PowerColor Radeon R9 270X PCS+ 2GB Video Card Review

Introduction

We start off 2014 the same way we finished off 2013: Working our way through the massive number of video cards that we've received since the launch of the R series from AMD. Not only has AMD attacked the new series with a vengeance, but so have partners. We've seen partners offer us so many variations of the models since launch.

Today, we're looking at a card from PowerColor, a company we haven't seen anything from in a while. The particular R9 270X 2GB we're looking at today comes in under the popular PCS+ name, which has impressed us in the past. This is the first time we've seen a card from PowerColor under this label based on the new R series from AMD.

The R9 270X 2GB has been a model that has impressed us a lot since launch. We've said many times that AMD has done a fantastic job with the new R series. They have offered us not only great performance, but also a fantastic price point. Starting at just over $200, the R9 270X 2GB is a great model for many people.

Today, we need to find out if the PowerColor variation is one worth considering. So, with that all said and done, let's get into the package of the card before we get into the fun stuff.

Package

Taking a look at the box, you can see that the front of it looks very sheik. It's fairly simple, but gives us all of the main information that you'd expect to see. It includes the brand, model, and a large focus on the fact that we're dealing with a PCS+ based model. Across the bottom of the box, you can see some of the main features, which include 2GB GDDR5, along with AMD Eyefinity, and 4K Support. We can also see that the bottom of the box has a large focus on the PCS+ cooler that is used on the card, along with mention of the Digital PWM, Ferrite Conducting Power, and Multi Phase Power Design. The top half of the box covers specifics that are more related to the GPU.

There's not much at all to be seen upon diving into the box. Apart from the Driver CD and Manual, the only other piece that is included with the card is a DVI to VGA connector. This is a particularly small bundle, with no power convertors included. With that said, we're not so sure why most companies bother these days, as power supplies that offer 6 and 8 Pin PCIe power connectors have been around for years now.