MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review

We take a look at our second R9 270. This time from MSI with an out of the box overclock. Let's see how it goes.

Published
Updated
Manufacturer: MSI
19 minutes & 9 seconds read time

Introduction and Package

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 02

We're really powering through video card reviews at the moment, and it seems that for every video card review we finish, there are two more that we need to do. You can tell that we've had a big launch come through, and it's much bigger than those we've seen in the previous years. While AMD has spread out the launch of their new models, they've done it over a span of just weeks, and not months like we normally see.

They've really decided to go all in with the launch of the R series, and we can't say it's a bad thing. They've created some fantastic new models that have hit us at a really strong price point. Since launch, we've seen NVIDIA has had to do a bit of scrambling to not only adjust prices a couple of times, but also to release a new model: the GTX 780 Ti...a card that is truly, extremely fast. They killed their own GTX TITAN 6GB, a $999, beat in one swoop. They had to though; that became extremely obvious as we saw the higher-end AMD models come out at a super aggressive price point.

As much as we love all those high-end cards though, today we're taking a look at the entry-level R9 card. The R9 270 launched just the other week, and is the lowest R9 model, sitting below the R9 270X. We checked the HIS Radeon R9 270 IceQ X2 2GB out the other day, and while it carried with it only the stock clocks, we really did find ourselves quite impressed with what the new model was doing. Again, we see AMD hitting at a strong price point with a model that performs well for the said price point.

Today though, we're looking at our second retail version of the card; this particular one coming from MSI, and falling in as part of the Gaming Series. This is a series that launched earlier in the year that we absolutely love due to the fact it brings unity between the motherboard, and video card division. Anyway, we've probably said more than we need to; so let's get stuck into the package to see exactly what we have going on with the R9 270 2GB Gaming OC from MSI.

Package

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 03

Taking a look at the front of the box, you can see nothing too out of the ordinary. If you've seen any of the Gaming branded products before, you'll see a lot of similarities here. We've got the model on the front, along with the mention that it's part of the gaming series. In the bottom left corner, you can see that we're also dealing with an OC version of the card.

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 04

If we turn over to the back of the box, you can see some of the main features are explained in detail, including the Gaming APP, and the advanced thermal design via the Twin Frozr IV cooler. The box also mentions the Military Class 4 components that bring with them Super Ferrite Chokes, and Solid Capacitors.

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 05

Moving inside the package, you can see we don't have a ton going on. Aside from the Quick Install Guide and Driver CD, you can see we've got a DVI to VGA connector, and a dual Molex to 6-Pin PCIe power connector to round things off.

The Card and Specifications

The Card

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 06

Taking a look at the card, you can see that the overall design is very similar to other Gaming OC cards that we've looked at since launch. We've got that large Twin Frozr IV cooler that takes up majority of the card, in the black and red color scheme that is seen on all our Gaming Series cards. We've also got two big fans sitting on top of a large heat sink, with a couple of heat pipes coming out of the bottom of the card, to transfer the heat away from the core.

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 07
MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 08

Taking a look around the card, we don't see anything out of the ordinary. At the back of the card, you can see we've got a single 6-Pin PCIe power connector. If we stay across the top, but move closer to the front, you can see we've got a single CrossFire connector in case you want to run two of them together for added performance.

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 09

Finishing off our look at the card, we head over to the I/O side of things. Here you can see we've got two Dual-Link DVI connectors, one in the form of DVI-D, and the other being DVI-I. Along with these, we've got the standard HDMI and DisplayPort connectors to round things off.

Specifications

As we've mentioned, this particular card is part of the OC series, and of course comes overclocked out of the box. Looking below, we can see just what MSI has done with the clocks here today.

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 01

Looking above, you can see the core clock comes in at 975MHz, which is 50MHz above the default 925MHz clock that reference clocked cards see.

As for the 2GB of GDDR5, MSI has chosen to leave that at the default 5600MHz QDR. Leaving the memory clock alone is something we normally see MSI do; instead they choose to concentrate on pushing the GPU higher, as it yields the strongest performance gains.

