? HIS have simply adjusted the fan control settings whilst in iTurbo mode to run the fans faster, allowing the IceQ X2 to get rid of the heat a bit quicker. The great news here is not only does it do so well, but with no noticeable sound gain!
Free Battlefield 4? Yes please! While still a little clunky, BF4 is a game that many of us want, so why not eh? Again I must also state that currently BF4 runs particularly smoothly on AMD cards, with HIS Radeon R9 270X IceQ X2 Turbo Boost Clock giving an average FPS of 45.8. Maybe the imminent release of AMD’s Mantle Technology may bring further improvements still, I guess we will have to wait and see…
Final Thoughts
As I may have mentioned before (once or twice ;)), the HIS IceQ X2 based cards look good and this HIS Radeon R9 270X IceQ X2 Turbo Boost Clock
In fact my only gripes and they really are minor ones, are the blue PCB and the lack of a backplate. How much better would an already great looking card look with one?
The R9 270X IceQ X2 Turbo Boost Clock graphics card offers you plenty of bang for your buck. Whilst it won’t offer you earth shattering performance (should that be bank account shattering??), it’s still a very good mid-range GPU and a free copy of Battlefield 4 makes it a bit of a bargain, especially for anyone wanting to play games at 1080p. Although sadly the card isn’t currently available in the uk.
It’s also worth taking notice of the AMD pricing. There seems to be a pretty wild fluctuation due to availability and the current bit-currency mining craze. I’d say at approximately £170 you’re paying a fair price , but there’s a very good chance the price could go down (or sadly up). I guess time will tell.
Verdict
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Many thanks to HIS for providing this sample for review