Benchmarks - Test System Setup

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 99

We would like to thank the following companies for supplying and supporting us with our test system hardware and equipment: Intel, ASUS and Corsair.

We've got a number of cards in our graphs today, but one of the main comparisons we want to make is how the overclock that MSI offers us, compares against the stock clocked R9 270 we recently looked at from HIS.

Along with that, we've got the reference R7 260X 2GB, R9 270X 2GB, Visiontek R9 280X 3GB, reference R9 290 4GB, and reference R9 290X 4GB, to round things off on the AMD side of things. As for the NVIDIA side of things, we've got just the reference GTX 770 2GB here today.

The FPS Numbers Explained

When we benchmark our video cards and look at the graphs, we aim to get to a certain level of FPS which we consider playable. While many may argue that the human eye can't see over 24 FPS or 30 FPS, any true gamer will tell you that as we climb higher in Frames Per Seconds (FPS), the overall gameplay feels smoother. There are three numbers we're looking out for when it comes to our benchmarks.

30 FPS - It's the minimum number we aim for when it comes to games. If you're not dropping below 30 FPS during games, you're going to have a nice, and smooth, gaming experience. The ideal situation is that even in a heavy fire fight, the minimum stays above 30 FPS, making sure that you can continue to aim easily, or turn the corner with no drama.

60 FPS - It's the average we look for when we don't have a minimum coming at us. If we're getting an average of 60 FPS, we should have a minimum of 30 FPS or better, and as mentioned above, it means we've got some smooth game play happening.

120 FPS - The new number that we've been hunting down over recent months. If you're the owner of a 120 Hz monitor, to get the most out of it, you want to get around the 120 FPS mark. Moving from 60 FPS / 60 Hz to 120 FPS / 120 Hz brings with it a certain fluidity that can't really be explained, but instead has to be experienced. Of course, if you're buying a 120 Hz monitor to take advantage of 3D, an average of 120 FPS in our benchmark means that in 3D, you will have an average of 60 FPS, which again means you should expect some smooth gameplay.

Why are some graphs incomplete?

Adding new game benchmarks is a long, tedious, and time consuming task, as every video card has to be re-tested in those new benchmarks. Because of this, we have always just evaluated our benchmark line up every six months. To stay up to date and current with the latest benchmarks and games available, we've changed our approach to adding new benchmarks.

Our benchmark line up will progress and be updated as newer, more intensive games with benchmarks come to light. While this will mean that initially you may only see a single video card in those particular graphs, as the weeks go on, and we test more and more video cards, the results will quickly grow. This will help keep our benchmark line up as up to date as possible as we introduce, and remove, games on a constant basis.

Benchmarks - 3DMark 11

3DMark 11

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.1

Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com

Product Homepage: http://www.3dmark.com/3dmark11/

Buy It Here

3DMark 11 is the latest version of the world's most popular benchmark. Designed to measure your PC's gaming performance, 3DMark 11 makes extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11, including tessellation, compute shaders, and multi-threading. Trusted by gamers worldwide to give accurate and unbiased results, 3DMark 11 is the best way to consistently and reliably test DirectX 11 under game-like loads.

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 20

Starting off with 3DMark 11, we can see that the overclock MSI offers manages to give us a nice little boost in performance compared to the reference clocked HIS offering.

Benchmarks - 3DMark Fire Strike

3DMark Fire Strike

Version and / or Patch Used: 1

Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com

Product Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com/benchmarks/3dmark

Buy It Here

Fire Strike is our new showcase DirectX 11 benchmark designed for high-performance gaming PCs. It is our most ambitious and technical benchmark ever, featuring real-time graphics rendered with detail and complexity far beyond what is found in other benchmarks and games today. Fire Strike will only be available in the Windows editions of 3DMark initially.

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 21

Looking at Fire Strike, we can again see a nice little boost in performance. We're looking forward to seeing what happens when we get into some real-world games.

Benchmarks - Unigine Heaven Benchmark

Unigine Heaven Benchmark

Version and / or Patch Used: 3

Developer Homepage: http://www.unigine.com

Product Homepage: http://unigine.com/press-releases/091022-heaven_benchmark//

New benchmark grants the power to unleash the DirectX 11 potential, in the gift wrapping of impressively towering graphics capabilities. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. With the interactive mode, emerging experience of exploring the intricate world is ensured within reach. Through its advanced renderer, Unigine is one of the first to set precedence in showcasing the art assets with tessellation, bringing compelling visual finesse, utilizing the technology to the full extend, and exhibiting the possibilities of enriching 3D gaming.

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 22

Heaven continues the trend of a nice little performance boost at both resolutions. Let's see what happens when we start getting into some games from the next page.

Benchmarks - Phantasy Star Online 2

Phantasy Star Online 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.sega.com/?t=EnglishUSA

Product Homepage: http://www.pso2.com/us/html/index.html

Play Phantasy Star Online 2 and experience revolutionary combat in an action-driven, free-to-play multiplayer online RPG from SEGA. Take a journey into an immersive sci-fi fantasy narrative, and explore mysterious worlds to unravel their secrets. Join fellow adventurers and fight against the legions of darkness to banish them from the galaxy.

Score explanation: Less than 2000: Please adjust your game settings because the processing load is quite heavy.

2000 through 5000: The game runs fine at the setting, if you have room, you can adjust some settings.

5001+: The game works wonderfully at this setting.

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 23

PSO2 sees a strong performance bump, and you can see that we're right at the edge of being in that 5000 point range, which lets us know the game is going to be running wonderfully.

Benchmarks - Lost Planet 2

Lost Planet 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark - Test A Scene 1

Developer Homepage: http://www.capcom.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.lostplanet2game.com/

Lost Planet 2 is a third-person shooter video game developed and published by Capcom. The game is the sequel to Lost Planet: Extreme Condition which is also made by Capcom, taking place ten years after the events of the first game, on the same fictional planet. The story takes place back on E.D.N. III 10 years after the events of the first game. The snow has melted to reveal jungles and more tropical areas that have taken the place of more frozen regions. The plot begins with Mercenaries fighting against Jungle Pirates. After destroying a mine, the Mercenaries continue on to evacuate the area, in which a Category-G Akrid appears and attacks them. After being rescued, they find out their evacuation point (Where the Category-G appeared) was a set-up and no pick up team awaited them. The last words imply possible DLC additions to the game: "There's nothing to be gained by wiping out snow pirates... unless you had some kind of grudge."

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 24

Heading into Lost Planet 2, you can see our overclocked MSI offering brings nothing new to the table, as all three resolutions see almost no change in FPS. This means that 1680 x 1050 and 1920 x 1200 remain playable, while 2560 x 1600 falls behind that 60 FPS number we're always looking for.

Benchmarks - Just Cause 2

Just Cause 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Dark Tower

Developer Homepage: http://www.eidos.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.justcause.com/

Just Cause 2 employs the Avalanche Engine 2.0, an updated version of the engine used in Just Cause. The game is set on the other side of the world from the original Just Cause, on the fictional island of Panau in Southeast Asia. Panau has varied terrain, from desert to alpine to rainforest. Rico Rodriguez returns as the protagonist, aiming to overthrow the evil dictator Pandak "Baby" Panay, and confront his former mentor, Tom Sheldon.

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 25

Just Cause 2 sees a slight performance bump across the board with an extra coupe of FPS being seen at every resolution. The 2560 x 1600 one is no doubt the most important, as that extra couple of FPS gives us a little more breathing room with 65 FPS.

Benchmarks - F1 2012

F1 2012

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com/uk/

Product Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com

In F1 2012 players will feel the unparalleled thrill of becoming a FORMULA ONE driver with a host of new features, wide-ranging technical and gameplay advancements and extensive competitive and co-operative multiplayer components. F1 2012 will feature all of the official teams, drivers and circuits from the 2012 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, including the debut of the 2012 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX at Austin, Texas, and the return of Germany's famous Hockenheim circuit to the calendar.

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 26

F1 2012 sees nice gains across the board, and strong playable numbers at all resolutions. You can see the overclock brings our performance in line with the R9 270X here.

Benchmarks - Metro Last Light

Metro Last Light

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.4a-games.com/

Product Homepage: http://enterthemetro.com/ /

Metro: Last Light takes place one year after the events of Metro 2033, proceeding from the ending where Artyom chose to call down the missile strike on the Dark Ones. The Rangers have since occupied the D6 military facility, with Artyom having become an official member of the group. Khan, the nomad mystic, arrives at D6 to inform Artyom and the Rangers that a single Dark One survived the missile strike. Khan believes the Dark One is the key to humanity's future, and wants to make peace with it, while Ranger leader Colonel Miller wants to kill the creature due to its potential threat. Miller sends Artyom to the surface with a mission to kill the Dark One; he is accompanied by Anna, Miller's sarcastic daughter, and the Rangers' best sniper.

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 27

While we do see a little movement at all resolutions, we ultimately have FPS that are sitting below that 60 FPS number we need.

Benchmarks - Dirt Showdown

Dirt Showdown

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com/uk/

Product Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com/uk/dirtshowdown/360/

DiRT Showdown is the new arcade racing game from the team that brought you the award-winning DiRT series, uncaged in 2012. Pick up and play controls combine with electrifying events, frenzied crowds and stunning graphics to deliver high octane, dive in and drive thrills from event one.

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 28

DiRT Showdown performance is slightly up across the board and you can see the overclock helps move our 1920 x 1200 FPS from the 60's range, into the 70's. While we also manage to see a nice little bump at 2560 x 1600, the 51 FPS here is just a little too low.

Benchmarks - Nexuiz

Nexuiz

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.alientrap.org/

Product Homepage: http://www.nexuiz.com/

Nexuiz is an Arena First Person shooter coming soon to consoles. Nexuiz is fast paced with extremely competitive game play. IllFonic brings Alientrap Software's Nexuiz to next-gen gaming consoles around the world, while staying true to the game play refined over the years through development. IllFonic introduces a new Victorian influenced art style that is simultaneously futuristic, and sophisticated. Nexuiz for consoles is powered by CryENGINE 3.

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 29

Nexuiz sees an extra FPS at the lower resolutions, and nothing at the highest. In the end, the 35 FPS at 1680 x 1050 is just way too low, and moving higher, the FPS drops even further.

Benchmarks - Sniper Elite V2

Sniper Elite V2

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.rebellion.co.uk/

Product Homepage: http://sniperelitev2.com/us/age.html

Sniper Elite V2 features detailed sniping simulation with advanced ballistics, taking into account gravity, wind, velocity, bullet penetration, aim stability, and more. Guaranteed to provide players with the most realistic simulation of military sharpshooting yet available.

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 30

Like most other benchmarks, Sniper Elite V2 sees a bit of a bump across all resolutions. At 1920 x 1200, you can see we get a bit more breathing room from the overclock as we move from a 63 FPS average, to a 66 FPS average.

Benchmarks - Sleeping Dogs

Sleeping Dogs

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://eu.square-enix.com/en

Product Homepage: http://www.sleepingdogs.net/

The core gameplay of Sleeping Dogs consists of giving the player an open world environment in which players move around freely. Sleeping Dogs is played as an over-the-shoulder, third-person perspective, action-adventure game with role-playing elements. The player controls Wei Shen, a Chinese-American police officer, as he goes undercover to infiltrate the Sun On Yee Triad organization. On foot, the player character has the ability to walk, run, jump, climb over obstacles, and swim, as well as use weapons and martial arts in combat. Players also drive a variety of vehicles including cars, boats, and motorcycles.

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 31

Sleeping Dogs performance sees a couple of extra FPS across the board, and we again see a nice little bump at 2560 x 1600, which moves us from 63 FPS to 66 FPS. This gives us a little bit more breathing room, which is always appreciated.

Benchmarks - Hitman Absolution

Hitman Absolution

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.ioi.dk/

Product Homepage: http://hitman.com/

Hitman: Absolution is an action-adventure stealth game developed by I/O Interactive and published by Square Enix. It is the fifth entry in the Hitman game series, and runs on I/O Interactive's proprietary Glacier 2 game engine. Before release, the developers stated that Absolution would be easier to play and more accessible, while still retaining hardcore aspects of the franchise. The game was released on 20 November 2012, which is in the 47th week of the year (in reference to the protagonist, Agent 47).

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 32

We see great minimums across the board, but you can see at the highest resolution the 41 FPS minimum looks good, but the 48 FPS isn't as appealing when looking at the 2560 x 1600 average.

Benchmarks - Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.nixxes.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.tombraider.com/us/base/agegate?refer=184&

Tomb Raider is an action-adventure platform video game. Published by Square Enix, Tomb Raider is the fifth title developed by Crystal Dynamics in the Tomb Raider franchise. As the first entry in a new Tomb Raider continuity, the game is a reboot that emphasizes the reconstructed origins of the culturally influential lead character, Lara Croft. Tomb Raider was released on 5 March 2013 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows to universal critical acclaim.

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 33

At the lower resolutions, we can see some decent minimums come out of our MSI R9 270 2GB Gaming OC. However, across the board, you can see our averages are unfortunately a bit too low for us to consider them playable.

Benchmarks - BioShock Infinite

BioShock Infinite

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://irrationalgames.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.bioshockinfinite.com

BioShock Infinite is a first-person shooter video game, and the third installment in the BioShock series. Previously known as "Project Icarus", it is being developed by Irrational Games, and was released worldwide on the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 platforms on March 26, 2013. BioShock Infinite is not part of the storyline of previous BioShock games, but features similar gameplay concepts and themes.

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 34

BioShock Infinite sees a slight FPS jump across the board, but you can see at the lower resolutions, we fall just short of that 60 FPS number we want, with a 59 FPS average.

Benchmarks - Battlefield 4

Battlefield 4

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Origin Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Custom 60 Second Run with FRAPS

Developer Homepage: http://dice.se/

Product Homepage: https://www.battlefield.com/games/battlefield-4

Battlefield 4 (also known as BF4) is an upcoming first-person shooter video game developed by EA Digital Illusions CE and published by Electronic Arts. The game is a sequel to 2011's Battlefield 3. Battlefield 4 features several changes compared to its predecessor. The game's heads-up display is much the same, composed of two compact rectangles. The lower left-hand corner features a mini-map and compass for navigation, and a simplified objective notice above it; the lower right includes a compact ammo counter and health meter. The mini-map, as well as the main game screen, shows symbols marking three kinds of entities: blue for allies, green for squadmates, and red/orange for enemies.

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 35

Looking at Battlefield 4, we can see that we've got playable FPS at both 1680 x 1050, and 1920 x 1200. Moving to 2560 x 1600, we see a decent minimum with 42 FPS, but with an average of 52 FPS, which we consider a little too low.

Benchmarks - High Quality AA and AF

High Quality AA and AF

While we test all our games with maximum in-game settings, turning on Anti-Aliasing (AA) and Antistrophic Filtering (AF) helps take the intensity of our testing to another level.

Here we see video cards go from playable FPS to an unplayable FPS, and the real power houses continue to help break that 60 FPS mark we always aim for, to provide a smooth gaming experience.

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 36

Turning on AA and AF, it comes as no surprise that the overclock does little, and overall performance is just way too low.

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 37

Just Cause 2 manages to see a little bit of positive movement and our 1920 x 1200 average moves from 67 FPS to 69 FPS. We see an extra FPS at 2560 x 1050, but overall the FPS at 44 is just too low.

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 38

Sleeping Dogs sees an extra FPS at both resolutions, but overall the FPS is again just way too low for the game to be playable under these settings.

Temperature Test

The temperature of the core is pulled from MSI Afterburner with the max reading used after a completed run off 3DMark Vantage and the Performance preset.

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 50

Temperature levels on the card are good; as you see we're sitting well into the bottom half of the graph here.

Sound Test

Pulling out the TES 1350A Sound Level Meter, we find ourselves quickly yelling into the top of it to see how loud we can be.

After five minutes of that, we get a bit more serious and place the device two cm away from the fan on the card to find the maximum noise level of the card when idle (2D mode), and in load (3D mode).

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 51

The good news is that the temperature numbers don't come at the cost of high noise levels. Looking above, you can again see we're sitting well into the bottom half of the graph here.

Power Consumption Test

Using our PROVA Power Analyzer WM-01, or "Power Thingy" as it has become quickly known as to our readers, we are now able to find out what kind of power is being used by our test system and the associated video cards installed. Keep in mind; it tests the complete system (minus LCD monitor, which is plugged directly into AC wall socket).

There are a few important notes to remember though; while our maximum power is taken in 3DMark06 at the same exact point, we have seen in some particular tests, the power being drawn as much as 10% more. We test at the exact same stage every time; therefore tests should be very consistent and accurate.

The other thing to remember is that our test system is bare minimum - only a SSD hard drive is used with a single CD ROM, and minimal cooling fans.

So while the system might draw 400 watts in our test system, placing it into your own PC with a number of other items, the draw is going to be higher.

MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Gaming OC Video Card Review 52

Power draw on the model is extremely strong, and you can see we're sitting only four cards in from the bottom of the graph. Any quality 500 watt power supply could deal with a setup like this.

Pricing, Availability and Final Thoughts

Coming in at $219.99 at the time of writing, the MSI R9 270 2GB Gaming OC carries with it a slight premium over the base $199.99 price that we see a couple of models hit at. However, we're always happy to pay a slight premium for an MSI product. From a performance side of things, you can see that the overclock helps bring us a couple of extra FPS across the board.

We don't see anything really game changing, because it's only a couple of FPS here and there. Though, with the reference clocked card sneaking just into the 60 FPS range at times, the extra FPS here and there, does indeed come in handy. A couple of extra FPS really helps give us a little bit more breathing room, which is something we always love to see.

I think what really separates the MSI offering is the cooler. The Twin Frozr series coolers have always been fantastic, and the latest IV version is no different than anything else that we have seen. We get some fantastic cooling numbers at a fantastic noise level. For us, this is what you're paying that slight extra for, when compared to cards that offer cheaper coolers.

When it comes to the bundle side of things, it falls in line with most cards these days. That of course means there's not a whole lot to see. Video cards have really come down in price over the years, and we'd rather see a smaller bundle than the inclusion of games we're not really interested in. Saying that though, NVIDA and AMD themselves are doing a fantastic job with game bundles, which means it's something that the manufacturers don't need to worry about so much anymore.

While you're paying slightly above that $199 price tag, if you're looking for a video card in the $200 range, AMD has done a fantastic job with the R9 270 2GB. If you're looking for something that looks great, while also offering fantastic cooling numbers in both the noise and temperature departments: the Twin Frozr IV cooled Gaming OC offering from MSI is a fantastic option. There's also the option to fire up MSI Afterburner to get even better performance out of it.

What do TweakTown.com awards mean? Click for details!

PRICING: You can find products similar to this one for sale below.

USUnited States: Find other tech and computer products like this over at Amazon.com

UKUnited Kingdom: Find other tech and computer products like this over at Amazon.co.uk

AUAustralia: Find other tech and computer products like this over at Amazon.com.au

CACanada: Find other tech and computer products like this over at Amazon.ca

DEDeutschland: Finde andere Technik- und Computerprodukte wie dieses auf Amazon.de

Shawn takes care of all of our video card reviews. From 2009, Shawn is also taking care of our memory reviews, and from May 2011, Shawn also takes care of our CPU, chipset and motherboard reviews. As of December 2011, Shawn is based out of Taipei, Taiwan.

Newsletter Subscription
We openly invite the companies who provide us with review samples / who are mentioned or discussed to express their opinion. If any company representative wishes to respond, we will publish the response here. Please contact us if you wish to respond.